Dehydrated Python

Okay, so my girl is going into shed but she looks extremely dehydrated, wrinkles around the neck and all. I noticed that she somehow managed to get some of her dirt substrate into her mouth so I gently cleaned it out with a wet paper towel. I'm glad that my girl is super docile and let me open her mouth a bit to get it out.
I figure she is dehydrated either from the dirt she got in her mouth or just from the stress of the shed. She's never had a bad shed before nor has she ever been this dehydrated. Again, I think it was from the dirt in her mouth and now that its cleaned up I'm hoping she'll want to drink. So far. nothing. She's never had a problem drinking before, after all she loves hiding underneath her water dish and spilling her water everywhere. Honestly her constant burrowing is probably how she got dirt in her mouth.
I'm planning on giving her a warm soak tomorrow after work to see if that helps and coaxes her into drinking.

Cage temps and all those fun details:
Temps:
Cool Side- 76 fahrenheit
Warm Side: 84 fahrenheit
Hotspot: 90 fahrenheit
Humidity: 66% (I did raise it just a little to help with her shed)

Has a warm hide and a cool hide,
I change her water daily
I use a UVB bulb during the day (she isn't in a space where she can get much natural sun) and a low wattage blue/night/moon heat lamp to keep her cage heated day and night, where I live it is fairly cold and in the middle of winter in an old house without much heating my girl needed some extra warmth. The great thing about the night heat lamp is that it gives off barely any light.

Because she is in shed I have not handled her that much, I wanted to leave her alone to let her do her thing. The only time I have handled her during this shed was to get the dirt I noticed in her mouth out.

So yeah. Dehydrated snake, not fun. Besides a warm soak what else can I do to get my baby hydrated again?

Dehydrated snakes usually have sunken eyes, and have a baggy look to them. Her Humidity is at a good enough level, but if you want to boost it up to 70 just for the shed that won’t hurt. If her shed doesn’t come off in one piece, that’s another sign of dehydration. And usually, dirt in a beeps mouth makes them want to drink more, to rid whatever’s inside out.


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Her eyes aren't sucken, but she certainly has a baggy/wrinkled look to her. She's still acting normal and fine and went about her snake business as usual after I got the dirt out. I'll boost the humidity to see if that helps. So far she's still in the cloudy eye stages of shedding and actually hasn't started to shed off the skin just yet. Like I've said, she's never had a bad shed before. The dirt was pretty caked on there, she could still open her mouth fine from what it seems. I'm honestly surprised she's looking so dehydrated. Maybe she just looks so wrinkled cause she's shedding???

Both my pied and lemon blast had poor sheds this last go around because I’m struggling with humidity thanks to the house heat running nearly nonstop. My lemon blast in particular looked wrinkly around her neck. I gave her a soak in lukewarm water for about 20 minutes, and added a humid hide to her cage. Once she started shedding I gave her another soak to get any stuck shed loose and she looked fine afterwards. So the wrinkles could be dehydration, poor shed, or both. I think a soak would not hurt and will help rehydrate and assist with the shed.

I'm gonna give her a warm soak and see if that helps! Thanks for the advice :)

Just be careful how warm your soak is...warm for our 98.6 degree temperature is too warm for your snake. I usually aim for around 85F +/- a couple of degrees.

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Originally Posted by Dianne

Just be careful how warm your soak is...warm for our 98.6 degree temperature is too warm for your snake. I usually aim for around 85F +/- a couple of degrees.

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This ^^

Plus stay with her when she's soaking , never leave them unattended.


She will look much plumper as healthier hopefully after a soak .

After the soak if the skin is coming off .... wrap her in a damp rough textured towel and let her slither around for a while . The skin comes off gently on the towel .




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You might want to look into switching to Reptibark substrate. My snake had the same issue with dirt in his mouth once before. I was using coco substrate in his tank and putting down a paper towel for him to feed on. He moved his mouse off the towel and got a huge mouth full of dirt. I had to remove as much as I could while he ate. I switched over to reptibark the next day and never had another issue. It’s easier to spot clean and maintain humidity with as well. Just something to think about.


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Maybe post a picture?

She's fine now, the wrinkles in her skin was caused by the shed and not dehydration (I gave her a soak anyway just to be on the safe side), she's not having a bad shed and is shedding just fine.

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You might want to look into switching to Reptibark substrate. My snake had the same issue with dirt in his mouth once before. I was using coco substrate in his tank and putting down a paper towel for him to feed on. He moved his mouse off the towel and got a huge mouth full of dirt. I had to remove as much as I could while he ate. I switched over to reptibark the next day and never had another issue. It’s easier to spot clean and maintain humidity with as well. Just something to think about.

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I'm thinking of switching her substrate after this shed. She hasn't gotten any more of it in her mouth but then again I don't want it happening to her a second time. I'll try out the reptibark and see if its a good fit for her.