There are scales all over my bathroom!

I'm taking care of my sisters diamond carpet python, Dexter, while she is in the hospital. His last shed was really bad. To help him out, I soaked him in warm water and I also rubbed him gently with mineral oil. At 4 years old, he hasn't been handled much at all prior to my sister buying him. He's not aggressive, just awkward, squirmy, and puffy. He's 6 ft long and pretty fast. During his "bath", he was not happy and flung himself everywhere, all while his scales came off individually. I added some moss to his enclosure and left him in a damp bag overnight, and his skin is starting to improve. Meanwhile, my bathroom and everything in it is covered in scales. They are sticky and they are everywhere! How do I go about dealing with this mess?


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Mineral oil will cause them to sloughing off.

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Originally Posted by PitOnTheProwl

Mineral oil will cause them to sloughing off.

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This. Mineral oil / petroleum jelly is the worst thing you can apply for shedding.

I would suggest a vacuum with a long hose to suck up the mess, unless the scales were still oil and sticking to the walls and linoleum or tile floor. If that's the case something like 409 and a damp sponge should pick them up.

In the meantime increase the humidity in the critter's enclosure. If he eats f/t rodents then feed them wet to help him rehydrate from the inside.

I see my local exotics store misinformed me again... I have thoroughly misted his cage and added a bunch of damp moss to his enclosure too. Tomorrow I will get some supplies to create a humid hide for him as well. Any more tips to help him with this shed? Poor guy is so grumpy about it. Thanks for the tips on cleaning up, now I just need to stop procrastinating and actually do it...


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Do not use anything "artificial".

Anything that is not natural is not an improvement.

Basic, quality, husbandry is what spells success for reptiles. In almost all cases OUR errors are what starts a snake down the wrong road.

Reptiles can be resilient but they can also quickly deteriorate when improper husbandry and stress come into play.

You seem to be on the right track now.

Boost your humidity and wait to see how things go.

If you are able to let the snake soak and then work it's way through a warm damp towel you can assist with a shed.

In reality soaking is not a good practice and I have never had any snake sit in a water bowl, but when situations like this arise, it is an option to improve a bad shed.

I would be far less worried about the "mess" than I would the health of the snake. It appears you are.

Work through the shed and keep the snake healthy and unstressed.

Your mess is easily cleaned up and nothing to worry about. bcr229 was right about the vacuum and I see no issues with cleanup.

The most important issue here is a complete shed. If you get that worked out you are set!

Thankyou. His cage is so huge(4'x4'x2') and quite ventilated, it can be difficult keeping humidity in. Hopefully with the addition of moss and a humid hide or two he will be shedding correctly again. By keeping everything natural, does his mean I should be adding live plants? I did toy with the idea of a living terrarium, but he's so big and awkward that he would simply destroy everything. Maybe a misting system?


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Live plants are not needed. Switching over to cypress mulch as substrate will help though.

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Originally Posted by bcr229

Live plants are not needed. Switching over to cypress mulch as substrate will help though.

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Oh ok in that case his enclosure is already naturalistic. I use cypress mulch for a substrate and he has a bunch of big pieces of wood.


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