Aggressive Snake, Bad Shed

[Jay_Bunny]

Thriller, our male pastel is experiencing a bad shed. We opened up his tank today to move him into a temporary tub while we moved the rack and other tanks over to the new apartment. We were horrified to see that he had pieces of shed everywhere. Our two normals have always shed perfectly. Humidity is fine as far as we know. Its always around 50-60% and sometimes shoots up to 70-80% if we put the water bowl too close to the heat.

We want to help him with his shed, but he has a tendancy to bite. If you disturb him from his hide in anyway, he assumes the attack position and gets ready to strike you. His head literally follows your every movement. We have to use a snake hook to move him.

Any ideas? I know there are a lot of bad shed threads but I figured this one was a little different since the snake is so aggressive.

[Patrick Long]

some snakes are super aggresive by nature, some may be hungry. is he feeding regularly?

[JoshJP7]

When I first got my clown a couple weeks ago she was in shed and i didnt know... Everytime I went to get her out she would strike multiple times... Once my hand touched her she would search for whatever was touching her... Pretty intimidating to me... Anyways once she finished shed she became a sweet girl... My guess is hes pissy bc of the shed... give him a couple days... let him come out... then assist is my advice.... or wear gloves and take it like a champ

[Spaniard]

I would get him out of the tank using the hook and try to get him into a pillow. If you can't go from the tub to the pillow bag first shot because he's too aggressive, try getting him to slither into the pillow on the floor. Once you have him in there, throw in a wash cloth and submerge the pillow in safe amount of luke warm water. I'd say 15-20 minutes, when you go back to check on him he should hopefully be done shedding and in a better mood.

Good Luck

Edit: Just make sure the pillow is a lower thread count and can still allow air to pass when wet.

[dalvers63]

I've always just used a damp pillowcase. Since you need to bag him anyhow, get the case damp with pretty warm water since it will cool quickly. Put the snake in the pillowcase and tie the end closed. Then put it in a tub that you can close the lid on.

Move your racks, get his tub ready and when you open the pillowcase to put him back in he should have taken care of the retained shed. The friction of the cloth against his scales and the dampness of the pillowcase work wonders.

[Jay_Bunny]

He feeds like you wouldn't believe. I barely have enough time to put the mouse in the tub. The prey items literally take like two steps and CHOMP! I will try the pillowcase thing tonight.

Oh that is another thing. Since we are moving should we wait to assist him tomorrow after the hub bub has died down or will the move not stress him out too much?

[Jay_Bunny]

Just as an update. Checked on Thriller last night and he's all shed and looking beautiful. Might snap a few pictures before feeding time today.

[Spaniard]

Just as an update. Checked on Thriller last night and he's all shed and looking beautiful. Might snap a few pictures before feeding time today.

Very nice

How did you end up dealing with the problem shed and the angry snakie?

[Jay_Bunny]

We got a warm damp towel and attempted to ease some of the shed off but he kept trying to bite us so we ended up putting him back in his tub, put the water dish on the warm side to increase humidity and added in a rough hide for him to rub on. It took him a few days but he got it all off on his own. And as a note, Sadis, our only normal female just shed all in one piece for us. And left a giant suprise in the back of her tub.

Come to think of it. ALL of the snakes left huge suprises in their tubs. Looks like we gots cleanin' to do. Now that I've unpacked my camera, its massive picture time.

[littleindiangirl]

That's strange that he tries to bite you constantly. He seems like a very stressed out BP. I think for problems like that you may have to learn how to hold his head or handle him more often. :/