Bad shed? No problem.

Zorro really wasn't in the mood to be handled yesterday, but today he seemed to welcome the help that I was giving him... another 45 mins in the wet pillowcase, with scrunched up newspaper for him to rub against.... clean and shiny... now that the central heating is on, I'm gonna have to up the viv humidity....

Years later and people are still reading it. Thanks Christie! My snake is in the tub as I am writing this, working on a bad shed. He has had a rough couple of days but I think it all boils down to him having a problem shedding. I bathe him regularly but I'm going to throw in a washcloth this time. Thanks again!

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Originally Posted by Loz

Zorro really wasn't in the mood to be handled yesterday, but today he seemed to welcome the help that I was giving him... another 45 mins in the wet pillowcase, with scrunched up newspaper for him to rub against.... clean and shiny... now that the central heating is on, I'm gonna have to up the viv humidity....

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I just suggested the pillowcase method in another forum and got shot down :(
Has anyone heard of snakes dying after being left in a damp pillowcase in the viv for an hour to help with shedding ??

Supposedly the fibres in the material swell and cut off the air to the snake !??!

Has anyone heard of snakes dying after being left in a damp pillowcase in the viv for an hour to help with shedding ??

Supposedly the fibres in the material swell and cut off the air to the snake !??!

Nah - it's only a risk for really expensive, high threadcount, bedding.

I would be more wary of them putting it in the hot end and thinking they had to increase the temps and cooking the poor thing.

If you want to test a pillowcase simply get it soaking wet and see if you can squeeze the air out of it easily.

I for one am thankful as this has provided a good resource for a bad shed. one question though is how to get the head area since my little bp is seriously head shy although she is getting better.

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Originally Posted by Vipera Berus

I for one am thankful as this has provided a good resource for a bad shed. one question though is how to get the head area since my little bp is seriously head shy although she is getting better.

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Sorting retained shed in the head area is simple enough tbh .

Soften the skin by the method you choose and let the snake slither through a damp , rough textured towel for a few minutes and apply very gentle pressure over the head area ..


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Tried this on my last bad shed, worked great!!! Thanks!!!:)

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Originally Posted by Pythia

Tried this on my last bad shed, worked great!!! Thanks!!!:)

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Great to hear !!


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I do this frequently in winter months in MN because it's hard to keep any moisture anywhere when it's this dry and cold. Very nice, Christie! I've got one of my boys soaking as I type!:D

Great advice. I owned a bp in my teens(I'm now in my late 20s) and never had an issue with bad sheds, but I recently bought a male ghost bp after years of not owning any snakes and he started shedding about a week ago. I noticed it wasn't coming off the way it should be so I did a quick Google search and came across this forum. So today I tried this out and it helped tremendously I would say 95% of the shed came off. Thanks again and I'm glad I came across this site !

As you mention in your post about bad shed, I like it and its new thing for me.

One of the important parts of the process described mentions wiping it over with a wet hand cloth but I've had great success with dampened , rough textured bath towel . So after the soak , ideally with the container in it's Viv / rub so the water doesn't get cold .... Anyways have the wet , rough textured bath towel and you wrap the snake up in the towel and let the snake continually slither through the towel for a while , applying very gentle pressure with your hands ... if it's head pops out then gently cover it up and continue to let it slither ...

Generally all the shed skin comes off on the towel but it's a gentle way of doing it . I'm not a fan of the peeling off with your fingers method at all ..


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I know this was posted a while ago but this is very helpful. I bought my snake during a stuck shed. I got some shed ease and that worked for his body but not his neck and head. I will be trying this for the rest of the shed


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This post might be ten years old, but it's still perfectly relevant information. Thanks so much for the pictures and step by step guide. My little girl has shed several times since we have had her with no problems but when we bought her we were informed that she'd had problems in the past with bad sheds so we were very careful around shedding time. Recently i purchased a reptile humidifier so i could more consistently maintain the humidity levels and adjust them when needed. When I noticed she was shedding I turned it up, but I'm guessing I turned it up too far. That coupled with a relatively empty tank (fighting off some very stubborn scale mites so all she had were lightweight plastic hides) resulted in a very patchy incomplete shed. I'll soak her today when it gets a bit warmer but I have a lot of confidence that this will do the trick.

