Baby's shed is going badly! advice needed

Baby is having her first shed with us and it's not going well at all even tho we provided a humid hide which she used and her humidity is 70% for the past 2 or 3 days.

She started last night and has cleared her head but there are big pieces of dry skin just hanging off her and scattered about her cage. Since she just started last night am I jumping the gun to think about soaking her today? She's on papertowels so we can monitor her poop/urate. Did we screw up by not giving her something rough enough to rub against?

Poor thing just looks miserable and when I just checked her now she sort of "flinched" away from me which she's never done.

Advice please.


~~Joanna~~

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Originally Posted by frankykeno

Baby is having her first shed with us and it's not going well at all even tho we provided a humid hide which she used and her humidity is 70% for the past 2 or 3 days.

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If she's just shedding now, the humid hide should have been in there for the last week or so. Maybe it's too wet?

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Originally Posted by frankykeno

She started last night and has cleared her head but there are big pieces of dry skin just hanging off her and scattered about her cage.

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I bet you have over head lights for heating?

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Originally Posted by frankykeno

Since she just started last night am I jumping the gun to think about soaking her today?

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Nope. Small Rubbermaid container. No air holes needed. Fill with tepid water no higher than the top of her back. Put snake in container and close, put container in cage for 1 hour. When you take her out, slide as much skin off as you can. Repeat this once a day until it's all gone. ;)

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Originally Posted by frankykeno

Did we screw up by not giving her something rough enough to rub against?

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Not at all. Some ball pythons will never shed "perfectly", and some shed great. Each animal is different. I'm lucky enough to work with a large enough group that are all maintained the same to see that it's not "me" that is causing the occasional bad shed, it's just the snakes.

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Originally Posted by frankykeno

Poor thing just looks miserable and when I just checked her now she sort of "flinched" away from me which she's never done.

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She's fine, a little uncomfortable at worst. Remember a snake is not a person and doesn't experience human emotions like misery, I'm sure she's just scared by your reaction to the situation. Tone of your voice, running around in a panic, etc :P

-adam

Thanks for all the advice Adam, you certainly help me put things in perspective and be less nervous of all these new experiences. She probably was reacting to me. I have the worst habit of ascribing human emotion to animals LOL.

Funny you should mention an overhead light as my husband decided last week to add that. I'm not sure what type it is....dark purple in color is the best description I can give. Our house unfortunately is a very old handbuilt log cabin and a bit drafty and he was concerned but if this overhead light has done more harm than good, perhaps it wasn't such a good idea. It did seem to regulate her heat better and we were able to maintain humidity.

She's had the humid hide since the 15th when her eyes went blue but maybe she was already in shed before that and we missed the signs (we've not been handling her much as she's so new to us). We'll make sure and include it earlier next time and perhaps that will produce a better shed.

I'll soak her today as suggested and report back. Thanks again,


~~Jo~~

I second the notion of "sometimes the snake just decides to have a bad shed." I keep my 1.1 pair in identical cages, exact same temps, humidity, etc, and the last time my female she, she rubbed off half of her head, some on her belly, and just left the rest.

I was like HELLO YOU AREN'T DONE! I gave her the rest of the night to finish and in the morning it was still the same. I used the remedies listed above by adam and got the rest off.

Last night my male shed. Perfect one-piece. I didn't even know he was in shed. O well!

Soaking is in progress.

When I remove her in 1 hour what is the right way to remove any skin that hasn't come off at that point? Different posts I looked up here said either a warm, wet facecloth or damp papertowels to let her slither thru or gently rub off the stuck skin. I assume either is a good option as long as the skin is coming off easily.

Quick back-up question.....good or bad shed...is there any sort of standard time to wait after a shed before offering the next meal or just offer it and see what happens?

Thanks as always,


~~Jo~~

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Originally Posted by frankykeno

When I remove her in 1 hour what is the right way to remove any skin that hasn't come off at that point? Different posts I looked up here said either a warm, wet facecloth or damp papertowels to let her slither thru or gently rub off the stuck skin. I assume either is a good option as long as the skin is coming off easily.

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If you did it right, just let her crawl through your hands a couple of times and the shed should slide off.

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Originally Posted by frankykeno

Quick back-up question.....good or bad shed...is there any sort of standard time to wait after a shed before offering the next meal or just offer it and see what happens?

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Not for me. I feed on Mondays and only Mondays ... shed, no shed, good shed, bad shed ... I don't care. If they eat they eat and if they don't they will next time. They don't need to eat every week, so it's no big deal either way. Ball pythons in captivity are WAY over fed, so there is ZERO harm in waiting a little bit.

-adam

First thing, the first shed or two is generally a reflection of the husbandry under which the snake was kept previously, at least if it's shedding within a month or two of acquisition. So it doesn't mean that you've done anything wrong or even necessarily that the bulb is too drying (though that can definitely be the case as well, they are very drying).

Next, I suggest your roughest towel as the item of choice to let her slither through or run gently against her. Paper towels will do nothing, really, and your hands would be a better choice for the traction provided. Washcloths tend to be too soft and smooth, but if you have a good rough one that would be a better choice than paper towels. You want something with traction and preferably a little weight to it.

As far as offering the next meal, let the snake be your guide. Does she appear to be cruising for food? Generally, once the eyes have cleared, you have good odds of a regular eater being ready to eat.

Just a quick report back. After the hour of soaking a huge amount of shed came off, most of it in two large pieces. She is all shiney except a bit left on the skinniest part of her neck up towards her head and possibly some on her head. When I opened the tub back up she was stretching her head up so that part of her neck and her head would have not gotten wet at all.

She was very "jumpy" being handled so I wasn't able to gently rub her upper neck or head at all. I didn't get a really good examination of her head to make sure both eyecaps are off and her head is fully shed. I will try again either later tonight or tomorrow when she has had time to settle down a bit.

We've only had her 17 days and with her coming from a pet store rather than a breeder, I guess getting her to eat, pass poop twice and urates once is a good sign and I shouldn't have hoped for a really good shed this first time up (you still hope tho LOL).


~~Joanna~~

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Originally Posted by frankykeno

We've only had her 17 days and with her coming from a pet store rather than a breeder, I guess getting her to eat, pass poop twice and urates once is a good sign and I shouldn't have hoped for a really good shed this first time up (you still hope tho LOL).

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IMHO, way too many people are hung up on the whole "shed in one piece" thing. It's really no big deal and does not reflect poorly on your husbandry at all. Now if you were to let it sit on there for shed after shed after shed than you're pretty much a dirtball, but as long as you take care of it so what?

Try going herpin for snakes in the wild some time. 99% have pieces of shed stuck on them. That's just the way life goes when you don't have any arms and legs!! :D

-adam

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Originally Posted by Adam_Wysocki

Try going herpin for snakes in the wild some time. 99% have pieces of shed stuck on them. That's just the way life goes when you don't have any arms and legs!! :D

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yep, I always see wild snakes w/ partial sheds left on them.......and lizards have legs and I still see a few w/ partial sheds...ha :)