Shed Question

[L.West]

Help!!!! I think my BP is starting her first shed since I've had her. I've had her for 5 weeks now and yesterday I noticed that she had a tinged blueish coloration to her and assumed from what I have read that she was starting to shed.

What exactly do I do??? Do I just leave her alone (and for how long) to do her thing?? How long with this take?? At what point do I need to step in to help her??

Someone please help me with this - first time snake owner and I don't want to screw anything up.

Thanks everyone.

[Nate]

I split this off of the other thread and started a fresh thread for you

to answer your question, You don't need to do anything unless the shed does not come off.

[Spaniard]

Raise your humidity to 70% and take a chill pill. If you're humidity is right you won't need to do anything else but wait and let the snake take care of business. The snake will get really cloudy and then clear up almost looking like she's normal again. It will be a few days after she clears up that you will see a shed.

If you have any stuck pieces follow the steps in this thread.

[Nate]

If you have any stuck pieces follow the steps in this thread.

Since I split this thread off, you mean this thread

[Spaniard]

Since I split this thread off, you mean this thread

Yes I do

I was replying while Super Admin Nate was busy fighting crime and making the site more surfable.

[scutechute]

If i notice my snakes are about to go into shed i give them a little plastic hide box thing with a hole cut into the lid, filled with moist coconut substrate stuff. They usually hang out in there quite a bit before shedding. Or you can just make sure their water bowl is be enough to allow the snake to soak if it chooses. But yeah, you pretty much don't have to do anything.

but like spaniard said

The snake will get really cloudy and then clear up almost looking like she's normal again. It will be a few days after she clears up that you will see a shed.

They get blue-ish, then clear up and look normal for a day or two, and then shed. So if 3 or 4 days go by, and you look at your snake and it looks normal but you can't find the shed, it didn't eat it or anything, just be patient. That confused me when i first started out with snakes too!

oh yeah, i like to feed within a day or two after shedding. They usually miss a meal while in blue, so they're pretty empty, and i figure shedding is a pretty labor-intesive business and they deserve some food!

[L.West]

Thanks everyone for the responses.

One more question though - how long until I should even attempt to hold her. She has been hiding in her hideout for days now - I was getting worried which is when I realized her color was changing - I lifted up her hide to check on her and noticed she looked dull and blueish grey.

Her usual feeding day is Wednesday - should I just skip it this week??

[Nate]

Thanks everyone for the responses.

One more question though - how long until I should even attempt to hold her. She has been hiding in her hideout for days now - I was getting worried which is when I realized her color was changing - I lifted up her hide to check on her and noticed she looked dull and blueish grey.

They don't need to be held - so there's nothing to worry about

Her usual feeding day is Wednesday - should I just skip it this week??

It never hurts to try. but if she refuses, it won't hurt to skip a meal either.