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Good humidity, Bad shed

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  • 05-06-2016, 06:01 AM
    chrid16371
    Good humidity, Bad shed
    My humidity is always 55-65 but then Persephone was going into shed and I bumped it up and has been at a constant 75. Yesterday I look in and there's shed pieces everywhere. I took her out and she still had her neck shed and bits and pieces all over her. So I took her out and read the bad shed, no problem sticky and decided to do it. I put her in the tub with little water and when I took her out 40 mins later I really seen the spider gene in her. She was so stressed. She only has a slight wobble when eating but this time she was straight in the air kept curling. She ended up peeing all over me. I put her back in her enclosure and she calmed down and was back to her normal self. I'll never do that again. I did end up getting most of the shed off her except her neck, runs from just after her head about 5 inches down in one piece. Why would she be having bad shed with good humidity? Kratos has good sheds and his humidity is the same as hers.

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  • 05-06-2016, 07:55 AM
    Jon14
    Re: Good humidity, Bad shed
    I had the same issue with my normal. It seems like occasionally they can have bad sheds even with perfect conditions. Have all of her sheds been bad ones?

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  • 05-06-2016, 08:38 AM
    chrid16371
    Re: Good humidity, Bad shed
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Jon14 View Post
    I had the same issue with my normal. It seems like occasionally they can have bad sheds even with perfect conditions. Have all of her sheds been bad ones?

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    This is her first shed with me. I've only had her for a little over a month.

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  • 05-06-2016, 08:42 AM
    Jon14
    Re: Good humidity, Bad shed
    She might be able to get the last piece off since you soaked her. If not you may want to repeat the soaking process, and hope her next shed goes better.

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  • 05-06-2016, 08:54 AM
    chrid16371
    Re: Good humidity, Bad shed
    I'll give her a couple days bc she is stressed. The sticky I read said to put snake in tub with water and put lid on and let sit for an hr. I only had her in there 40 mins and it helped but at the cost of a lot of stress. So if I soak her again it will be without a lid on.

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  • 05-06-2016, 11:20 AM
    Willowy
    I've been told that their first shed in a new place often turns out not-so-great, especially if they were in bad conditions before. So hopefully her next will be fine. Don't worry about stuck pieces unless they're on the face/eyes or wrapped around the tail/body. A few icky bits won't hurt her and she'll most likely get them off herself.
  • 05-06-2016, 11:23 AM
    Rob
    Re: Good humidity, Bad shed
    Some snakes are just bad at shedding even with good husbandry.


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  • 05-06-2016, 11:31 AM
    chrid16371
    Re: Good humidity, Bad shed
    She was in a pet store before in an aquarium without the screen covered and no humidity gauges. They only had her a month before I bought her and were feeding undersized prey so she probably never had the chance to shed for them.

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  • 05-06-2016, 11:35 AM
    JoshSloane
    Re: Good humidity, Bad shed
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Rob View Post
    Some snakes are just bad at shedding even with good husbandry.


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

    Agreed. Some snakes, especially within BPs are just bad shedders. You can always provide a humid hide for a few days while the snake is in shed, and allow them to sit at around 100% humidity for a few days. This really helps to loosen things up. I soak my boas, but everyone claims BPs dont enjoy water.
  • 05-06-2016, 12:54 PM
    For Goodness Snakes
    Re: Good humidity, Bad shed
    I have found through the 50 odd years that I've owned snakes that if you spray them down very heavily 3 times in a 10 minute period you can go back to the snake after that 10 minutes and peel the skin off very easily. I have found that soaking them in a tub will usually soften up the belly and side of the snake, but because the snake is buoyant the dorsal area is still pretty dry.

    Another technique is to go ahead and spray down the snake 3 times in a 10 minute period then place the wet snake into a warm wet pillow case. Keep the snake in the bag for about 5 minutes, the friction from the snake moving around in the cloth bag along with the moist softened skin will usually produce a fully shed snake. This technique works very well for retained eye caps.

    If you have any questions about snake husbandry, breeding or mite control feel free to call me at 408-981-6694.

    Best of luck.

    Brian Gundy
    For Goodness Snakes
  • 05-06-2016, 01:18 PM
    Caspian
    Re: Good humidity, Bad shed
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by For Goodness Snakes View Post
    I have found through the 50 odd years that I've owned snakes that if you spray them down very heavily 3 times in a 10 minute period you can go back to the snake after that 10 minutes and peel the skin off very easily. I have found that soaking them in a tub will usually soften up the belly and side of the snake, but because the snake is buoyant the dorsal area is still pretty dry.

    Another technique is to go ahead and spray down the snake 3 times in a 10 minute period then place the wet snake into a warm wet pillow case. Keep the snake in the bag for about 5 minutes, the friction from the snake moving around in the cloth bag along with the moist softened skin will usually produce a fully shed snake. This technique works very well for retained eye caps.