Thank you for the information. I'm a fairly new ball python owner and reading all the time on how to care for him. He had a bad shed and your process worked well. The only issue that I had, was that when he was in the water he kept his head and about 3 inches of neck out of the water. When I gave him a gentle washing he was pretty good about it but head shy. He still has a little bit of shed stuck to his neck right behind his head. He doesn't like that area touched so is it OK just to leave that little bit of shed on him?

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Originally Posted by brambow

Thank you for the information. I'm a fairly new ball python owner and reading all the time on how to care for him. He had a bad shed and your process worked well. The only issue that I had, was that when he was in the water he kept his head and about 3 inches of neck out of the water. When I gave him a gentle washing he was pretty good about it but head shy. He still has a little bit of shed stuck to his neck right behind his head. He doesn't like that area touched so is it OK just to leave that little bit of shed on him?

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This is a touchy subject with some :)

Over here in the U.K. it's fairly common to soak after a bad shed or if you take over a snake with stubborn shed or even dehydrated.

In the states you seem to let them swish about in a few inches of water but that seems allows them to have most of their body out of the water and you end up with your situation.. I'm in the U.K and rightly or wrongly I was told to get a well fitting container and lid , put loads of air holes in the lid , fill the container up to within an inch or so of the top and slide the snake in with the lid half on .

The snake will swish about for about 30 seconds but soon relax .
I stay with it for 25 minutes ( cover with a towel to help keep it calm ) .

Then as I described in my previous post have a damp , rough textured towel on hand to dry it slowly .. taking off all the dead skin gently .


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I just experienced my first shed. He successfully got all of the shed off of him, with the exception of a very small patch on the top of his upper tail. I gave him a soak for 20 minutes, and then gently held his tail in a warm cloth with some very slow rubbing...nothing. I could tell he was getting annoyed so I let him be.

Sure enough I find this thread and I realize I probably should have left him in there longer.

My question is; will a very small patch of stuck shed on the back of a tail eventually come off, or will it require further soaking? I don't mind doing it, but is it possible it comes off on it's own? It's not a sleeve over his tail....just a small patch. I guess I'm asking more for my snake than me, b/c I can tell he doesn't like it, but I'm happy to do it if recommended.

Also, exactly what temps should someone use? I put him in around 90 degrees and put him under the CHE which kept the water temps at 87....but is that too cold?

I personally like the humidity hide. My boy Harley has patchy sheds... I started adding a humidity hide when his eyes turn blue... he goes in and out as he pleases...and comes out a couple days later with a perfect shed....

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I spray the vivs fairly randomly but daily when they go into shed mode... as soon as the eyes clear I up the spraying to a few times daily and get perfect sheds every single time ..


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Originally Posted by TalkBirdy2Me

I personally like the humidity hide. My boy Harley has patchy sheds... I started adding a humidity hide when his eyes turn blue... he goes in and out as he pleases...and comes out a couple days later with a perfect shed....

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I put a humid hide in my tub as well....he never used it. He actually got 98% off, but there is just one very small patch left.

Do I just leave it alone? Or should I try another soak?

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Originally Posted by Andiamo

I put a humid hide in my tub as well....he never used it. He actually got 98% off, but there is just one very small patch left.

Do I just leave it alone? Or should I try another soak?

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I actually had to put Harley in the hide the first couple times... he now goes in and out on his own

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I tried doing this as well. He'll go in half way...investigate, then come right back out. I'll try again next shed. I guess I'm just wondering if I can leave that small bit of stuck shed on, or if it will come off on it's own in the next few weeks?

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Originally Posted by Andiamo

I tried doing this as well. He'll go in half way...investigate, then come right back out. I'll try again next shed. I guess I'm just wondering if I can leave that small bit of stuck shed on, or if it will come off on it's own in the next few weeks?

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One neat trick for some stubborn skin is to have a damp , rough textured towel ready and wrap the snake up in it and let it slither around for a while .. if it's head pops out just cover it up again and continue.. the skin comes of gently on the towel ..

Works great for retained eyecaps as well


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I’ve put mine in a damp pillow case for several minutes then wipe down with a towel. It’s made it very easy to remove retained eye caps as well.


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thank you!!! I am doing exactly this. I came home and my poor Bubby was in tatters. We can't thank you enough.

I'm a novice and my bp is 6 months old. He's eating every week no problem. His eyes went blue and I was expecting a shed. Today I found some shed skin - a couple of square inches - but that was it.
I read this thread about soaking etc but looking at him I can't see that there is much more skin to come off. Is the remaining skin visible or should I assume there's more to come even though it's not evident? Thanks folks.