Our First Shed

I've been fretting a bit lately that Skull, our normal, has not shed since we brought him home on September the 8th. According to the breeder's records, he had shed only once, 8 days after he was born. He was born on June 11, he shed on June 19. I know that one of the n00b mistakes we have made is that we were underfeeding him. We've remedied that. :)

Anyway, since his last feed two days ago, he's been unusually shy. In fact, the day before we fed him, he had a strong and highly unusual fear reaction to my husband. Mind, this is the snake that will slither of his own volition into my husband's hand to be lifted out of the tank. So, when he shied away from my husband's hand, puked up water and burrowed quickly into his hide, needless to say we were a bit worried. We were less worried after he ate with his usual...er...alacrity. But even then, his behavior just wasn't what we're at all used to. He just wasn't engaging in his normal routines.

Tonight, we decided to lift his hide off of him because we knew we had some urate to clean up. So, very gently, I lifted the hide, snake and all, and handed it to my husband. True to his usual behavior, Skull emerged from the hide and began exploring. I cleaned the mess, raked the remaining substrate and then watched Skull in my husband's hands. Skull's eyes looked a little dull...or did they?

I took Skull while my husband finished off the tank cleaning. I took a good look at his eyes. They are definitely cloudy. No doubt about that.

We put him back in his tank shortly after that. He was active for a little bit but now he's chillin' in his cool hide.

OK, so, first shed coming up!

We've already upped the humidity from 50% to 70%. We're keeping the temps the same, 88-90 on the warm side, 82-78 on the cool side. Is there anything else we should do other than leaving the boy alone?

Nope that's it

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Everything sounds normal his eyes will go back to semi clear and he will shed a few days after that.

Since I last posted, Skull has been hanging out in his warm hide with only the occasional nose peep or a stretch out of the hide for a drink of water.

Until tonight.

Now he's out and man oh man is he wrinkly! He's up in his piece of driftwood, rubbing his head and slithering slooooooowly around.

It's all I can do not to grab him and give him an assist.

I won't do that, of course, but...poor little guy! He looks like he's having a hard time.

Well, now he's in his cool hide. :snake2:

Yup mY little guy hid for days upon days and looked all pale and blue eyes..he looked so uncomfortable,I felt so bad..but he did his thing,shed 90% I none piece and the other 10% got off that same night...then he ate a lrge adult mouse!like his usual piggy self

OK, I'm frettin'. Skull has signs of peeling shed around his head but it hasn't gone any further despite him rubbing all over the grape vine for a couple of hours. Is that normal? Should I be soaking him or should I give him more time? He's back in his cool hide after hanging out on the vine. Literally hanging from the vine at times, head down. I know I'm anthropomorphizing but damn if he doesn't look pitiful right now. :sniff:

Its Ok as long as the humidity is about 70 it'll happen. Don't interfere. But the humidity has to be up

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Humidity must be up while they are in shed.

OK, thanks. We're running the humidity at right around 70%. We have a spray thingy that goes off every two hours and we're measuring using a digital humidity gauge. This morning when I checked, the humidity was 71%.

He still hasn't shed. I finally broke down and gave him a soak tonight then let him run through a damp towel then a dry one. He got off one spot by his tail. He's got a few fringes around his neck and I can see his eye caps. But it's not coming off! Humidity is consistently right around 70. Should I bump it up?

He hasn't been fed since 10/24 because he went blue the next day.

I am worried...

Well, it's definitely a bad shed. It's coming off in small pieces. We've got about half of his body cleared by letting him run through a warm, wet towel. We'll try for the rest tomorrow and then hopefully we can feed him shortly after. :(

Poor guy. Did you get him from a reliable breeder or a n00b? Does he have any scars or injuries or deformities? Was his previous owner keeping him properly?

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Originally Posted by Garnet

He still hasn't shed. I finally broke down and gave him a soak tonight then let him run through a damp towel then a dry one.

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You gave him a soak before he shed?

It can take anywhere from 7-14 days for them to shed, next time just leave him be. Don't soak, just keep the humidity up.
If you're worried about feeding while he's in shed... offer on his normal feeding day. Some eat, some don't.

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Originally Posted by TurkeyPython

Poor guy. Did you get him from a reliable breeder or a n00b? Does he have any scars or injuries or deformities? Was his previous owner keeping him properly?

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I got him from a reliable breeder and he was well kept and healthy.

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Originally Posted by 200xth

You gave him a soak before he shed?

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Oh no. Sorry for the miscommunication. He'd started to shed. It was just coming off in small chunks.

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Originally Posted by Garnet

Oh no. Sorry for the miscommunication. He'd started to shed. It was just coming off in small chunks.

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Gotcha.

Are you sure your hygrometer is accurate? I think I saw you said it's digital, but are you positive it's working correctly?

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Originally Posted by Crazymonkee

It can take anywhere from 7-14 days for them to shed, next time just leave him be. Don't soak, just keep the humidity up.
If you're worried about feeding while he's in shed... offer on his normal feeding day. Some eat, some don't.

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I will do that next time. :oops: I have to confess that I feel like I'm starving the little guy. Prior to this, we were feeding him every 4 days. I figured that when his shed started coming off in small pieces, it was time to intervene. Next time, I won't starve him and I'll try not to get involved until it's been two weeks.

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Originally Posted by 200xth

Gotcha.

Are you sure your hygrometer is accurate? I think I saw you said it's digital, but are you positive it's working correctly?

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How would I find out for sure?

So far all four of mine eat in shed or not. So yes make sure you're hygrometer is accurate, and make sure humidity is up to 70 as soon as you see the start of him going into shed and feed as normal :)

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Originally Posted by 200xth

Gotcha.

Are you sure your hygrometer is accurate? I think I saw you said it's digital, but are you positive it's working correctly?

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I just took it out and placed it next to my weather station to double check it.

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Originally Posted by Master Taran

I just took it out and placed it next to my weather station to double check it.

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OK, after 5 hours of adjusting, it was 3% difference from the weather station.

And... his shed is done! We're in the process of feeding him. He's a hungry little dude!

Awesome!! Glad its all done :)

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Apparently, there's no lasting harm from the last few days. He zapped his mice with his usual alacrity and is now curled up in his warm hide with only the tip of his nose sticking out. :)