When soaking doesn't help a stuck shed.

Karma my recent aquisition is having problems with a shed. One of the other larger snakes I bought at the same time shed perfectly. I keep my humidity at around 60% during sheds. Kharma has not even attempted to shed her skin yet. She looks cloudy and I can almost feel the dry skin when I look at her. 1st day I tried soaking her for a half hour, which did not help, today I soaked her for two hours with no avail. Does this stuff just happen sometime? Should I continue soaking, wait till next shed? I've tried letting her slither through a towel after the soaking with no results also. I experienced a few bad sheds when I started out but those came off in pieces, this particular snake hasn't even put the effort in to take it off her head and eyes. Any info would be appreciated.

If she hasnt started the process of actualy shedding the old skin on her own then you probably cant get it off before. Sometimes they look like they are going to shed any minute and dont for a few more days. I would just give it time. If she sheds and has a lot of stuck shed to her in blotches or whatever thats when you start soaking and helping her shed.

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Originally Posted by Spaniard

Kharma has not even attempted to shed her skin yet. She looks cloudy and I can almost feel the dry skin when I look at her.

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If her eyes are cloudy then she probably isn't ready to shed yet. Once they clear up, that is a sign that they will usually shed within a day's time. Hope that helps.

I've been through a shed before and dealt with problem ones so I know this is weird enough that it caused me concern. She's already gone into blue cleared up didn't shed and now looks like she's wearing dry skin. She cleared up when I soaked her but now she's looking grey I guess you could say

hmm... has it bubbled up in any areas where you could try to gently peel it back?

the best advice I was given on here for a horrible shed my one lil gal had was to wet a pillow case or towel...set it in a tub with a lid (holes of course) and set that on a heat pad...check the temps and make sure they arent crazy high...then set the lil guy in there....its a lil sauna. this worked wonders! I tried every other trick and nothing worked..but this! I left her in there for a few hours...checking on her and the temps of course..and in no time the shed was off. They move in and out of the cloth....that coupled with the sauna effect got the shed off very well.
Hope that helps ya.

When I took her out to try soaking her again today some of the shed came off without a problem. As she slithered through my hand the lower part of her body shed. From about the heart down is all shed but her neck and head area hasn't shed yet. As we speak she is soaking, hopefully the remainder will come off. I don't know what I did wrong outside the norm. this is the first problem shed I've had since 2 years ago.

Soaking for too long will actually make the shed harder to come off.

No more than 30 minutes or so ... rubbermaid box with no holes in it set inside of the animals enclosure ... once per day until the shed works itself off.

http://www.8ballpythons.com/journal/stucksheds.htm

I've never had a shed that couldn't be removed in a few soaks using this methond.

Hope this helps.

-adam

Thanks Adam,

I have VPI's book and read through the skin and shedding part of it when this came about. I never knew that two much water during a shed could actually lead to skin complications until I read it. I was able to get a few more pieces off but its definitely getting more difficult the closer I get to her head. Will a stuck shed covering the entire head/neck cause problems until next shed if worst comes to worst? I don't want to keep stressing her out with these sessions if possible.

AudOne- No to sound like a book worm but VPI's book also mentioned that pillow cases or snake bags wet could cause suffocation when the threads of linen expand to create an air tight seal when wet. I know you said you frequently check on her but just as an FYI.

Thanks for all the tips, shame she didn't shed in one piece I was dying to take pictures of this little girl.

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Originally Posted by Spaniard

AudOne- No to sound like a book worm

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Rich is a book nerd, Rich is a book nerd!!! :P

Just messing with you, friend! I am known for always having my nose in a book. Any break I get at work, I'm in a book - I walk with my nose in a book! LOL

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Originally Posted by rabernet

Rich is a book nerd, Rich is a book nerd!!! :P

Just messing with you, friend! I am known for always having my nose in a book. Any break I get at work, I'm in a book - I walk with my nose in a book! LOL

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Gee thanks Robin,

I can't help it when the book is not only filled with everything you ever wanted to know about bps, but has tons of amazing pictures!

~The book worm

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AudOne- No to sound like a book worm but VPI's book also mentioned that pillow cases or snake bags wet could cause suffocation when the threads of linen expand to create an air tight seal when wet. I know you said you frequently check on her but just as an FYI.

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This can happen with a very good quality material with a high thread count. The threads expand when wet and can actually make the bag air tight. However I use this technique quite frequently myself. I just use a cheap lightweight pillowcase with a loose weave.

Mark

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Originally Posted by MarkS

This can happen with a very good quality material with a high thread count. The threads expand when wet and can actually make the bag air tight. However I use this technique quite frequently myself. I just use a cheap lightweight pillowcase with a loose weave.

Mark

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Sometimes cheaper is better I guess, thanks for the tip makes sense that a lower thread count would be safer.

