Bad shed? No problem.

Thanks for this thread it helped me so much last night

My BP just had a bad shed and I followed the advise on post #1 and after soaking my BP for 1 hour the remaining shed came off. Thanks for the very helpful tips.

I have to say that this thread has helped alot. My female was having a bad shed and after an hour of soaking and letting her run a number of times thru a nice wet cloth she is doing just great.

:banana:

When I got my ball it was in the middle of a bad shed. I'm doing this as we speak. Thanks

Just finished and it WORKED! Thanks

I'm new to BP's and snakes in general. I "rescued" a BP with a previous bad shed. Well, I woke up to find that he shed most of his skin last night. I just pulled him out of his hide and saw his head didn't shed, so he has a retained head shed. :oops:
Anyway, I tried to gently get the fringe of the shed to help out but he's head shy.
Anyone have any ideas about how to get the last bit of shed off? Other than this it was a great one piece shed.

Hi,

The damp, cheap, inside out pillowcase works quite well on the head and nose because they rub that trying to find a way out of the bag. :gj:

Just make sure you can squeeze air through it when it is wet and that you don't catch the snake when you knot the top. Then set it back on either the cool end or the middle of his enclosure for half an hour or so.


dr del

Great idea.
Turns out I didnt need to do that this time. I misted is head a little when I put him back in his cage and he knew what to do. He went to work and an hour later the entire shed was off including the eye caps I've been fretting over.
Whats funny is that I never knew I'd be so affectionate towards my snake but I am, and even more so that he came from a "troubled" home, I'm glad he's with me now and being treated like he should be and is happy now. :)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by dr del

Hi,

The damp, cheap, inside out pillowcase works quite well on the head and nose because they rub that trying to find a way out of the bag. :gj:

Just make sure you can squeeze air through it when it is wet and that you don't catch the snake when you knot the top. Then set it back on either the cool end or the middle of his enclosure for half an hour or so.


dr del

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Ever since i have seen my first ball python everyone has this issue at some time or another. I think the pictures and the step by step was a great idea to set the grounds on how to truly help the shed process. This was nice 5*

after the soak, mine still has quite a bit of the shed left on the top of his body.... this area was not really soaking because the water only came about 3/4 up his sides when I put him in there... should I have had more water in there? He didn't seem to like the process very much.

Hi,

No, the humidity in the air inside the soaking tub should have loosened it sufficiently for the washcloth trick to remove it easily. How long did you soak it for?


dr del

40 minutes or so. I didn't keep him in there the full 60 minutes because he started moving around in there pretty quickly and was getting visibly stressed. He calmed down as soon as I took the lid off. When he started coming out I was able to get SOME of the shed off with the wash cloth but honestly, it was easier to do it with my fingers. He was fine with it till I got within about 8 inches or so of his head, at which point he started to kind of jerk away when I would pull at the shed.

I just want to get him through this :(

Hi,

Yes they are notoriously headshy little snakes.

You can either just restrain them and peel it by hand/ washcloth or you could try the damp pillowcase to see if they remove it themselves while trying to escape?


dr del

okay, soaking him a second time helped a little more, but he still had shed on the first 12 inches of his body. Luckily for me, he came to the conclusion that he felt better after I pulled the skin off, so he has been letting me hold him and use a damp cloth to pulll the shed off. I've gotten everything off now except for his head and maybe 1 inch behind it. I'm going to try the damp pillowcase tomorrow.

HOW OFTEN does a ball python shed??

It varies from snake to snake, but I think every 4 to 6 weeks when they are younger and around 3 or 4 times a year once they are adults is normal.

I just got my BP from a friend and he had a really bad shed, the only that came off(after me soaking him) was some of the stuff on the belly. I will be soaking him more but im curious if previous bad sheds will make this shed worse. I ask because while im not possitive I have reason to believe that the previous owner payed no attention to the humidity or how shed came out. There were a few spots prior to the shed that looked as if they were old shed... will this all come off this time?

thanks for any help.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Dabonus

It varies from snake to snake, but I think every 4 to 6 weeks when they are younger and around 3 or 4 times a year once they are adults is normal.

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AWESOME thanks for the info!!!

Thanks so much for this thread! My girl had a stuck eyecap and I've been soaking her to try to get rid of it. I've been soaking her regularly for two months, used mineral oil, everything. It turns out I wasn't soaking her long enough. I left her in for an hour this time like you suggested, and the eyecap was floating in the water when I took her out! She took her first meal for two months right after.

I DID EVERYTHING IN THE PAST THAT YOU MENTION IN POST BUT THE RAG. AND YOU KNOW WHAT? IT WORKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! THANKS FOR POSTING :gj: DRINKS ON ME :8:

Thank you so much for this thread, my bp shed for the first time 2 days ago and he was only able to get the first two thirds of his body completed. I ran him under luke warm water and just gently ran my ringers over the remaining shed and was able to get it all off and make him and much happier snake.:)

I have a baby green tree python is this process safe for it? It is having trouble shedding it is about half way done but it is so small I am afraid to do this.

Thank you very much for this. It will help me greatly and hopfully this will be the last bad shed ever. If not at least i'll know what to do.

Thank you so much for the thread, I've had bad sheds and problems with my BP's eye-caps and this took care of both problems with little effort I'm really grateful.

LOVED THIS THREAD I did just want you said to do and it worked GREAT!!:banana:

my bp has been dull and flaky for about 2 days & it doesnt look like hes even tried to remove the shed himself, should i soak him or what? all he does is sit in his hide all day & night

Nice! I just finished doing the same.. Should have read this first, might have made it easier :)

I see this has a lot of praise, which is great! It is always nice to have answers to questions like "What do I do when my snake doesn't shed properly", however I think it is best to offer advise that actually solves the problem rather than excusing it. The problem is that your humidity is too low, and rather then bathing your snake you really need to solve the issue, and raise the humidity during the shed cycle.

