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Retained shed?
My two month old been had her first shed with me about two weeks ago, and it was a fairly good shed-- full skin other than a tiny portion of her tail, which she got off on her own. But today, I noticed she has two small patches of scales that are much duller and a little rougher than the rest of her. The patches are a teeny bit darker in shade, and don't shine the way her other scales do. I've read around a bit and assume it must be a retained shed, that there were a few patches that didn't come off, and that it should come off with her next shed; furthermore, I read recommendations of giving her a soak in some lukewarm water to help. Her humidity and heat is good and nothing is an issue with her husbandry.
If I do give her a soak, should I wait for her to be in shed again? I'm actually not sure I'll be able to tell-- the first time, I didn't even know she was in shed, because her eye caps weren't visible (I do keep her in quite dim lighting, however, and her eyes are a gold/green shimmery color around a black slit down the middle) although I did locate the caps on her shed skin.
Thanks in advance, all. I'd post some photos, but I have a horrible camera lol and the little thing never stays still long enough for an in-focus picture :3
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Maybe you can try to post pictures? It doesn't sound like stuck shed to me. Shed rarely (never?) gets stuck on random small patches on the body like what I think you're describing.
If it's stuck shed, you can simply soak a wet towel, put it in a tub, put the snake in there, and let it sit in there for 15 minutes. Take the snake out and gently rub off the shed with the towel, and it'll slide right off.
I wouldn't do "lukewarm water" soaks, because people often make the water way too hot (what we think is a little warm, a snake thinks is very hot) and it's more stressful than just doing the towel in a tub method.
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