Baby Oil isn't just for babies!

I've read and heard a number of people say that if your snakes eye caps don't come off during a shed that you should rub a little bit of baby oil on them and gently rub it away with a Q-tip or soft cloth.

Now, assuming this is true i have a very strange question. My little one is having trouble shedding. I've been spraying the cage multiple times daily to keep the humidity at a nice 70% but he's only gotten half, literally half, his old skin off. I've tried soaking him in water but he wasn't having it at all. He was agitated before i put him in the bath and even more so after i took him out. I did this because that's the same thing i did to my bigger BP when he had shedding problems and he was actually very calm about it. He let me do whatever it was i needed to do and had no qualms about it. Now i know that my snakes have two very different attitudes.

ANYWHO! I was wondering, Since it's safe to put baby oil on a snakes eye then could i possibly use it to get the rest of my little ones shed off?

try soaking in a tub that the snake can't get out of...but don't put to much water in. Just enough water to cover the thickness of your snake should be plenty but you can do less. Leave him in the tub for a bit and let the humidity build up to losen the skin. After that if the skin isn't coming off any easier you can use a damp towel to help losen/remove the skin.

Well, that's what i said. I had done that before. I left him in there for a half hour but the whole time he was freaking out where with my other BP he just laid there and soaked it up. I even used to towel to gently help it come off and it didn't help much plus i just made him even more PO'ed.


That's why i wanna know if i should use the baby oil given that it wont harm him in anyway because it's been 3 days since he started shedding and he hasn't gotten much off. My humidity is great and there's tones of rough surfaces in the cage. I'm at my wits end.

I wouldn't. It has fragrances and other things that, while they may be fine for humans, aren't good for snakes.

Try using a small rubbermaid tub(such as a shoebox size) with a lid. Put about 1" of lukewarm water in the bottom, , put the snake in, put the lid on, then put the whole thing back on the warm side of the snake's enclosure. Leave it for an hour. Then let the snake slither through a wet, rough washcloth or rough towel. The shed should come off. If not, repeat the process the next day(not twice in the same day- you'll just stress out the snake).

If the snake is continually having bad sheds, you need to look at your husbandry. Sometimes, some snakes won't ever have a good shed, but more often than not they will shed fine if your husbandry is spot on.

Since you were keeping the snakes together, they obviously had to compete for the best spots in the cage. And a 55gallon tank isn't going to be easy to practice good husbandry in because of the enormous air space you have to heat. Stress can also make them not have good sheds. Stress in your snakes' situation equals being kept together, and having to compete for food(in their minds), hiding spots, the best warm spots, humid spots, etc.

I would try separating them into a rubbermaid/iris/sterilite tub apiece, and give them a month or two to settle in, start eating on a good schedule, and then you will be able to tell a difference in their attitudes once separated. They won't be as stressed, will probably have better feeding responses, and will shed better. The plastic housing helps too :) I keep my girl in an underbed box that is 39"x16"x9". It is made by Rubbermaid and is VERY transparent. She seems about as stressed out as a 20lb house cat asleep on the windowsill, LoL.

Anywho, hope that helped a bit.

That helped a lot.

I'm actually working on seperating them. Right now i've got a piece of cardboard dividing the cage in half.

It's weird, i did exactly what you said to do about the shedding before i even read your reply. Now i don't feel so smart though. :\ THANKS A LOT!!!!

:D

Don't use baby oil, mineral oil, tape, or any other strange junk on a ball pythons eyes.

If your snake has a stuck eye cap or stuck shed anywhere else on it's body, soak him in tepid water for at least an hour (you could go up to two) in a completely sealed rubbermaid box. Make sure the water is no deeper than 3/4 of the way up the sides of the snake to prevent him/her from drowning.

After you remove him/her from the box, just wipe away the stuck shed ... if it doesn't come off the first try, repeat everything once a night until it's gone.

Don't worry about your snake "freaking out" when it's in the box ... I assure you it will "freak out" much more if it's eye is injured and either falls out, is pulled out, or needs to be surgically removed from using anything other than water to get the eyecaps off.

Hope this helps.

-adam

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Adam_Wysocki

Don't use baby oil, mineral oil, tape, or any other strange junk on a ball pythons eyes.

If your snake has a stuck eye cap or stuck shed anywhere else on it's body, soak him in tepid water for at least an hour (you could go up to two) in a completely sealed rubbermaid box. Make sure the water is no deeper than 3/4 of the way up the sides of the snake to prevent him/her from drowning.

After you remove him/her from the box, just wipe away the stuck shed ... if it doesn't come off the first try, repeat everything once a night until it's gone.

Don't worry about your snake "freaking out" when it's in the box ... I assure you it will "freak out" much more if it's eye is injured and either falls out, is pulled out, or needs to be surgically removed from using anything other than water to get the eyecaps off.

Hope this helps.

-adam

---

He's right, I have even heard of people using cooking oil on snakes for reasons similar..you know what they end up with? Lesions. Also heard of people popping them off with thumbtacks, which is another bad idea.

being in veterinary medicine (I'm an LVT), you can ask your local repti-vet for some mucomist to help get the eye caps off :)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by amcgltdchix

being in veterinary medicine (I'm an LVT), you can ask your local repti-vet for some mucomist to help get the eye caps off :)

---

Why would you need to do that when a good soak in tepid water will take them right off?

-adam

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Adam_Wysocki

Why would you need to do that when a good soak in tepid water will take them right off?

-adam

---

because sometimes you get the reptile owner that has let eyecap after eyecap stick to the snake and nothing else will soften it up :)