Great pic tutorial! Now I know what to do if mine had a bad shed! :D

Thank you so much. We are going through this now for the first time. Obviously our tank is to dry. After the soak all the old skin is gone except on the head. What do I do bout that. The lady I got them from gave me some liquid called shed ease. It worked well but for the head.

This is an excellent technique!! Brillant in fact. Thank you for sharing this information. :gj:

Please reply,

Is it important for her to shed 100%?

My pet python has a pretty small area by her head which she hasn't shed, maybe 4%, since I got her.

Thank you very much.

Hi,

It's best if all the shed skin is removed but it is only really important if it encircles the body - this is most commonly seen at the tail tip.

The reason that is bad is that, as it dries out, it shrinks and can cut off the blood supply to the area.

It can also harbour dirt and such around the edges which can occasionally let an infection get hold.

I always prefer to remove any stuck shed but, as long as the snake eats and it isn't causing any of the problems mentioned above, it should be fine to leave it until the next shed - but make sure you get the humidity etc right for that one as multiple layers is something I just wouldn't leave at all.


dr del

Thanks a lot, D. I used the technique in the original topic. She's now 100% shed.

Wow awesome worked great even for a newbie like me it was easy thanks a bunch.....

Sent from my LS670 using Tapatalk

Worked perfectly on the first try. Thx so much.

so my young bp started shedding today and so far its a poor shed. Should i do this procedure within the first day, or give it a day or two and see how it goes?

this is my 1st bp and she is great but also having a bad shed someone told me to read your post so i did i am ganna try this tonight and hope for the best thank you!!!:P

Hey Guys.
So my adult female has had a bad shed 2 weeks ago.
Cage details: Wooden cage with glass front. 2 plastic hides. large water bowl. Newspaper substrate. 65% humidity.

This is the first time it has happened and is very bad! I am stressing.
On her belly there are a few patches (each about 6cm) with stuck shed. I have soaked her numerous times like in this post but it wont seem to come of. Only a few Very very small pieces flake of. The scales seem slightly discoloured where the stuck shed is but seems fine once the bad shed flakes of (in those few spots where it does flake of).

She sits in her water bowl alot of the day so i guess it is bothering her as well.

Is it ok to leave the balance of the stuck shed till her next shed? And should i offer her food as usual? I have not attempted a feed yet since her bad shed.

All assistance is appreciated.

Hi,

Are you using a towel to help remove the shed after the soak?


dr del

Quote:

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Originally Posted by che

Hey Guys.
So my adult female has had a bad shed 2 weeks ago.
Cage details: Wooden cage with glass front. 2 plastic hides. large water bowl. Newspaper substrate. 65% humidity.

This is the first time it has happened and is very bad! I am stressing.
On her belly there are a few patches (each about 6cm) with stuck shed. I have soaked her numerous times like in this post but it wont seem to come of. Only a few Very very small pieces flake of. The scales seem slightly discoloured where the stuck shed is but seems fine once the bad shed flakes of (in those few spots where it does flake of).

She sits in her water bowl alot of the day so i guess it is bothering her as well.

Is it ok to leave the balance of the stuck shed till her next shed? And should i offer her food as usual? I have not attempted a feed yet since her bad shed.

All assistance is appreciated.

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Try soaking for around 60 minutes, and try getting as much off in one sitting. I was soaking my lesser who had a terrible stuck shed, like you described, and it was from neck to tail, and it took me 4 soaks to get it all off. The first two soaks didnt even help because I did it only for 15~ minutes because I was being squeamish and thought she didnt like it, only a few flakes came off. The last two soaks, I did for almost an hour each, in a bath tub with regulated water temps. Sometimes, when its really stuck, it takes 30~ minutes to actually moisten the stuck shed to the point where it is wet and stretchy, and not still clinging tightly to the skin. The damp towel worked at times for me, but I also had to use my hands to manually peel some of the stuck shed because there was so much, and some of it was stuck so tightly to the skin. I had to make sure to be gentle, but also exerting enough force to lightly "roll" the stuck shed off. It took a whole two hours to work all of the shed off and I can tell shes already a lot less grumpy and is more relaxed. Good luck!

i've seen this before but i havent thanked you yet christie, this is awesome!


how about a part 2 for eyecaps? http://www.lilwaynehq.com/forums/ima...es/birdman.gif

Quote:

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Originally Posted by dr del

Hi,

Are you using a towel to help remove the shed after the soak?


dr del

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Hi there.

Yes have done that.

Great post thanks!

I used a hand towel (twice the size of a face cloth) found my guy would run through it and that in it self helped :D

Thanks for the info!!

excellent help and photos - thank you!

everyone's talking about getting the humidity right, in general and for a good shed. I have a humidifier spilling into the tank, but dont know how to measure the humidity?

and I think I may have given her a bath before this shed - at what point beforehand should I not bathe her? I dont think I gave her a bath once her underside turned pink, but I'm not sure...

how long would you suggest doing this to a 2 month old

Great pic tutorial Christine. I like it:snake:

AWESOME TECHNIQUE! I just tried it on my albino male & it worked like a charm! KUDOS ON THE HELPFUL & INFORMATIVE STICKY! Thank you! Blessed be! :dance:

I have a cinny who is a biter. The problem is that she has shed stuck on her neck right by the head still after two soaks. Other than having to hold her by the neck right behind the head so she doesn't bite me---and cause her stress, are there any other options? I was thinking of letter her soak again tonight and see if it comes off that way. I really dont want to hold a slippery aggressive snake! :colbert: