Shedding concern

Ok, I feel somewhat silly asking this but - do I need to be concerned about drowning my snake if I sock him or suffocating him. The advice seems to concur that a rubbermaid with water about half the depth of his height and sealed tightly closed and I recall no air holes being desired to create a suana effect. The box then being placed on the warm side for an hour or so at first.

Is this accruate and are my fears possibilities etc?

Thanks again.

Phillip

I'm not sure about the sock himn reference, but you should be fine. You can have a couple little air holes, and that would be fine. You'll get the sauna effect either way. Sounds like you got the idea! It's really not too difficult. The gentle wiping after the bath is sometimes a little difficult if you have a jumpy snake, but mine just seemed happy to get the shed off. (of course she was a rescue so who knows how long that shed was there) GOOD LUCK!! :D

hehe sorry I meant "soak" not "sock" lol.

I was worried he would not be able to hold his head out of the water and drown - probably silly but you know - i'm new at this.

Phillip it's never "silly" to double check and show concern for your snake's wellfare when you are trying something new. Good for you!

I had the same concerns the first time (and only time) I had to soak our first b.p. but as long as the water is not too high, that the snake might have to swim or struggle to keep it's head above the water it is truely fine. I did put a couple of small air holes in but actually if there is sufficient air space above the water and you are only soaking for an hour, I probably could have skipped that bit.

It does work a charm! Baby's skin slipped off easy as anything after the soak and a wiggle through the facecloth (she was a tad ticked off I might say LOL). Since then we've worked on the higher humidity as soon as we see a shed approaching and haven't had to soak either of our snakes lately.

One of ours is in blue right now and moody as heck, the other one just shed last week LOL.

Let us know how things work out.

~~Jo~~

I have to concur, there are no stupid questions, and this is hands down my favorite forum out there, simply because everyone here is so helpful and willing to give advice to those of us who are new to BP keeping. You sound like you are gonna be a great BP owner! By the way, did you say what your little guy's name is?

Have not decided on a name yet - I went to the store today and checked out their full grown albino Boa and their full grown female carpet python - very intimidating.

I am chaning a few things right now - aspen substrate, temp/humi gauges, adding a cold side hide and plexi glassing the mesh over about 3/4 of the top to gain extra humidity. I will let you know what he thinks and how it effects the environemntals.

Thanks again for all the advice.

Phillip

I just put him in a deepish (about 4 inches) tupperware container with a face cloth in the bottom with about 1 inch luke warm water and cut a couple small holes in top and placed it over the UTH on the warm side of the tank.

Dang this is freaking me out lol. I feel evil for putting him in there - he is going to be so mad.

:)

But he's going to be so much happier when he's completely shed! You're being a good BP owner!

Deep breaths! Robin's right, and you'll have a much happier and healthier snake when you're done. It's nerve wracking to leave them their for an hour, but it works.

Yep he might not like you when he comes out and you have to do the face cloth thingy either but remember you are doing it for all the right reasons and his "own good" (remember our moms doing this to us over immunizations and horrid tasting cough meds....same deal LOL).

The one I had to soak wasn't in a great mood afterwards but hey it's a snake....next feeding day came around....I offered her a yummy mouse....all was forgiven!

:D


~~Jo~~