Stuck Facial Shed?

[Soul.Python]

Hey all!
So I'm in a bit of a predicament.

So I recently took in (a month or so ago?) a very distressed BP from a friend of a friend. When I got her she was living on aspen, stuck shed, nothing for humidity and was on a feeding strike (not to mention, fairly underweight)
I was able to boost her humidity, got most of her shed off, de-stressed over the course of a few weeks and managed to end her feeding strike.
However I've noticed she hasn't actually gotten all of her last shed off her face and hasn't shed her eyecaps(properly?). I've bathed her (multiple times), ive boosted humidity and I'm currently in the process of putting all my snakes onto Eco Earth and off of Aspen.

But what I'm wondering is, does anyone have any tips/tricks/info/experience with a stuck shed on the facial area? Everything I know to do hasn't helped much so far.

Thanks!

[Tonald Drump]

I'm guessing you've already done this, but try letting your BP pass through a damp, rough cloth/towel. If that doesn't work, try asking your friend for the BP's shed schedule so far. If another shed is nearing, then just bump up humidity and hope she gets it all off on this shed. If that stil doesn't work, moisten up your BP and use some pinsets/tweezers to pull off the stuck shed (NOT eyecaps). Hope this helps!

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[Soul.Python]

Thank you for the input! I did indeed get her to pass through a towel but I suppose I may try that again- she should actually be due for a shed pretty soon here. Ive never dealt with a shed being this tough and I wasn't sure if it would mess up the following shed if she didn't get it off by then... But I'll definitely be boosting the humanity here soon and seeing if that helps. Fingers crossed for sure!

[Tonald Drump]

Thank you for the input! I did indeed get her to pass through a towel but I suppose I may try that again- she should actually be due for a shed pretty soon here. Ive never dealt with a shed being this tough and I wasn't sure if it would mess up the following shed if she didn't get it off by then... But I'll definitely be boosting the humanity here soon and seeing if that helps. Fingers crossed for sure!

Alright then, good luck! Also, for future reference, when snakes shed, they shed everything on the top layer, including pieces of their last shed/sheds that they failed to slough off.

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[zina10]

Not necessarily.

If its only a "bit" of old shed, only one layer and not to big, chances are it will come off just fine with the next shed cycle.

But sometimes, "old sheds" can become stiff. They aren't being lubricated from the inside, like the new sheds. Therefore, if the piece is big enough or dried up enough (or thick enough, several layers) the "new shed" just tears around those edges and that piece doesn't come off. Adding "another layer" to the old shed.

I would just make sure the snake has high humidity during the next shed cycle. Not necessarily "bathing" it, though. Just bump the humidity high, mist most areas daily (but don't soak the entire enclosure) and keep an eye on it. You want to make sure it comes off this time before more layers dry onto the snake.

[Zincubus]

One top-trick is to wait until the eyes clear and the snake gets its colour back then start regular spraying a few times throughout the day ... they normally shed perfectly 2 to 6 days later..
You'll probably find the dirty , rolled up skin under one of its hides


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[paulh]

Not necessarily.

If its only a "bit" of old shed, only one layer and not to big, chances are it will come off just fine with the next shed cycle.

....

I agree with this. However, if the unshed area is fairly big (more than 1/4 of the upper or lower surface), you might try putting the BP in a plastic box on your lap while you watch TV. Put a few drops of water on the unshed area every minute or so for half an hour. Then gently scrape your thumbnail from just forward of the unshed area towards the back. The idea is to catch a loose edge of the old skin and peel it back so you can get a grip on it with tweezers.

I would leave the eyecaps alone if it is more than 3 days after the shed. The eyecaps usually came off in the next shed. For what it's worth, Raymond Ditmars (curator of reptiles at Bronx Zoo) had a case of a cobra back around the 1920s that built up a stack of unshed eyecaps. This was before antivenom, so nobody wanted to get very close to a fully venomous cobra. When they finally decided to bite the bullet and take care of the problem, there were 7 or 8 eyecaps in the stack. Final result: all caps removed with no damage to the eye from either the retention or the removal.

If unshed eyecaps are only a couple of days old, I moisten the eyecap every minute or so with water for at least half an hour. Then I place the ball of my thumb on the eye and wipe my thumb across the eye, from front to back. The friction ridges of the thumbprint pull at the eyecap, and the front end of the eyecap pulls out from the snake's head. If half a dozen wipes is unsuccessful, then keep moistening the eyecap for another 15 minutes and wipe again. If unsuccessful then, wait for the next shed.

Good luck.

[Zincubus]

What's better / easier / safer than having the snake constantly slither through a very damp , rough textured cloth/towel ??

Simply apply very gentle pressure to any areas of stubborn shed . Even works on retained eye-caps when you apply the gentle pressure to the head region ..


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[Soul.Python]

Thank you everyone!!! For a bit of an update...

I had gone ahead and changed her substrate and boosted her humidity... And woke up to a completely clean shed this morning, stuck bit and all. Good thing too, its feeding day.

Honestly so proud of her, she was half starved (I learned she had been on a feeding strike since maybe August?) in the middle of a VERY rough shed. In a month she's ended her strike, moved up to medium mice and now, full shedded.

Anyway, that's enough from me. Thank you everyone! Super helpful!!

[Zincubus]

Excellent !!!


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