Please help mee :(

My 6 month old boy Hades is having his first shed since being with me, I've had other snakes before but this is my first bp. I keep his tank floor on hot side 85, with a basking spot of 90-92 and the cool side 78-80 (i have a zoomed thermostat so it stays around this), he has a top opening lid which i know is not ideal but i keep damp cloths on top to keep the humidity around 60% pre much all the time, i live in Canada and in a basement so its kinda cold, in order to keep his temps there i use a 50 w infared bulb, i know this dries things out but i mist him daily and change the cloths daily, when i saw him start to go blue, i filled his warm hide with moss so it was 80% humidity in there.
(i figured knowing all of this would help lol)
His whole body is shed except his head and a little down his back, i gave him a bath when i saw him clear up as i've read that helps too, it mostly came off in pieces and i bathed him again today for his head and back but it seems really stuck, whats the best way I can help him ?
He also eats like a champ but hasn't pooped in like 3 weeks, and the baths don't seem to be helping ?

Any input would be greatly appreciated, thank you !:)

Soaking the snake to much can deprive the skin of the essential oils and fluids that help the snake get the shed off, not to mention it can be very stressful. I would try the damp pillowcase method. You just make a pillowcase damp, turn it inside out and put the snake in there, make sure you have the pillowcase tied off at the end so there is no escape.

Next time don't soak him until you see stuck shed, soaking before hand actually makes their sheds worse.

For now soak and let him move through a face cloth, that will help get the rest off.

Don't worry about him not going poop. Some hold it for a while and it's pretty easy to tell when they are constipated. That's when you want to worry. :)

Soaking/bathing is a last resort only. The only time you should ever do it is AFTER your snake has a bad shed and has pieces stuck. Basically snakes create a natural lubricant between the layers of skin when they shed. If you bathe them while they are still in shed it can wash away this natural lube and cause a bad shed.

Now that the damage is done and your snake is having a bad shed, you need a solution. I recommend you take a pillow case and a small towel. Get them damp with warm water. Not soaking wet! Make sure you wring out the excess water. Put your snake and the towel in the pillow case and tie the end off and put them in your snake's cage. Leave your snake for a bit to crawl around in the sack. This usually helps get the majority of the bad shed off.

How big of meals are you feeding your snake? He should be getting 10-15% of his body weight ever 5-7 days. He is still young so he might not be getting enough food and uses up all the nutrients and has nothing left to poop out. Then again, some snakes simply don't poop often, but i doubt this is the case since you soaked him and 9/10 times when you soak your snake it will poop.

AKedit: Dang yall type fast!

Oh D: okay good to know! lol, I knew it could be stressful, i only did 5 min baths cause I read somewhere on here that if you bath them just after they come out of the blue phase it helps add moisture for the shed thought i would try it D: I will try this method tonight ! And as for the poop thats really good to news, i thought this was longer than usual :) Thanks for the advice! :)

Hard to say what to do without pictures. But in the past i have used a warm damp cloth and gently rubbed the stuck portions after a good soak. this usually does the trick for me. maybe someone will have some better suggestions but this has worked for me.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by AK907

Soaking/bathing is a last resort only. The only time you should ever do it is AFTER your snake has a bad shed and has pieces stuck. Basically snakes create a natural lubricant between the layers of skin when they shed. If you bathe them while they are still in shed it can wash away this natural lube and cause a bad shed.

Now that the damage is done and your snake is having a bad shed, you need a solution. I recommend you take a pillow case and a small towel. Get them damp with warm water. Not soaking wet! Make sure you wring out the excess water. Put your snake and the towel in the pillow case and tie the end off and put them in your snake's cage. Leave your snake for a bit to crawl around in the sack. This usually helps get the majority of the bad shed off.

How big of meals are you feeding your snake? He should be getting 10-15% of his body weight ever 5-7 days. He is still young so he might not be getting enough food and uses up all the nutrients and has nothing left to poop out. Then again, some snakes simply don't poop often, but i doubt this is the case since you soaked him and 9/10 times when you soak your snake it will poop.

AKedit: Dang yall type fast!

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Oh okay, makes sense, i feel bad I messed up his shed :( I will try this tonight, thank you !
And he was on hopper mice when i got him.. which i knew was too small so I started him on rat pups .. should i move to rat fuzzies ? (i believe thats the next size) his last weigh in he was 182 grams

Here is the link to a thread with a similar, but different, method as the pillowcase trick. Hope it helps...

http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...hed-No-problem.

Here is what I have used and works like a champ every time.
Take a warm 80degree damp (not wet) towel. Put it in a Pillow case
Place the snake in the pillow case and tie it shut
Place snake and pillow case back in the enclosure and let sit for an hour
The snake trying to get out will get the stuck shed off and once done you have a nice freshly shed good looking snake :)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Vypyrz

Here is the link to a thread with a similar, but different, method as the pillowcase trick. Hope it helps...

http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...hed-No-problem.

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Very helpful , thank you !:)

For the moisture problem: I used to use fish tanks which i'm assuming u use... if not nvm... but I kept a folded up trash bag on top under a nicely folded towel to hold in the moisture and when it gets too moist uncover some of it and roll back the towel and trash bag keep misting on the hot side... if the lamp keeps you from covering it up completely u need a Under tank heater and the lamp will go bye-bye i NEVER had a problem with this set-up: Tank, UTH, Hide, Water bowl, and aspen bedding... I built a rack to save space

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Atherosdragon

For the moisture problem: I used to use fish tanks which i'm assuming u use... if not nvm... but I kept a folded up trash bag on top under a nicely folded towel to hold in the moisture and when it gets too moist uncover some of it and roll back the towel and trash bag keep misting on the hot side... if the lamp keeps you from covering it up completely u need a Under tank heater and the lamp will go bye-bye i NEVER had a problem with this set-up: Tank, UTH, Hide, Water bowl, and aspen bedding... I built a rack to save space

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Oh sweet thats a good idea, thanks !:) and i do have an UTH as well .. but its cold in my room, its a dessert heat Large, and with just that the temps are usually only in the high 70s low 80s, which is why i use the lamp as well D:

I can see where bathing would be a first thought, particularly with owning bearded dragons. I try to bath my beardies at least once a week.

Kind of funny how it's good for them, but no so much here.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Virus

I can see where bathing would be a first thought, particularly with owning bearded dragons. I try to bath my beardies at least once a week.

Kind of funny how it's good for them, but no so much here.

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Yeah, thats for sure lol :P

Update ; Tried the pillow/cloth thing tonight and it workeed ! He looks so gorgeous all freshly shed, he also just looks happier now cause its off:) and hes eating a 32 gram rat pup as I type this (Y) :D haha