Really bad shed

Okay Hii i'm new here, my names Anneliese [Onna-leese] and my snakes name is Zarrh. He's about a year or two old and 3 feet.

My problem is that he had a REALLY bad shed. After he finished shedding i noticed light colored scales all over him, kindof like they were sprinkled on there. Does anyone know what this could be from? Also from the tip of her tail to about 3 1/2 inches up was red and has now become a pale pink. Its not scale rot i know that. I'll try to post a picture soon.

About his eyes, They seem to have dents in them, which made me think retained eye caps. I tried putting him in water to soak him, nothing. I've tried putting him in a humidity box, again nothing. I tried the baby oil trick and trying to get them off with a damp cloth, nothing worked.

He also has a tanish crescent shape in the top of his eye, instead of it all being black. What could that be?

Welcome to the forums!


The color crescent in his eye is just his natural coloring...

As for the others... we're probably going to need to see pics before making a determination. If you're really worried about him, I would definitely get him to a vet.

That said, the white specks may just be a difference in coloring---BPs sometimes change coloring after shedding. The dents in the eyes are probably retained eyecaps. If they're not coming off, don't completely stress him out by continually rubbing at them. Just let them come off with the next shed. As for the belly color... ? No idea without seeing it...

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Originally Posted by Anneliese

Okay Hii i'm new here, my names Anneliese [Onna-leese] and my snakes name is Zarrh. He's about a year or two old and 3 feet.

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Welcome to the site!!!

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My problem is that he had a REALLY bad shed. After he finished shedding i noticed light colored scales all over him, kindof like they were sprinkled on there. Does anyone know what this could be from? Also from the tip of her tail to about 3 1/2 inches up was red and has now become a pale pink. Its not scale rot i know that. I'll try to post a picture soon.

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Well, the scales would be from having lower than needed humidity leading up to and during shed. I am not sure about the pink tail, but you should probably schedule an appointment with a herp vet to find out what it is.

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About his eyes, They seem to have dents in them, which made me think retained eye caps. I tried putting him in water to soak him, nothing. I've tried putting him in a humidity box, again nothing. I tried the baby oil trick and trying to get them off with a damp cloth, nothing worked.

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Your pretty much just going to need to bump up the humidity and the dents will be gone with his next shed, as will the "sprinkled" scales all over his body.

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He also has a tanish crescent shape in the top of his eye, instead of it all being black. What could that be?

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They naturally have a sorta lighter top of the eye, it's pretty cool eh?:)

BTW: What is your set-up like? Temps? Humidity? How they controlled?

Anyways, once again, welcome to the site!!!

The only reason i was worried about the eye caps are because hes shed 3 times since i've noticed them and they haven't came off.

As for his set up its not so awesome right now. He's still in a ten gallon, but will be moving to a 20 gallon within the next week. His temps range from 75 [night] to 80 -90 degrees during the day. He has an under tank heating pad on the left side, where his hide is. And because he has barely any room his water bowl is on the right side. I haven't been able to find a humidity gage anywhere so i'm unsure of that. I'm working on upgrading and getting everything together for him, its just been taking a little longer because of well my lack of being able to find a job. :2cent: [UGH being 16 is to hard, no matter what anyone says] :P

Thank you all very much for helping out

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Originally Posted by Anneliese

[UGH being 16 is to hard, no matter what anyone says] :P

Thank you all very much for helping out

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sounds like you need to monitor the humidity, and having temps between 80-90 isnt great.. thats kinda wide range for them to fluxuate. are you using a thermostat or rheostat?


as for being 16, being "hard" you literally made me LAUGH OUT LOUD.. wait till your older and your biggest problems arent your snake... while my pets are high on the list of "problems" raising children, paying private school tuition, bills, mortgage payment, being to work on time, dropping the kids off at school, truck payments, taxes, all with no help from anyone but my husband who is the same age as i, exc.. there are much more difficult things in life I WOULD LOVE TO BE 16 AGAIN! lol.. and im only 23 now, so i know it only gets more difficult as my kids grow up! :rolleye2:

good luck with your snake though! could the pink-hue be a problem with circulation? ive heard of snakes loosing the tips of their tales due to a bad shed not coming off.. and from the sounds of it.. not having the eye caps come off in that many sheds, you need humidity control BAD.. i would see a vet.

I want to scold a little bit and say that you shouldn't have gotten a pet without first being able to meet all the requirements for it. Money is an issue for everyone---and trust me, it only gets worse with age---but you should have planned ahead and had the resources before you even got the animal.

Scolding aside... we were all young once. And patience is hard at that age. Now it's time to go back and do things right.

Can I ask where you got your BP?

I'm never going to have kids. So i can cross raising them and paying for them off my hard stuff in life list.

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Originally Posted by ladywhipple02

I want to scold a little bit and say that you shouldn't have gotten a pet without first being able to meet all the requirements for it. Money is an issue for everyone---and trust me, it only gets worse with age---but you should have planned ahead and had the resources before you even got the animal.

Scolding aside... we were all young once. And patience is hard at that age. Now it's time to go back and do things right.

Can I ask where you got your BP?

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I've had him for over a year, and while money had not been an issue when i'd gotten him up until now, he was well planned for. With an unexpected divorce, and many other things i can say i was quite unaware that a money issue would come up.

Anyways i got him from an amazing breeder around where i live

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Originally Posted by AshleyB

good luck with your snake though! could the pink-hue be a problem with circulation? ive heard of snakes loosing the tips of their tales due to a bad shed not coming off.. and from the sounds of it.. not having the eye caps come off in that many sheds, you need humidity control BAD.. i would see a vet.

