Bad shed question

My snake shed last night. And barley got anything off. So i soaked him with a wash cloth and got everything off excet for his head..
His head is comming off in little pieces.. Im just gonna let him try and do that on his own.. But sense its comming off in little pieces, how do i know if his eye things came off?

Sounds like you need to check your husbandry.

Did you increase the humidity during the shed cycle?

Look at the snakes eyes and see if caps are there.

Yeah. Iv had trouble with the humidity.. So i got it up to 50 and thats the best i could do.
I used tinfoil on the top of his cage and everything..
I called the pet store and they said no matter what i do imma have problems with constant humidity because of where i live. So spraying it down once or twice a day is all i can do.


I dont really know what eye caps look like.. His eyes look clear to me, but he still has a big chunk or skin on the top of his head.

The next time a shed cycle starts or he goes in blue bump up the humidity to 65-70%, place a piece of damp sea sponge in the warm & cool hides.

Alritght thanks.

What do eye caps look like if they re still on him?

i usually add warmer water to their tubs the nights i think theyll shed, and have never had a bad shed, dont know if it would help in a tank which im assuming you have...but im sure the moss the others have suggested will do the trick

You can also add spagnum moss to tank in addition to sea sponge, to try and up humidity.

Yeah i have moss in both his hides, and i sprayed it.. But he wasnt in them last night, he was too busy pushing his head on anything he possibly could.

I wouldn't worry too much about those eyecaps. If they come off on a piece of shed you can see them easily. The only perfectly rounds shapes in the head piece. :)

If they do not come off this time, and you are able to correct your husbandry they will come off next time.

If still on they will just look a bit wrinkly... like a snake about to shed. :)

Bruce

Next month try the sea sponge in the hides, You will have to dampen them daily, but it should do the trick.

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Originally Posted by LYDIA

What do eye caps look like if they re still on him?

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The eye caps will look cloudy and dry and just...well...not normal and shiny. There's a picture of it on the bottom of this page: http://www.ballpython.com/page.php?topic=ballfaq It can be difficult to keep the humidity up sometimes and all I can say is just to mist several times a day when the snake is shedding and if you're really desperate then use the wet moss inside the hide. Keeping a towel over the top works for me too. Soaking really does help bad sheds and for really stubborn skin you might have to soak your snake longer...just don't leave him unattended :P

Good luck :)

oh, then im guessing they came off, cause his eyes are nice and clear. no wrinkles or anything =]

Quote:

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Originally Posted by LYDIA

oh, then im guessing they came off, cause his eyes are nice and clear. no wrinkles or anything =]

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well that's good :) now you just have to make sure you gently get as much of the other skin off as you can. try to get all of it off but if you can't don't worry too much. as long as there's no old skin left that completely encircles his body then he should be fine. if there's just a few patches here and there then it will probably just annoy him but not hurt him, and then they should come off in the next shed (as long as the humidity is higher next time). Sometimes it does take a few extra days to get bad shed off

yeah, i got everything else of in a tub of water, except for the piece on the top of his head. wich he will not let me touch.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by LYDIA

yeah, i got everything else of in a tub of water, except for the piece on the top of his head. which he will not let me touch.

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oh that's great then!! if it's just on top of his head then that's fine. like I said, it will irritate him a little but it won't hurt him. yeah don't try to rub or pull at it too much...ball pythons are pretty jumpy about their heads being touched and you might just stress him out more. That little patch will definitely come off in his next shed as long as the humidity is higher :)

okay thanks :)

what are you using as substrate?