Humidity, and bad sheds.

Pics of the enclosure/animal/heating elements/etc would be helpful in offering advice.


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Plus every other vet we called recommended this guy.

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Originally Posted by TheReptileCyka

There is only one part of it with a vent on top, so it should hold humidity fine, if it doesn’t I can just cover it up with towels or more wood. But I’m pretty sure it shouldn’t be completely air-tight am I correct?

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That is correct. You want a good air exchange.

I’m not home as of now, I’ll be sure to take pictures and etc when I get back.

I also have an SD retic. Bear in mind that a good shed starts while the new skin is being formed, well before the prior shed cycle has completed.

Most retics don't have "good" one-piece sheds because they're very enthusiastic about the process and their skin is fairly thin for their size. So, when they shed it looks like a skin explosion all over the enclosure. As long as your snake is shedding completely with clean eyes and tail tip it is ok. If it's not then bump up the humidity and I'd suggest keeping the snake better hydrated by offering its feeders wet. I will note that bunny fur can hold a lot of water, though this does also mean you get a flooded enclosure 2-3 days after feeding.

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Originally Posted by bcr229

I also have an SD retic. Bear in mind that a good shed starts while the new skin is being formed, well before the prior shed cycle has completed.

Most retics don't have "good" one-piece sheds because they're very enthusiastic about the process and their skin is fairly thin for their size. So, when they shed it looks like a skin explosion all over the enclosure. As long as your snake is shedding completely with clean eyes and tail tip it is ok. If it's not then bump up the humidity and I'd suggest keeping the snake better hydrated by offering its feeders wet. I will note that bunny fur can hold a lot of water, though this does also mean you get a flooded enclosure 2-3 days after feeding.

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+1 for feeding wet prey.

And great point about retics shedding in pieces. I wouldn't have thought to mention that.

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Originally Posted by TheReptileCyka

What’s funny is that he claims he was a reptile expert, so he flat out told me lies which only hurt us in the long run. I feel so stupid for abiding by what he said, it just makes me feel horrible that a trained professional would say something like that. I can only imagine how many other people he swindled including me.

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He may not have intentionally steered you wrong. He may know the proper husbandry practices of plenty of reptiles, but isn't too knowledgeable about retics.
However, like I mentioned earlier, and like bcr said, the shed cycle starts as soon as the old skin is gone. So for him to say just a soak is enough is way out there. That's not true of any species of snake that I'm aware of.

Don't beat yourself up. Use this as a learning experience. This is why I advocate so strongly for doing independent research and cross referencing info.

I honestly believe you and your mom would benefit greatly by researching together. Make it a fun, bonding experience if you can.
Quite simply, the more we know about our animals the better we can care for them. So sitting down with your mom and learning together could ease a lot of stress for both of you as well as your snake.

Most of the time he gets it all off, but sometimes he doesn’t. Most of the time when he fully gets it off, it looks like a bomb went off. That’s mainly what I was worried about but there are times when it is a bad shed like that though.

Thank you, I appreciate your reply it made me feel a lot better. I’ll do as much research as I possibly can here on out.

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Originally Posted by TheReptileCyka

Thank you, I appreciate your reply it made me feel a lot better. I’ll do as much research as I possibly can here on out.

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Always happy to help. I feel like you're so close to having things nailed down. And just a few minor tweaks will pretty much solve your problems and allow you to enjoy your pet rather than stress over him.

If your mom is willing to learn with you you'll all be in good shape and hopefully stress free (at least with the snake, hahahaha. We all have stuff to stress over, but our pets hopefully shouldn't be one.).
Like the song goes "I got 99 problems, but my snakes ain't one". Ok, not EXACTLY how it goes ...