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All the skin around it has come off so i'm positive its not from poor circulation.

Divorce at 16??? Or your parents? (I've been through one myself recently... and I'm only 23 :P NOT what I like to have on my resume of life).


There are many questions that go through my head at this... the most important being if he was so well planned for, why is his set-up not at par?

If he has dents in his eyes, he has retained eyes caps. If they've been like that for the last three sheds or so, it means he has multiple retained eyecaps. This is evidence of a longterm problem.

I say it like I see it... his set-up needs fixed and he really needs to see a vet.

Well i got him as a baby so i didnt need anything bigger than a ten gallon tank at the time which i already had. I had a hideaway temp gages and a lamp for him. Over time things got broken.

Yes my parents not me. :P

anyways im going to find a new snake forum. As a few people were helpful many of the "adults" on this page were rude instead of helpful.

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Originally Posted by Anneliese

I'm never going to have kids. So i can cross raising them and paying for them off my hard stuff in life list.

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you say that now.. i hate kids, always have. i swore up and down, left and right i would never have children of my own and now i have two, i was the first of three girls to have children! my first son was born when i was 19 so my husband and i did things backwards so to speak.. you live and you learn, even now while i love my own children unconditionally and more than life itself i still dislike kids in general, so be careful of the words you use. never say never.. i did and it got me two ;) (And no neither of them were "Accidents).

when you know better you do better.. so what you should do now is get the things you need and help that little reptile friend have some good sheds, full belly and proper husbandry. your snake will grow better, look better, be happier and a healthier happier critter makes for a healthier happier owner.

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Originally Posted by Anneliese

anyways im going to find a new snake forum. As a few people were helpful many of the "adults" on this page were rude instead of helpful.

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wow. how incredibly rude.

they laid some facts out to you, and from what i saw everyone did chip in and give you sound advice. you did not prepare for this snake ahead of time, tight money or not. and if you got the snake from an amazing breeder, why get online instead of calling and asking them?

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Originally Posted by Anneliese

anyways im going to find a new snake forum. As a few people were helpful many of the "adults" on this page were rude instead of helpful.

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good luck with that.. while you say were rude, its not that were rude. were honest and are very compasionate about our animals and to hear one not being properly cared for is cause for concern.. OF THE ANIMAL. i myself had problems with my snakes at first, i had them housed wrong, every husbandry problem that was possible happened. i came here and felt people were being rude at first too until i relised they were only looking out for the best intrest of my animals. i swallowed my pride and got real with the fact that i dont "know it all", i made the changes, spent the money (That turned out to not be all that bad when you do things right) and now have thriving beautiful snakes.. do what you wish but if you find another forum who are "less rude" your risking people being nice and not honest. you need to help that snake, its life is at risk. thats cut and dry.

so if you choose to leave, i bid you farewell and good luck, i hope your snake can live to see it happen.

Merely trying to help, my friend. I've read over all our posts and while mine are a bit to the point---that's how I roll---I find no rudeness.


If you stick around---and we hope you do!---you'll find that everyone here is all about the welfare of the animal. We try to educate so both the snake and the owner are happier.

First things first.


1) I am Akiva Smith. I am 48 yo (next Friday), I have two kids 17 and 13. I know exactly where you are (been there), and I will try to be compasionate.

2) Your snake cannot take care of itself. That is your job. Other people may be harsh because they feel frustration in not being able to be there to help you. It is a human thing -- I know that what you want is answers to your problem, not a lecture on "how could you get to this place?"

3) What you need is a plan. It can be overwhelming to take care of another living thing when you are having your own problems. DIVORCE IS NOT FUN and IT IS ONE OF THE BIGGEST STRESSORS IN A PERSON'S LIFE. And while this forum is not equiped to handle the fallout of a divorce, we can help you make a plan to fix the problems with your snake. I can provide and ear and some good advice to help you with your own problems -- email me at snsa@optonline.net

4) you need to take stock of what you have and where you want to go. For the snake, you really need to get it to a competent vet. I do not know where you live but there is a really good web site with the names of herpotologists: http://www.herpvetconnection.com/
I know that this can be expensive, but if you want your snake to get better this is where to start.

5) the set-up can be put together very inexpensively if you get some help and some good advice. -- this forum is the place for that. An appropriately sized TUB will cost less than $10 dollars. The necessary heat elements are also inexpensive. The only expensive part is the thermostat (but there are ways to get around that which can be discussed at length on this forum)

6) there are very good people here and they all want to help you -- please give us a chance.

I hope that you read this and that you will take the time to talk to one of us about both your snake problems and your own personal situation that life has thrown at you. One is never really in control of their own situation, WE all need outside help.

Heh. I feel bad for the poor snake in all of this. Sheds are so easy to improve.. upping that humidity.. it is child's play. But I feel that the OP is gone and so I only hope for the snake's sake that its owner listens to the voice of reason. :(

he's young. chances are he's not reading this

Sad fact that is if (s)he doesn't even have something to properly gauge the temps/humidity (when the one everyone suggests off the bat is $12) I doubt they will have the money to see a vet, one vet I saw was $65 just to see her and the new one I got is $52 I believe. But I figure I want her to be a happy healthy girl so ya do what ya gotta do.

And for the record if I ever have issues with anything I'd rather you guys be to the point and tell me what I need to do than sugarcoat it to make me feel better.