Question on my BP's shed

[BroknBusted]

Ok so I've asked a lot of questions and got a lot of help. Here's my latest one. Being I am new to BP's, it appears I missed the begining stages of my girls shed. Now, for the last 24-36 hours, I noticed she has an area about 1.5 inches down from her head that she has the shed started and is hanging there. She has been VERY active and rubbing against everything and anything in the tank. How long does it take for the full shed to come off usually?

Her humidity is between 60-63 % and the temps are right.

When do I decide it's not going well for her and soak her? I don't want to put her through that if I am just being anxious.

Her head seems to have shed just fine, although I don't see the shed in the tank anywhere. Her eyes are MUCH brighter then they have been since I got her 3 weeks ago. And she doesn't seem agressive. She had wormed her way around my temp guage ( ) and was about to knock it over so I gently moved her from it and she did seem to be bothered that I did.

[Vypyrz]

Ok so I've asked a lot of questions and got a lot of help. Here's my latest one. Being I am new to BP's, it appears I missed the begining stages of my girls shed. Now, for the last 24-36 hours, I noticed she has an area about 1.5 inches down from her head that she has the shed started and is hanging there. She has been VERY active and rubbing against everything and anything in the tank. How long does it take for the full shed to come off usually?

Her humidity is between 60-63 % and the temps are right.

When do I decide it's not going well for her and soak her? I don't want to put her through that if I am just being anxious.

Her head seems to have shed just fine, although I don't see the shed in the tank anywhere. Her eyes are MUCH brighter then they have been since I got her 3 weeks ago. And she doesn't seem agressive. She had wormed her way around my temp guage ( ) and was about to knock it over so I gently moved her from it and she did seem to be bothered that I did.

If you've been keeping the humidity up, then it was probably caused by the stress of a new home, etc... Since it has already been 24-36 hours I would say that if she doesn't get it off sometime today go ahead and assist her this evening. Here are a couple of links to some tutorial threads on the shedding process and removing stuck sheds with photos included. Just make sure when you use the towel to gently work the skin down from the head to the tail and all should be fine. Good luck...

http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...hed-No-problem.

http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...edding-Process

[mpkeelee]

how long has it been since her eyes have cleard up from being in blue?? usually about a week after i expect a shed so i make sure my humidity is about 70 or so. also, i have noticed that smaller snakes who havent had many sheds aren't really good at shedding yet so they tend to have more trouble. does she have anything rough in her enclosure that she can rub on to help her pull the shed back? my older snakes can shed just by using their bodies and laying still, but younger snakes need something to rub on. if you start seeinglarge pieces of skin hanging off then its time to soak, or if you notice the skin is loose and not very colorful like it should be.

[BroknBusted]

Thank you both for the advice. Yes she does have one somewhat large piece hanging off. And yes she has plenty to rub against that would be rough enough to help.

As for her eyes, I notice yesterday that they were much brighter black then the dull the had before. Again, being new to this, I am sure she had been in the pre-shed mode prior to me being aware of it.

The link posted about what to do for a bad shed seems pretty easy to follow and if by tonight she hasn't shed fully, I will try that!!

[BroknBusted]

Ok. Update. I did the soak exactally as suggested in the sticky. However, when it came time to get her out, I used a damp cloth as suggested. She refused to do anything but sit there on the cloth. I tried to gently rub the cloth against her to no avail.

Now she has loose skin, on one side mainly, all the way down her body. I put her back in her tank and am going to watch her and see if she can get the rest of it off now. If not, I guess I am stuck trying to soak her again tomorrow.

Any other suggestions?

[darkbloodwyvern]

I just peel my snakes. Be careful around the tail and cloaca. If a piece won't come off, soak her a little more. You can remove a shed by hand as long as you are gentle! Also, sometimes small patches may stick on and you can't leave a little so long as it isn't on their face or somewhere constricting their tail or part of their body. Small pieces will come off eventually or with the next shed. The tail tip can be a bad place because it can cut off the blood flow.

Have you tried putting a humid hide in there or maybe putting a piece of cork bark over the water dish? sometimes they will soak if they feel hidden.

[BroknBusted]

I do have a dish big enough for her to soak in. SHe hasn't seemed to opt for that.

A good bit of the shed did come off after I put her back in her tank. I will check her later to see how much is left and go from there. THANKS so much for the advice!!!!

[BroknBusted]

Update: Well I did try Dark's idea last night. I managed to get all of the shed off of her with the exception of her head ( she wasn't having any of that! ). Her eyes appear to be clear and nothing obstructing them or her nostrils. It's mainly on the top and down the neck part of her head. She is still bugged by that but I can tell she is much more relieved to have the rest of it off her.

She was very active and "playful" after I removed the body shed. I had her out for about 20 mins at which time she was just exploring and being very friendly. When I put her back in her tank, she got a drink and went all over the tank for about another 20 mins, went to her hide for an hour, then right back out and explored her tank again for a while.

THANKS once again for all the advice!!!!!