First shed complete, well...not quite.

Knowing that my snake has been in the shedding process for little over a week now I came home last night to a pile of skin blocking the entrance to the hide. Lifting the hide I found a brightly and brilliant coloured snake :) The skin came off in one large and almost complete piece. There is still about an inch and a half of skin left on the tip of it's tail. Any suggestions about what to do about this?

I used a shedding aid made by Zilla a few nights ago to aid the process as I am constantly battling low humidity. (I know many of you consider these a waste of money). Should I give the snake another soak? Should I leave it be? Should I give the skin an ever so light tug?

Did you soak before the shed? That's actually not helpful. It can leech oils out of the skin and make it drier and cause a bad shed. Wait until after the shed (like now) to soak if needed.

A lukewarm wash cloth is probably a good way to go. A full soak isn't necessary. You actually had a near-perfect shed, and a bit on the tail isn't uncommon or a bad sign at all.

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Originally Posted by stevepoppers

Did you soak before the shed? That's actually not helpful. It can leech oils out of the skin and make it drier and cause a bad shed.

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Yep - that is a common opinion, although a very debatable one. Some say it's bad to soak prior to a shed (for the reasons Stevepoppers has mentioned) and others say this is simply not true and that it actually helps.

I am no expert and can only speak from personal experience, but when I got my 3 1/2 year old male, he had patches of old skin all over him, also caused by humidity problems. I now let him soak, but only just before the actual slough, and it comes off in 1 piece, no problem.

Oh - and I wouldn't tug at it! If it really wont come off, then just wait til next shed and it probably will

There are some snakes that will soak themselves prior to shedding. So, is it bad for them to do so? Should we take them out of their water bowls if they are close to shedding?

Obviously we shouldn't have to do something like that.

I was thinking that maybe it has something to do with the water. Water in the water bowl is generally chlorine free (assuming it has sat out for a while to evaporate). Water right from your tap that you would use for a soak would contain chlorine, which could be a reason for a bad shed after a soak. Chlorine really dries out MY skin, so I assume it would be similar for a reptile. Then again I am sure there are snakes that soak themselves in fresh tap water and shed just fine.

Just a though.

I don't soak any of my animals unless they have had a bad shed or reek of poo. If you are having such a problem with humidity it might be worth it to switch to tubs.

If its just a little on the tail you can usually just handle the snake and let it crawl through your hands while gently gripping the tail before the skin. It should just rub off easily. I would just put a humid hide in the enclosure. Damp peat moss or aspen mulch in a container with a hole cut in it. Most BPs will spend most of their time in a humid hide if they are given one when they go into shed.