is she sick?

[Izzys Keeper]

Ok heres the list of problems....
Shes been in shed for about a week and a half and alreay went through the cloudy stage. shes cleared up quite a bit but never actually started shedding. Shes refused last weeks meal. I just swapped her very old cedar bedding for some aspen bedding. For about 4 or 5 days shes been acting wierd and hasnt left her water bowl unless i pull her out. Yesterday i pulled her out and she sat there for about 5 mins stretching and realigning her jaws. No signs of mouth rot. i was thinking it was 1 of 2 things....
1. i had a small breakout of fleas (i believe they were fleas) in my tank but ive completely changed everything and scrubbed it out nice

2. the new bedding is upsetting her and shes not used to it (but she started acting wierd before the change).

Please advise...

Ps... I dont know the exact humidity but i do know it has went up do to the addition of a bigger water bowl and a wet towel over the top. temps are 84-90 as ive always had them

[WingedWolfPsion]

She's just having a slow shed, sounds like.

Check for mites, though. Fleas don't bother reptiles. Perhaps they were springtails, if they were jumping.

[Izzys Keeper]

so she ate yesterday... but still sittin in the water. startin to peel a bit but i think the water is stopping her from drying up enough to shed. should i pull out the water dish and put in a smaller one?

[KLHReptiles]

As far I know, you should never keep bps on cedar, its toxic isn't it?

[BAD Morphs]

First of all I think that cedar as bedding is a no no They say it can kill bp's. Second of all sounds like mites they don't get fleas. Also don't take the water bowl, it will come out of the bowl if and when it is ready to shed and it might be soaking to kill the mites!

[stevenkeogh]

She does not need to "dry out" to shed.
Sounds like you have mites.
Do some research, shedding does not happen in only a few days, it is a process that takes over a week from start to finish.
Snakes look like they go back to "normal" before they shed.
If she has cleared up and has not yet shed just wait a day or 2 and she will have.
Should be a one piece shed if she has been soaking that much.
*HINT* The reason she is soaking so much is because she has mites, NOT because she is shedding.
-Steven

[piper]

Ok heres the list of problems....
Shes been in shed for about a week and a half and alreay went through the cloudy stage. shes cleared up quite a bit but never actually started shedding. Shes refused last weeks meal. I just swapped her very old cedar bedding for some aspen bedding. For about 4 or 5 days shes been acting wierd and hasnt left her water bowl unless i pull her out. Yesterday i pulled her out and she sat there for about 5 mins stretching and realigning her jaws. No signs of mouth rot. i was thinking it was 1 of 2 things....
1. i had a small breakout of fleas (i believe they were fleas) in my tank but ive completely changed everything and scrubbed it out nice

2. the new bedding is upsetting her and shes not used to it (but she started acting wierd before the change).

Please advise...
Ps... I dont know the exact humidity but i do know it has went up do to the
addition of a bigger water bowl and a wet towel over the top. temps are 84-90 as ive always had them

Hello:
You should have something to read the humidity in the tank, you can pull the snake out of the water and check in the water bowl for little black specs, if you see them, than the snake has mites. Your best bet is to google PAM. It can be ordered offline and is the most recommended around the site.

The reason I say you need to buy something to measure humidity, is because your snake will ned a constant 60% humidity. When the shed cycle starts, you should bump this up.. Few mists a day should do the trick.

Do you have the snake in an aquarium or a tub? And if you believe the snake may have mites, take out the bedding and put them on paper towel, this makes it easier to tell if the snake has mites.

Your ambient temps seem a bit high as well. I believe 82-84 is recommended.

Cheers,

Mike

[Oxylepy]

Help with the ceder issue:

http://www.reptilecare.com/substrate.htm

http://exoticpets.about.com/cs/guine...odshavings.htm

[BAD Morphs]

2. the new bedding is upsetting her and shes not used to it (but she started acting wierd before the change).

Pine Shavings: Recently it has come to light that pine shavings can be toxic. They give off fumes that can be harmful. Not as bad as cedar but I won't use it. DO NOT EVER USE CEDAR BEDDING!!! Cedar bedding is very toxic to reptiles and will kill them! Actually it is toxic to the small mammals it is generally used for too.

This came right from the link that was posted here. This is the reason she may have been acting weird before changing here to aspen! She was being poisoned!

[spitfireashlea]

I'm glad you caught onto cedar being toxic before it was too late.