slow shed

ive searched teh forums as long as i could for shedding questions and problems. but my bp is on his 3rd week and still hasnt finished off his shed. mostly on the upper half of his body on his neck and lower belly area. it just seems like he's shedding scale by scale. is there anything i can do to help? im sure like most bp's, he doesnt like when i touch his neck or anything near his head. advice anyone?

what is your humidity level?

And is his water bowl big enough for him to get into?

Do you have a humid hide?

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Originally Posted by Liquid Snake 06

ive searched teh forums as long as i could for shedding questions and problems. but my bp is on his 3rd week and still hasnt finished off his shed. mostly on the upper half of his body on his neck and lower belly area. it just seems like he's shedding scale by scale. is there anything i can do to help? im sure like most bp's, he doesnt like when i touch his neck or anything near his head. advice anyone?

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That's called "stuck shed" and is caused by the humidity being way too low. Do a forum search using the keywords: removing stuck shed. There are a lot of different methods to help your snake...but the primary thing you need to do is get your husbandry correct. Did you read my response to your other thread about trying to escape?

what you can do to help him/her is to soak them in a container of shallow water. i use cool whip bowls for the smaller snakes and cut several holes in the lid. the water can not be hot or cold it should be about 80 degrees. u can also crumple up newspaper and put it in with the snake so it has something to rub against. dont leave the snake in there for more than an hour.

Liquid -
In addition to what others have said, I have had great success helping snakes with "bad sheds" by soaking a towel in luke warm water (closer to wet than damp), then holding the snake in the towel. Let him stay in the towel for 10 - 15 minutes, then start very gently rubbing the retained shed from the snake with the towel. The snake will generally "help" by trying to pull the old skin off onto the towel.

As others have mentioned, this is caused entirely by an environment with too low humidity. Get that under control, and you should have good sheds in the future.

Steve

how do you create humidity in a 10 gallon glass tank?

if it's in a tank you probably don't have the top coverd. I would grab a towel and cover about 75% (allowing air in and out). From there cover more or less as need to control the humidity. I also highly recommend a Acu-Rite temperature/humidity reader from lowes for 12 bucks. It will read the temp on the warm side the temp on the cool side and read the humidity for the entire tank!

EDIT: I have left out misting if someone wants to touch up on that.

well i have my bp soakin in a cool whip container, poked a few wholes in it. its bout 80 degrees. how long should i leave him in there for?

well i just took him out of the container, and it worked pretty good. most of the old skin came off within minutes. i also covered bout75% of the top of the tank. once i get my paycheck and some cash set aside, im def. gonna start hooking this tank up much more.

Get a tub, so the humidity is easier to keep up.

Simple plastic wrap or aluminum foil (this will help boost temps a bit too) will work too. Towels can become a source of bacteria.

good point tigerlily (im not sure of your real name?)!

I have to side with bpkid on the tub (shuan right? or did I spell that wrong?) idea. I have 2 snakes one in a tub and one in a glass tank. First of all the tub setup was SO MUCH CHEAPER and second of all it is awesome for holding humidity.

This is not a good thing; a healthy shed is over in a matter of hours (sometimes, as in my one female's last shed, an hour.) You need to raise your humidity the moment you notice blue eyes! If your snake is in a tank, simply spray things down with hot water from a clean spray bottle and place saran wrap over most of the lid, respraying when needed. I honestly never have measured my humidity, but my snakes have never had a bad shed; I keep it so that the condensation is visible on the tanks' walls and things always fo great; then after shedding I let the tanks gradually dry out by removing the saran wrap and keeping their water dish full for hydration needs; never have any problems.

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Originally Posted by Ginevive

This is not a good thing; a healthy shed is over in a matter of hours (sometimes, as in my one female's last shed, an hour.) You need to raise your humidity the moment you notice blue eyes! If your snake is in a tank, simply spray things down with hot water from a clean spray bottle and place saran wrap over most of the lid, respraying when needed. I honestly never have measured my humidity, but my snakes have never had a bad shed; I keep it so that the condensation is visible on the tanks' walls and things always fo great; then after shedding I let the tanks gradually dry out by removing the saran wrap and keeping their water dish full for hydration needs; never have any problems.

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thanks ginevive. i think i will try this first. so do i just spray everything with hot water and keep the 60 watt reptile bulb goin? ill go out and get saran rap right away.