Poor thing :[ advice please?

My bp didn't have an all-in-one-piece shed and still has some retained around her neck area. I've been giving her baths and rubbing ointment on her to help but she doesn't much appreciate being touched close to her head so that isn't helping fast enough for me not to be concerned. Anyway, she hasn't eaten in a while and i can tell shes pretty hungry. I'm worried that when she swallows and her throat expands it'll rip the old skin off in a way that's not healthy. So should i go ahead and start feeding again or should i wait until all the old skin is completely gone?

My YB recently had a bad shed because I interrupted her, and she didn't shed her whole chin and neck and pretty well her whole body. They don't like being touched near their heads, but in this kind of case IMO tough love is in order.

She won't like it, but you'll just have to soak her and restrain her so you can work the skin off. There's no real other way around it. It has to be done. Personally I'd do it before I feed, because the sooner after the shed you do it the easier it'll be to get off, because it's not completely dry and there may be some leftover lubricant that they use to shed the skin naturally in there.

1) Stop using ointment. What ointment are you using by the way?

2) Definitely feed her. Any stretching that occurs won't be harmful, promise.

3) Stop giving her baths, and try just giving her a damp hide, or placing a wet sponge in her enclosure.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by meowmeowkazoo

1) Stop using ointment. What ointment are you using by the way?

2) Definitely feed her. Any stretching that occurs won't be harmful, promise.

3) Stop giving her baths, and try just giving her a damp hide, or placing a wet sponge in her enclosure.

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the ointment is stuff the vet sent me home with to put on her eyes to make sure the caps come off. when I first brought her home her caps were stuck on from the last shed but i didn't notice until later.

i'm getting conflicting advice here. i guess what i'll do is feed tonight, raise the humidity, then in a couple days do a bath and get this skin off as quickly as i can.

My 2 cents.

A little stuck shed will not hurt her. I would not use ointment on stuck shed, not necessary and depending on the oil content of the ointment may cause her to loose scales. Baths and rubbing are stressful. Feeding with stuck shed may actually help her get the shed off. Stuck shed happens sometimes, don't sweat it and expect to see it again some day. As long as your husbandry is reasonable, she will be just fine :)

DO NOT use ointment, it isn't necessary. I don't care what the vet said. If her humidity is correct, she'll shed just fine with no help.

Next, she does NOT need you to peel or pull or rub off her shed. It bothers you a lot more than it does her.

If you absolutely can't stand the shed being there, this is how you can help her. Take a clean pillowcase, dampen it with water, wring it out and tie her inside of it. Place the pillowcase with her inside on a controlled heat source so she doesn't get chilled. Give it about an hour, and I'll just about guarantee that shed will be off.

She cannot hurt herself by eating. That shed is just a layer of dead cells, and she can't "rip it off" in a bad way. Feed the poor thing! Take a deep breath, stop stressing out and stressing HER out, and realize this is no big deal.

Gale

Quote:

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Originally Posted by angllady2

DO NOT use ointment, it isn't necessary. I don't care what the vet said. If her humidity is correct, she'll shed just fine with no help.

Next, she does NOT need you to peel or pull or rub off her shed. It bothers you a lot more than it does her.

If you absolutely can't stand the shed being there, this is how you can help her. Take a clean pillowcase, dampen it with water, wring it out and tie her inside of it. Place the pillowcase with her inside on a controlled heat source so she doesn't get chilled. Give it about an hour, and I'll just about guarantee that shed will be off.

She cannot hurt herself by eating. That shed is just a layer of dead cells, and she can't "rip it off" in a bad way. Feed the poor thing! Take a deep breath, stop stressing out and stressing HER out, and realize this is no big deal.

Gale

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