Good humidity, Bad shed

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Originally Posted by For Goodness Snakes

I have found through the 50 odd years that I've owned snakes that if you spray them down very heavily 3 times in a 10 minute period you can go back to the snake after that 10 minutes and peel the skin off very easily. I have found that soaking them in a tub will usually soften up the belly and side of the snake, but because the snake is buoyant the dorsal area is still pretty dry.

Another technique is to go ahead and spray down the snake 3 times in a 10 minute period then place the wet snake into a warm wet pillow case. Keep the snake in the bag for about 5 minutes, the friction from the snake moving around in the cloth bag along with the moist softened skin will usually produce a fully shed snake. This technique works very well for retained eye caps.

If you have any questions about snake husbandry, breeding or mite control feel free to call me at 408-981-6694.

Best of luck.

Brian Gundy
For Goodness Snakes

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This is similar to what I've done, with great results, except that I soaked the pillow case, wrung it out, closed the end and then just put the snake in it and the whole package back into her tub rather than spraying her down. With enough room to reach warmth and cool, I left her in there for about an hour - dark, quiet, not floating in water, with friction and humidity. When I took her out, there was no stuck shed left. Then I got to try and get all the pieces of shed skin out of the inside of the pillow case... but the snake wasn't stressed in the least.

Get a tupperware container that will comfortably fit your snake. Get sphagnum moss from hardware store. Cut hole in lid of tupperware large enough for snake to enter. Fill tupperware with dampened sphagnum moss. Put lid back on. Put tupperware in snake enclosure. Done.

Soaking, pillow cases and peeling sheds is time consuming and unnecessary. When you notice your snake is in shed, put this diy humid hide in the enclosure and the snake will do all the work for you. Even if the snake doesnt use it, it will still provide a bump in general humidity.

I would do the humid hide or maintain higher humidity in the tank as opposed to force-soaking your BP. If it wants to soak, it will get in its water bowl. There is a reason they don't normally do this though... because they don't care of it, and it will stress them out.

The great part about a humid hide is that you can keep your regular enclosure at the standard 50-60% humidity, while providing a highly humid respite for the snake when needed. Almost an enclosure inside of an enclosure. The tupperware is easy to clean and replace, and wont create a mess within the rest of the cage.

Only reason I tried getting the shed off the way I did is bc it is a sticky on this site. I will never do it again and would never recommend anyone doing it.

I use humid hides for my geckos. The only thing is that I don't have room in her enclosure for a humid hide. I'm good at catching sheds since I handle 1-2 times a week. When I put her back in I bumped humidity up to 90. It maintains humidity good. I only have to spray once every 2 days. My male was in the enclosure she is in now and he always shed fine except his first shed as well.

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If the tupperware can fit in the enclosure, you arent really losing any space, but actually gaining it. The snake can go in and on top of the hide.

Here is pic of enclosure I took a few days ago but I'll post it so you know why I don't have room. Trust me when I say there's no room in the front, it looks like there's more space there then what there really is. If I put a humid hide right there, there would be no room to get in her hot/cool hides. Also note that the acurite is 2 degrees off, it is 93 under substrate and was tested against 4 temp guns. Humidity and cool temp were also tested and they are spot on.

http://i1084.photobucket.com/albums/...pshmc7zwpo.jpg

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I followed the sticky when I had to soak mine. My BP seemed to enjoy it's time in the water, and when I put her down she slithered back into the water. She wasn't in a hurry to leave the 2nd time around either.

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Originally Posted by Jon14

I followed the sticky when I had to soak mine. My BP seemed to enjoy it's time in the water, and when I put her down she slithered back into the water. She wasn't in a hurry to leave the 2nd time around either.

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I'm not saying it doesn't work. Yes all snakes are different but with my experience I would not do it again and would not recommend anyone else to. She is a killerbee with a wobble only noticeable during feeding time so when I took off the lid and she was straight in the air and started cork screwing, not being herself at all was very nerve racking.

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Maybe next time just use a damp dishcloth and have her slither through it a few times?

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