Elysia starting to shed! *questions*

[Alkaurkharim]

Well I fed Elysia a fuzzy 2 days ago and I picked her up today to hold her for a while and noticed her head was kind of odd. So I put her head up to the light and low and behold, her head is slighty more pale and not really shiny like she used to beof her and her eyes are starting to cloud over. I put her into the sunlight a little check her better and her underbelly is getting kinda pale and looks a little wrinkly I guess *still feels smooth*? How long should it take for her to shed? Should I stop handling and feeding her until she completes her shed? Just a few questions is all

[Alkaurkharim]

For some reason this huge part didn't get posted earlier o_O

Some of you who followed my Bath Time thread know about this part already.

5 days ago I woke up to Elysia in her water dish she didnt stay there all that long so I assume she was just cooling off as we had several bad days up here. The next 2 days when I woke up she was in the dish again, but the last 2 days she hasn't been. She was most likely in the dish each day for less then an hour. I was intially afraid of mites but after inspecting her each and the cage for the last few days *except yesterday and the day before when she was digesting* I haven't found anything. Now I'm wondering if she was just soaking to get ready for her shed.

[Tigergenesis]

The soaking was possibly related. I think it's best to avoid feeding and handline during shed - it's a stressful and uncomfortable time for them (especially when their eyes are clouded and they can't see). Her eyes and body will soon clear up and return to normal as if she's shed but you won't find any shed. This is normal and just means that in a couple/few days she will shed. You can try and feed her once they clear up (some snakes won't eat at all while in shed, but I doubt a king will refuse a meal) or you can just continue to leave her be and wait until she has actually shed and then resume feeding. I prefer to leave my snakes alone until they shed. She may defecate with her shed - this is normal. And if you see a bit of blood with the shed it's normal too - I've only seen this once and only with my BP.

[Alkaurkharim]

Thanks Tiger ^_^ After only 2 feeds with me she already looks bigger to me! I was just kinda shocked that she had cloudy eyes and stuff ^_^

[Tigergenesis]

Yeah, even if you know what to expect it can still be a bit shocking at times. I'm sure she'll shed great with the humidity you were having and since she was soaking.

[Alkaurkharim]

Yeah, just to make sure I covered half the holes on top with a towel cause today we had really really low humidity, around 39-40%.

I'm currently trying to figure out how to "bake" my eco earth to dry it out faster. It just isn't gonna get done sitting outside.

[Alkaurkharim]

EDIT: Ooops i hit refresh and double posted ^_^;;

[Alkaurkharim]

Well, Elysia's eyes cleared up today so, she should be shedding anyday now. I've been keeping her humidity up in the 60% range to help her shed. The way I do it is by putting a bath towel over the top and spraying it with a spray bottle. Then I flip it over and spray the other side. Then I fold a littlebit of it up so that theres an open space for some of the humidity to get out so it doesn't shoot up in the 80's and 90's.

[Tigergenesis]

Sounds good. I'm sure she'll shed great.

[Alkaurkharim]

Yeah, I can't wait ^_^ I want to hold her again and feed her too! I'll be she's hungry!