    If you have any questions about snake husbandry, breeding or mite control feel free to call me at 408-981-6694.

    Best of luck.

    Brian Gundy
    For Goodness Snakes

    This is similar to what I've done, with great results, except that I soaked the pillow case, wrung it out, closed the end and then just put the snake in it and the whole package back into her tub rather than spraying her down. With enough room to reach warmth and cool, I left her in there for about an hour - dark, quiet, not floating in water, with friction and humidity. When I took her out, there was no stuck shed left. Then I got to try and get all the pieces of shed skin out of the inside of the pillow case... but the snake wasn't stressed in the least.
  • 05-06-2016, 01:27 PM
    JoshSloane
    Get a tupperware container that will comfortably fit your snake. Get sphagnum moss from hardware store. Cut hole in lid of tupperware large enough for snake to enter. Fill tupperware with dampened sphagnum moss. Put lid back on. Put tupperware in snake enclosure. Done.

    Soaking, pillow cases and peeling sheds is time consuming and unnecessary. When you notice your snake is in shed, put this diy humid hide in the enclosure and the snake will do all the work for you. Even if the snake doesnt use it, it will still provide a bump in general humidity.
  • 05-06-2016, 01:33 PM
    LittleTreeGuy
    I would do the humid hide or maintain higher humidity in the tank as opposed to force-soaking your BP. If it wants to soak, it will get in its water bowl. There is a reason they don't normally do this though... because they don't care of it, and it will stress them out.
  • 05-06-2016, 01:37 PM
    JoshSloane
    The great part about a humid hide is that you can keep your regular enclosure at the standard 50-60% humidity, while providing a highly humid respite for the snake when needed. Almost an enclosure inside of an enclosure. The tupperware is easy to clean and replace, and wont create a mess within the rest of the cage.
  • 05-06-2016, 01:43 PM
    chrid16371
    Re: Good humidity, Bad shed
    Only reason I tried getting the shed off the way I did is bc it is a sticky on this site. I will never do it again and would never recommend anyone doing it.

    I use humid hides for my geckos. The only thing is that I don't have room in her enclosure for a humid hide. I'm good at catching sheds since I handle 1-2 times a week. When I put her back in I bumped humidity up to 90. It maintains humidity good. I only have to spray once every 2 days. My male was in the enclosure she is in now and he always shed fine except his first shed as well.

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  • 05-06-2016, 01:51 PM
    JoshSloane
    If the tupperware can fit in the enclosure, you arent really losing any space, but actually gaining it. The snake can go in and on top of the hide.
  • 05-06-2016, 02:10 PM
    chrid16371
    Re: Good humidity, Bad shed
    Here is pic of enclosure I took a few days ago but I'll post it so you know why I don't have room. Trust me when I say there's no room in the front, it looks like there's more space there then what there really is. If I put a humid hide right there, there would be no room to get in her hot/cool hides. Also note that the acurite is 2 degrees off, it is 93 under substrate and was tested against 4 temp guns. Humidity and cool temp were also tested and they are spot on.

    http://i1084.photobucket.com/albums/...pshmc7zwpo.jpg

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  • 05-06-2016, 02:13 PM
    Jon14
    Re: Good humidity, Bad shed
    I followed the sticky when I had to soak mine. My BP seemed to enjoy it's time in the water, and when I put her down she slithered back into the water. She wasn't in a hurry to leave the 2nd time around either.

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  • 05-06-2016, 02:20 PM
    chrid16371
    Re: Good humidity, Bad shed
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Jon14 View Post
    I followed the sticky when I had to soak mine. My BP seemed to enjoy it's time in the water, and when I put her down she slithered back into the water. She wasn't in a hurry to leave the 2nd time around either.

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    I'm not saying it doesn't work. Yes all snakes are different but with my experience I would not do it again and would not recommend anyone else to. She is a killerbee with a wobble only noticeable during feeding time so when I took off the lid and she was straight in the air and started cork screwing, not being herself at all was very nerve racking.

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  • 05-06-2016, 02:23 PM
    Jon14
    Re: Good humidity, Bad shed
    Maybe next time just use a damp dishcloth and have her slither through it a few times?

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  • 05-06-2016, 02:33 PM
    chrid16371
    Re: Good humidity, Bad shed
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Jon14 View Post
    Maybe next time just use a damp dishcloth and have her slither through it a few times?

    Sent from my SM-G900R6 using Tapatalk

    Did that for 5 minutes and got a little off. Then after putting her in tub for 40 mins and calming her down a little I was able to get everything but where her head ends 5 inches down. That 5 inch piece that's left is still wrapped around her as one whole piece. It seems like that piece is like it should be and the rest just went to crap.

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