Please Help! Shed stuck on head!

My girl LuLu has had a stuck shed for 3 days now. I soaked her two times now. The shed is almost completely off except for her head and a retained eyecap. The humidity in her tank is at 70-75%. What can I do? It just won't come off. She's rubbing her head on my leg as I am typing this. It's not budging. :(

Whatever you do I would not mess with the eye. A little stuck shed isnt gonna hurt the snake. Worst case it comes off in the next shed. Unless it has several layers of stuck shed I would leave any shed problem around the eyes be. And if something had to be done I would see a Vet to help remove it. There are numerous threads here where eyes have been permanently damaged.

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Originally Posted by gr8gugly

Whatever you do I would not mess with the eye. A little stuck shed isnt gonna hurt the snake. Worst case it comes off in the next shed. Unless it has several layers of stuck shed I would leave any shed problem around the eyes be. And if something had to be done I would see a Vet to help remove it. There are numerous threads here where eyes have been permanently damaged.

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This is the first time she has had a stuck shed so there aren't several layers. I didn't know that it would be okay leaving it or not. Also would this make her go off her food? She is a great eater and has never skipped a meal but she has skipped her last two since the shedding process began. I have only had her for about 6mos and this, is the first time she has done this. Am I just being an overly worried mommy for something that is normal?

Put her in a tub with some tepid warm water and a Soaked hand towel !! Let her run through the towel, cover and leave for 20 or so minutes

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Originally Posted by ExotixTowing

Put her in a tub with some tepid warm water and a Soaked hand towel !! Let her run through the towel, cover and leave for 20 or so minutes

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I did that two times already. It's still not coming off.

Mineral oil and a q-tip. Gently rub it. See if that helps.

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Originally Posted by tjohnson722

Mineral oil and a q-tip. Gently rub it. See if that helps.

Sent from my ADR6350 using Tapatalk 2

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NO !!
Leave the head alone ! there is a thread around here that shows the damage that can be done, if it is only one shed you can soak again with a more abrasive towel, Thats why I suggested a Hand Towel or leave it until the next shed !

When one of my balls doesn't shed right, I put it in a soaked pillow case overnight :)

If its the first stuck shed I would leave it alone. Some of my snakes don't feed during shed or just after. It may just be that.

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Originally Posted by ExotixTowing

NO !!
Leave the head alone ! there is a thread around here that shows the damage that can be done, if it is only one shed you can soak again with a more abrasive towel, Thats why I suggested a Hand Towel or leave it until the next shed !

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I will try again tomorrow. Hoping it will all come off. She's my baby and I worry about her. I just don't want her to be uncomfterable.

Leave the snake alone until next shed cycle and increase the humidity.

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When mine have a bad shed I use a wet towel after I have soaked in tepid water for an hour and it comes right off. I wouldn't mess with the eye cap, it will come off in the next shed. After a couple bad sheds I started putting my BPs in a big plastic tub with small airholes and a huge thing of water and set it next to a heat lamp. It provides a ton of humidity and I have not had a bad shed in a long time. I put them in when they come out of blue and they usually shed in a couple days in the tub.

I second the wet pillow case, I don't leave mine in over night. I will soak them in a tub for a bit, then put it in the wet pillow case. I will hold them in it to incourage movement. The friction of the wet case being against them has worked both times I've needed to do this.

Just be sure when using Hand Towels or Pillow Cases, that they are not washed in Detergent, I most times will buy New stuff for my snakes and just wash in vinegar then dry with no dryer sheets

When I want to peel a stuck shed off of a snake's head, I start at the lips. That's where they start, after all. I soak them for a few minutes in the bathtub as usual, and then I rub at the front of the upper lip, at the edge of the scales just under the heat pits. It's kind of an upward flicking motion. Usually the skin starts to roll away upward from the edge of the month, and then you can grab it and start gently tugging it off of the heat pits and over the nose.

Whatever you do, DO NOT rub at the eyes. If you can start the shed further down and it pulls the eyecaps off with the rest of the top of the head, that's fine. But don't sit there rubbing at the eyes. You can blind the snake by putting pressure on the eyes. And sometimes the eyecap is already gone, and you don't realize it.

I don't do chins. The stretchy scales under the chin make it too hard. It'll tend to loosen up during feeding, and it's really completely harmless.

Honestly, I don't think there's any harm leaving it until the next shed. That's good advice. I find snakes that have a bit of stuck shed often have better sheds the next time. Just watch for it and make sure there's plenty of humidity to help the next one along.

Here's Melvin, starting his shed by peeling his own lips. If you really want to make another attempt, you basically want to duplicate this:

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-K...lvin_shed1.JPG

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-T...lvin_shed2.JPG

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-Z...lvin_shed3.JPG

Tjank you all for the wonderful tips!! I just checked her and she has a little bit of skin peeling up at the nose. So I think I'll see if it comes off on it's own, if not I will try soaking one more time. If that doesn't work I will leave her alone.

I would say you've soaked her quite enough. Leave her alone. Get the humidity up, and let her get it off on her own.

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Originally Posted by Slim

I would say you've soaked her quite enough. Leave her alone. Get the humidity up, and let her get it off on her own.

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I was about to post I was going to leave her alone. I don't want to stress her out by doing it again. She seems to be slowly getting it off on her own. Again thank you all for the helpful responses :)

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Originally Posted by LuLu's Mommy

I was about to post I was going to leave her alone. I don't want to stress her out by doing it again. She seems to be slowly getting it off on her own. Again thank you all for the helpful responses :)

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That is good news!

Wet pillow case resting on the UTH worked perfectly for me a few months back when my humidity was low and she had a bunch of stuck shed on her head.

30 minutes in the case was plenty