albino burm

so im pretty excited i got a 7foot albino patternless burmese python.. ive wanted one Forever now. wife agreed and i got her, or you could say rescued. the guy was feeding her live rabbits. as we all know the vicious damage rabbits can do on a snake and they have done some to her. she has a few cuts and scrapes. but besides that she's a beauty. well problem is since i got her she was in the late cycle of her shed, and hasnt been able to take it off. i have let her soak in a warm bath in the tub, i have put 3 towels so she can glide through them, i have put shedding aid *which really doesnt do anything* and i have bumped her humidity up to 75% in her tank. she been kinda cranky lately and i cant blame her. any other ideas? home remedies? thanks

/bump

hey thanks for the response pfft

My apologies that your thread was not responded to in a more timely fashion.


As for the shedding issue....how much shed is still stuck? If it's just a few patches here and there, I wouldn't worry about it. It should come off with the next healthy shed after she's spent time in your care in a proper environment. If you're talking about large swatches of skin, especially skin encircling parts of her body or the end of her tail...then that really does need to come off.

There's no "secret recipe" for removing stuck shed that I'm aware of. Sometimes a single soaking session is not enough. If this is the case, just repeat the process 24 hours later. And again the next day if she still needs a little more help. And continue with the "wet-towel-slither" after each soak.

Good luck with her.

The best place to get some info on your burm's husbandry is through the burm guru, Jim Mason. You can find him through albinoburmese.com

I have a 10' burm and unfortunately he had some stuck shed under his chin this past shedding cycle which seemed to make him a bit cranky as well ("yeah, and mommy doesn't feed me enough...I *never* eat enough!"). Anywho, being that a) it wasn't encircling his mouth and no important orifice was being blocked (nostrils, etc.) and b) he was cranky, I gently rubbed a luke warm washcloth on his chin a couple of times and have since let it go. Good humidity and during his next shed, it should all come off fine. =)

hey thanks for info... was having a bad day i responded to my own question :P please forgive. any ways no its not a piece.. its the full skin. she's flaked off a few pieces but she cant get it off. i have soaked her in my bath tub for about 1 hour every day and soon as i take her out and put her in her tank she starts to rub everywhere like she's say "come off already" lately she's been real cranky and hissing all the time.. i would be too if i was in her skin. well any ideas. ty

:confused: It's been like nine or ten days and she's still stuck in her full skin??? And she's been soaked every day and kept in reasonably humid conditions?


I've never heard of a shed going to that extreme. If I were in your shoes, I'd be on the phone to find an experienced vet, as well as trying to contact folks like Bob Clark or Dave Barker, who have decades of experience with literally hundreds of giant snakes and may have some idea of what's going on and what will help.

try putting a warm towel in her cage underneath a hide box or something, that always works with my ball pythons.

Helping to manually shed a large python that MAY get grumpy is not only painful, but possibly deady. She probably just hasn't shed yet becuase she isn't ready. Keep her warm, mist her regularly, and add an extra big water source over the heat source to raise humidity. I've had to manually help a 7-8' burm shed and trust me, its no easy task. Keep the humidity up and she will shed when she is ready. My best remedy if you have a bad shedder(with bigger snakes mainly) is to take a big tote and fill it with moist moss or eco earth. Keep the lid on and put a hole in the side. Put it on the warmer side of the cage(keeping it at about 88-90 inside the tote) and the humidity will aproach 100% within minutes. There is no way to go wrong with that.

hey hey thanks! i will try the moss idea. i have done the warm towel, soak and everything else. i guess i will give her another 2 days with moss.. if not then im gonna go at it and take her to a vet and if they say manually... well ill post pics of the bites. :P btw im soo happy. i was given a 8 foot red oak chest thats about 8 feet long 2 feet deep and 4 feet high.. solid as hell and i already gutted it out and im gonna make a nice furniture tank... ill post pics when im done. i think this will look awesome! ty for all replys and i will update.