Help! Assisting with a shed!

[NickP]

Hey guys

I need help in assisting my Bp to shed. This is his first shed with me and everything seemed normal a day ago or two. He went into the blue-eye phase, then it cleared. The temps and humidity were at the right level. 80-83 cool end, 90-93 warmer end, humidty was 65-80% depending if i had just misted or not.

Then when I took a look at him he still had a lot of retained shed. He got quite a bit of skin off (mainly his belly), but he still had most of it left sticking to him. So I put him in a container and soaked him for 40 minutes or so, then got him out and tried the wash cloth trick. It seemed to work. It got a lot of the shed unstuck but not too much off since it's all still connected. The problem is that the skin on his head hasn't come off and there is no way I can take it off by hand. I then decided to soak him again so I refilled the container with warmer water since the old one had cooled off and tried putting him back in but he became very tipsy, snappy and very quickly got out and almost fell off the table. He would even slither off my hand and if i didn't hold him tightly he would have fallen off. So I put him back in the tank. What else can I do to help him fully shed and specifically get the skin off his head. I can use the wash cloth trick to get the rest off, but I need him to get the head skin off by himself.

[dalvers63]

Find yourself a pillowcase, get it wet with hot water and then wring it out so that it is just damp. Put your snake inside, tie the top closed and put the snake back in his enclosure.

Leave him this way for at least 30 minutes, and then check to see if he's gotten the shed off. If not, put him back in the pillowcase and leave him for another 30 minutes. Check again and it should be off. The friction of moving around along with the damp of the pillowcase has removed every stuck shed from every ball python I've had to use this trick with.

[littleindiangirl]

sounds like the water was too hot! lol. Best thing you can do, get a tupperware bowl, fill it up maybe an inch or two of lukewarm water (not too much that he will float, up half way on his back. and it will feel cool to you), put him in the tupperware, put in washcloth, put whole thing in his tub. Let sit for an hour, pull him out and assist him by letting him slide through the wash cloth. It should slide right off.

Edit: Dont suffocate your snake, make sure the enclosure is large enough for him to move easily, and have a top on too. If it really is a tupperware, they have a little pop top hole for when you reheat food. That should work too.

[NickP]

I just took him back out and put him in a damp pillowcase. Then I put the pillowcase in the warmer end of the tank. I'm not sure if the pillowcase will allow enough air to pass tho. There was a bit of air trapped in it after I tied a knot at the open end and I had to apply pressure to the pillowcase to push the air out, meaning air CAN pass through, I just don't know if that's enough.

[dalvers63]

I'm sure he will be fine. The best way to test for this is to try and breathe through it yourself after you get it wet. Though the water will block some of the space between the fibers, unless you're using a synthetic pillow case you won't have any trouble.

I pick up cotton ones at the thrift store and also you can get a set at WalMart for around $3. They're perfect since they are thin cotton

[NickP]

I'm sure he will be fine. The best way to test for this is to try and breathe through it yourself after you get it wet. Though the water will block some of the space between the fibers, unless you're using a synthetic pillow case you won't have any trouble.

I pick up cotton ones at the thrift store and also you can get a set at WalMart for around $3. They're perfect since they are thin cotton

Yeah, that's what I did. I couldn't actually breath through it but I could blow out air and intake some air. Should I let him out? Could this be dangerous?

[NickP]

If the snake balls up and doesn't move around at all, should I be playing with him and moving him or would that be stressful? Because I just looked inside and he hasn't done much other than stay in a tight ball.

[dalvers63]

I'd just give him time. When I put mine back in their tank/tub, I put half the pillow case on one side of the tank and then stretch it to the other so that they can crawl from the hot to the cold side.

When you tied it shut, did you leave him enough room to crawl around? I'll make sure with mine that the pc is flat enough that it touches them. Leave him for an hour, and if he still isnt moving you can take him out and let him crawl around. The dampness from the pillowcase will have loosened the stuck shed and he might just get it off as he's crawling around.

[JoshJP7]

Ya I had the same issue when I tried the pillow case trick... Snake just wanted to chill... When Ive had to do this in the past Ive just brought em in the bathroom... filled up the sink with warm water... not too hot... hold em in ur hand... dunk em n get em wet... and let em slide through your hands with a wash cloth... ud be surprised with thier reaction... at first theyre a pain and try to get away but once they realize whats going down... they seem to cooperate more. Good luck

[NickP]

okay, after another hour of playing with him I managed to get everything but the head skin off. The skin directly on his head is stuck to him, so to be able to get it off I would have to rub it few times and maybe use a damp wash cloth but he wont let me near his head. One thing I can do is grab the loose skin behind his head and peel off the stuck skin. Not sure if that is safe though.

I tried the pillowcase trick but he simply chills wherever he is without moving.