new snake, bad shed. what can i do to help?

i bought a new snake a week ago tomorrow and he has been in his hide this whole time until this morning, i opened up my enclosure to pull out a little piece of shed that i saw, thought it was just the end of the whole thing but it was just a little piece, and was very disappointed to see a bunch of little flakes coming off of him and only a tiny piece of shed. ive been misting, put the water bowl over the heat source. he has had a solid 75% humidity the entire time i have had him, i even warmed up the tub and let humidity build a day before i brought him home. how long should i wait before i help him and how do i go about it when i do?

Its a sign your humidity was too low. If your using a tank you need to help by misting the tank daily. Also covering the top of the screen with aluminum foil and tape it down. This will hold in heat and humidity. If your using a heat lamp switch to a under tank heater and that will help as well.


To help with the shed do this.

Get a pillow case wet with warm water
Toss in the snake and tie it off.
Then put the pillow case on the warm side of the cage for 45 mins. This will cause the snake to move around looking for a way out and rub off the remaining skin.

Here is a post that should help. http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...hed-No-problem.

i have a uth in a sterilite tub, i usualy only have to put the water over the heat source and i end up with so much humidity that it drips off the cover. i took the extra precaution to mist the little guy since hes new and i didnt want to deal with a bad shed cause i didnt know what to do thank you both very much cause now i do.

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Originally Posted by deadsmiley

i have a uth in a sterilite tub, i usualy only have to put the water over the heat source and i end up with so much humidity that it drips off the cover. i took the extra precaution to mist the little guy since hes new and i didnt want to deal with a bad shed cause i didnt know what to do thank you both very much cause now i do.

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I hope you have a UTH on the outside of the tub.

Stress can also cause bad sheds, and since you only brought it home a few days ago, that may have been what caused it. Do like Rich said with the pillow case or hold him in a wet towel and let him crawl through it a few times...

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Originally Posted by snakesRkewl

I hope you have a UTH on the outside of the tub.

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yes, the uth is on the outside lol. gonna wait till tonight to help him out since he has been pretty stressed from this mid shed move to my house.

soaking did almost nothing, got a tiny little piece off the bottom. the shed is still stuck to him across the entire top half of his body and he almost has half his body length shed but only on his belly.

Try repeating the soak for about 15 minutes and either the pillowcase or wet towel every other day and it should help...

i soaked him again at about 3 in the morning for 30 min and got the shed to loosen up enough for him to get all but a little patch behind his head. thanks everyone!