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  1. #1
    Registered User NotABee's Avatar
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    Stuck Shed Headshy

    Hiya,

    So my husbandry was off. Really off. I got the humidity up to 55 or so on average with the foil method but that just wasn't enough and my poor little guy has a stuck shed on his head and neck.

    I'm fixing my husbandry and a T8 is on its way now. I'm really upset about this whole issue because I love my snake a lot and I know I screwed up by not ensuring his enclosure was at a better humidity.

    I'm really worried about my little guy. I got the stuck shed body parts off with soaking, but my snake HATES soaking. I have a mixture of cypress and jungle mix as substrate, a water dish he can soak in, and two little black hides in addition to a log hide the he really oddly loves.

    Is there anything I can do to get the stuck shed off his head and neck? He seems fine otherwise and was being his cute curious self this morning. I tried getting the stuck shed off this morning but he is SO headshy. When I tried to just rub his neck a bit he jerked back and did some form of waste release on me. After that I put him back in his enclosure because I didn't want to stress him out anymore. I've had him about a month and have rarely handled him because I worry about his stress levels.

    He's a resilient little guy and will bounce back from stress pretty quickly. Today is his feeding day though so I just don't know what to do or how worried to be.

  2. #2
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    Yeah, 55 is way too low for a shed cycle. 55-60 should be about where you want to be at all times, with a bump to 70-80 during the shed cycle.

    Was your snake able to shed his eye caps or are they still intact?

    What makes you say he's resilient? If you've only had him a month what else has happened that shows resiliency?

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    JodanOrNoDan (07-17-2017)

  4. #3
    BPnet Senior Member tttaylorrr's Avatar
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    get a damp (not dripping) bath towel, place the snake on one half and fold the other half of the towel over the snake. using your hands geeeennnntly hold on to him or make tight little caves for him to move through as he slithers about to try and get the shed off. the towel will prevent him from seeing you reaching for his head so that might help the stress levels for you both.

    like craigfrechette said above, knowing if the eye caps are off is important.

    humidity tips: damp sphagnum moss placed inside a hide; damp hand towel laid over top of one hide; ensure your foil placement is tight and fits well over the mesh; if you're using a bulb for ambient heat try a CHE (ceramic heat emitter) instead.

    after i typed all that, i reread you're getting a T8 lol. but knowledge never hurts!!!
    4.4 ball python
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  6. #4
    Registered User NotABee's Avatar
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    Re: Stuck Shed Headshy

    Sorry, I moreover mean the times I've had to take him out he usually explores instead of balling. He hasn't hissed or bitten me and stuck his first food quickly and without problems. I haven't really handled him just to handle him yet.

    I don't want him to ever be stressed though and I'm very upset with myself that his situation has been less than ideal. I saw his eyes turn milky and thought I had a couple of days to get a good mister and some shed ease. He shed right after the milky eye stage (like literally within a day) that I didn't have time to do anything. That's not an excuse though. I'm totally admitting that I failed my snake here. I feel really really terrible about this. My snake deserves better.

    It looked like he shed his eyecaps. I'll double check that tonight. His breathing seemed good and nothing about him seemed off really. I, admittedly, don't know what to look for though. even touching his neck makes him recoil very quickly. I just want to fix the problems I've caused him and be a better owner.
    Last edited by NotABee; 07-17-2017 at 10:27 AM.

  7. #5
    BPnet Senior Member JodanOrNoDan's Avatar
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    Everybody makes mistakes. Its not that bad. Just correct the problems. Soaking a ball python is not advised. If the eye caps are off, the easiest thing to do is get the humidity corrected and the problem will correct itself. If the eyecaps are still on you can try the towel method mentioned above.

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  9. #6
    BPnet Senior Member tttaylorrr's Avatar
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    Re: Stuck Shed Headshy

    Quote Originally Posted by NotABee View Post
    Sorry, I moreover mean the times I've had to take him out he usually explores instead of balling. He hasn't hissed or bitten me and stuck his first food quickly and without problems. I haven't really handled him just to handle him yet.

    I don't want him to ever be stressed though and I'm very upset with myself that his situation has been less than ideal. I saw his eyes turn milky and thought I had a couple of days to get a good mister and some shed ease. He shed right after the milky eye stage (like literally within a day) that I didn't have time to do anything. That's not an excuse though. I'm totally admitting that I failed my snake here. I feel really really terrible about this. My snake deserves better.

    It looked like he shed his eyecaps. I'll double check that tonight. His breathing seemed good and nothing about him seemed off really. I, admittedly, don't know what to look for though. even touching his neck makes him recoil very quickly. I just want to fix the problems I've caused him and be a better owner.
    hey we all make mistakes! don't beat yourself up here, he sounds young still so you'll have many years to do right by him.

    a retained eye cap will look something like another user posted in this thread here: dull and not shiny. if the eye caps are still on, there's nothing to worry about. get some sphagnum moss and place it in a hide: he might work them of himself or he'll just wait until the next shed when his husbandry is correct.
    4.4 ball python
    1.0 Albino 0.1 Coral Glow 0.1 Super Cinnamon paradox 1.0 Piebald 0.1 Pastel Enchi Leopard het Piebald 1.0 Coral Glow het Piebald

    1.0 corn snake
    1.0 Hypo

    1.0 crested gecko
    0.1 ????

    0.1 cat
    0.1 Maine Coon mix

    0.1 human ✌︎

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  11. #7
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    We understand. Don't beat yourself up, just learn from it. We have ALL made mistakes at some point, it's just a matter of turning mistakes into learning experiences.

    I agree with Jodan, if the eye caps are intact then use the towel method that tttaylorrr described above. If you're a bit uncomfortable around his head (it's ok if you are, you and your snake will earn each other's trust over time with proper handling. And some BPs are just more head shy than others and we handle them accordingly ) then the moss in the hides that tttaylorr mentioned is a good way to help your snake work them off on his own. Or, worst case, they come off next shed with no harm done. By then you'll have your husbandry on point and you'll both be good to go.

    If the eye caps did come off, I would just keep the humidity up around 65 and let nature do it's thing. Chances are those pieces on his head will come off on their own within a few days. If not, they'll come off with the next shed.

    This isn't a big mistake and one that is very easily corrected. So, please don't be too hard on yourself.

  12. #8
    Registered User NotABee's Avatar
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    His eyes look shiny. I'm in a white room and having a hard time telling.
    http://imgur.com/gallery/n8vMO

    On the plus side he got a good amount off while I was at work. His neck and head look almost completely good.

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