My favorite is the pillow case trick with olive oil or mineral oil added. Seems to really loosen shed

I recently took my BP to the vet for a check up, wellness check kind of thing. I got the chance to talk in length with the vet who is also a multi snake owner. Some of this is general knowledge, he said the belly will get pinkish to very dark pink depending on the BP, the eyes cloud and the skin ashes, but when the eyes clear, it will be 4 days to the shed. Chocolate still had clouded eyes at that time. Soon as they cleared, I soaked her that night for an hour, sprayed the next few days no handling to keep down stress (can add to bad shed), on the 4th day he shed. It wasn't a good shed, I am having problems regulating the humidity even spraying, covering the top and all, still working on it.

Anyhow, the vet said in any shed, never take skin off eyes, cause scaring, even blindness. Keep spraying and soaking and if it doesn't remove with next shed see a vet. But, on the body, soak an hour, and with wet soft rag gently brush snake from head towards tail. Repeat daily until it sheds all skin with or without help. Vet suggested not peeling dry skin off, even wet pulled could cause scale irritation/damage. Soak and pet with damp cloth.

Good Luck

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Originally Posted by Spaniard

Thanks Adam,

AudOne- No to sound like a book worm but VPI's book also mentioned that pillow cases or snake bags wet could cause suffocation when the threads of linen expand to create an air tight seal when wet. I know you said you frequently check on her but just as an FYI.

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Yeah I also use a cheaper pillow case...not because I'm a tight ass but because of the thread count...I want it to breath not suffocate the poor guys and gals and this is even when I'm not using it for sauna's.
And off topic- I do double stitch the ends on them though (when I use them as sacks) because like the thread count and stitch on cheap pillow cases the actual seams are super loose and I've seen more then a couple sit there and nudge the loose areas and work the threads out even more...so I double stitch it to make sure I wont have anyone slithering around in my car on the way to the vet lol.

Well Kharma hadn't shed today and I decided to wait a day before trying to soak her again as to not stress her out. I think its so strange she hasn't attempted to remove anything from her face, looks like it would be uncomfortable. Its hard to try and gently rub at the shed because she hasn't even split it at the tip of her nose or anything and she's very head shy. Also the soak yesterday was great for getting a few pieces off her back but didn't do much for her neck. I think i'll try the bag soak tomorrow, but how many days should I kept soaking before calling it quits?

If you do end up using a pillow case, you might want to try this. Soak the bag thouroughly, wring it out some, then try blowing it up like a balloon. If it inflates up nice and tight and stays that way more them a few seconds, get another pillow case. If it's so tight that it won't let air out, then it won't let air in either. It might help put your mind at ease.

Mark

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Originally Posted by MarkS

If you do end up using a pillow case, you might want to try this. Soak the bag thouroughly, wring it out some, then try blowing it up like a balloon. If it inflates up nice and tight and stays that way more them a few seconds, get another pillow case. If it's so tight that it won't let air out, then it won't let air in either. It might help put your mind at ease.

Mark

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yeppers...I was going crazy with the one we had not shedding well...this lil trick worked wonders....and that was my lil ladies problem...she had shed stuck on her face and like yours she is head shy...the pillow case worked great because she pushed in and out of it and got it ogg really fast...I put her in there and watched her...started with 1/2 hour and I think by the 1st or 2nd hour it was gone....with soaking she isnt really getting her head under the water and the humidity wasnt getting high enough to really get the shed moist...but between the warm and ultra humid tub with heating pad and then the warm slightly damp pillow case it was nice and fast...havent had a problem with her shed since...ever so often she will gt a tiny little spot stuck...but nothing big...

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Originally Posted by TheAudOne

yeppers...I was going crazy with the one we had not shedding well...this lil trick worked wonders....and that was my lil ladies problem...she had shed stuck on her face and like yours she is head shy...the pillow case worked great because she pushed in and out of it and got it ogg really fast...I put her in there and watched her...started with 1/2 hour and I think by the 1st or 2nd hour it was gone....with soaking she isnt really getting her head under the water and the humidity wasnt getting high enough to really get the shed moist...but between the warm and ultra humid tub with heating pad and then the warm slightly damp pillow case it was nice and fast...havent had a problem with her shed since...ever so often she will gt a tiny little spot stuck...but nothing big...

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She's soaking in her baggy right now, wish me luck

I just took a peek to check in on her and she had started to pull away the skin on her face. Hopefully a little while longer and I'll be able to snap some pics of a nice clean snakie. Thanks for the tips regarding the bag, I end up using a coarse loosely wooven towel that I sewed to make a bag out of. I threw a small wash cloth in the bag and that seems to have done the trick. Like AudOne said the regular soaking just wasn't doing enough for the neck/ head region. Thanks to everyone for the advice.