How Long Should A Sumatran Be In Shed?
One of my 2016 Sumatrans is shedding for the first time since i've had them and he has had the layer of dead skin on him from head to tail for a whole week. I'm beginning to wonder if he might be having problems. All of my Bloods and Short Tails enclosures get misted down generously daily and temps and humidity are great. Does anyone know how long a baby Sumatran will generally take to shed?
Re: How Long Should A Sumatran Be In Shed?
From the first sign to actually shedding, mine takes about 1.5-2 weeks. Usually about 3 days after the haze clears up.
Kyle
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Re: How Long Should A Sumatran Be In Shed?
When my Matrix shed I never even knew she was in shed. I just checked in on her (as I always do at least a couple times a day) and lo and behold her skin was laying in her water dish. The weird part is, that was before I decided to start misting daily and her humidity was only running around 55%. Yet, she had a nice full shed. I've been wondering if generous daily misting might not even be necessary or perhaps harmful? What do you guys think?
Re: How Long Should A Sumatran Be In Shed?
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Aedryan Methyus
When my Matrix shed I never even knew she was in shed. I just checked in on her (as I always do at least a couple times a day) and lo and behold her skin was laying in her water dish. The weird part is, that was before I decided to start misting daily and her humidity was only running around 55%. Yet, she had a nice full shed. I've been wondering if generous daily misting might not even be necessary or perhaps harmful? What do you guys think?
I like to err on the side of caution in this case. I "never" mist daily in between sheds. But my enclosures hold humidity well.
During shed, I mist a lot more, sometimes daily. Has never caused any problems yet, and I have always had good sheds. I do check on them daily though, and I do not create a humid "swamp" either. I always make sure the enclosures are kept clean, I'm very particular about it, so I never have a wet, warm and dirty breeding ground for bacteria.
Some people have more ventilation, some have less. So I think its more of an individual thing.
Since its known that Bloods, etc, have a harder time shedding I didn't want to take any chances. I didn't want to make the trust I established go down the drain by trying to help with a bad shed.
In this case I trusted the breeder, that said to just dump the water dish during this time and refill it. I choose to mist certain areas of the tub heavily, and a couple of times, the snake itself.
Some people do not have a water dish large enough for a whole Blood/Short tail to fit in (esp. as they grow) so I would worry about having it to "dry", even if the "humidity in the air" was ok. Where they come from they are often found in wet areas or near water, so I don't think it causes them any harm. The harm comes from forcing them to be in a tepid, warm, swampy enclosure that may be growing bacteria.. At least that is what I think ;)