Worried about almost whole shed being stuck

[WhompingWillow]

Our BP is going through his first shed with us. I thought things would go really smoothly based on what I've read about husbandry requirements and shedding. But his skin was noticeably loose yesterday afternoon, and he still hasn't shed it. The only part that has been shed is part of his head and one eye. Here's what our setup is like:

- 20L modified glass tank (screen top with 80% covered by cardboard wrapped in aluminum foil. Open space is for heat lamp. A humidifier vents directly into tank. Normal humidity is about 60%, I bumped that up to 70-75% once I noticed he was blue this last Friday. I did not do any extra misting.
- Cool side is 76-80 degrees, hot side is 89/90. Ambient is usually 78-80. (Edited to say he also has a UTH under his warm hide.)

At what point do I need to be more concerned than I already am if he doesn't complete this shed? In the last 24 hours I've given him a quick soak, have misted his cage, turned the humidifer up to high for short periods of time so it's like a sauna in there, and placed damp paper towels in his hide. I'm especially worried about the remaining eye cap. Any other advice/suggestions would be much appreciated!

[Zincubus]

All I do for mine is to wait until they get their colour back and eyes clear THEN start spraying each day - morning , after work and bedtime until you find the shed in one messy lump - usually under one of the hides ..


No need to soak during the shed time , I'd only suggest a soak if a snake had a real bad shedding time and /or there were retained eyecaps ..or for a dehydrated snake ..


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[Zincubus]

All I do for mine is to wait until they get their colour back and eyes clear THEN start spraying each day - morning , after work and bedtime until you find the shed in one messy lump - usually under one of the hides ..


No need to soak during the shed time , I'd only suggest a soak if a snake had a real bad shedding time and /or there were retained eyecaps ..or for a dehydrated snake ..

[WhompingWillow]

All I do for mine is to wait until they get their colour back and eyes clear THEN start spraying each day - morning , after work and bedtime until you find the shed in one messy lump - usually under one of the hides ..


No need to soak during the shed time , I'd only suggest a soak if a snake had a real bad shedding time and /or there were retained eyecaps ..or for a dehydrated snake ..


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In the future I will definitely start misting after I notice shed is about to start. I'm wondering if that's where I went wrong here. But for his current stuck shed - he should eventually be able to shed it on his own as long as I keep up the misting, right?

[Zincubus]

I start misting / spraying as soon as they get their colour back and eyes go clear again - they shed in the next few days or so ...


..... and yes ... If you start spraying a few times ( or more ) each day it will normally come off fine by itself ..
It has to be humid and the glass will mist up but not so wet there are puddles on the floor of the Viv / rub

Are there any branches or pieces of bark in there to rub against - they help the shed come off .. as does orchid bark and the like ... Aspen is useless full stop ( IMHO )

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[paulh]

Our BP is going through his first shed with us. I thought things would go really smoothly based on what I've read about husbandry requirements and shedding. But his skin was noticeably loose yesterday afternoon, and he still hasn't shed it. The only part that has been shed is part of his head and one eye.
....

At what point do I need to be more concerned than I already am if he doesn't complete this shed? ....

As the snake has shed part of the head, now is the time to assist him out of the rest of the old skin. Mostly the following procedure involves patience and gentle handling. The only materials needed are your hands, a towel, and a soaking box.

You need a plastic shoe box or something similar to soak the snake. Use water approximately 85 degrees Fahrenheit (roughly 30C). Use enough water to reach 1/4 of the way from the snake's belly to its backbone. About every five minutes pour a little water over the top of the head. After about 30 minutes try to loosen the skin around the lips, either the upper or lower jaw, with a thumbnail. Get the skin off as much of the head as possible. For the retained eye cap, place your wet thumb on the eye cap and wipe towards the rear of the eye. The friction ridges of the thumbprint will probably pull the eye cap back far enough to get it off. If the eye cap does not come off, it is no big deal. Leave it to come off with the next shed. One the shed skin is off the head, it is mostly a matter of letting the snake crawl through a wet towel, turning the old skin inside out as it goes. Make sure the skin on the tip of the tail comes off.


Good luck.

[WhompingWillow]

As the snake has shed part of the head, now is the time to assist him out of the rest of the old skin. Mostly the following procedure involves patience and gentle handling. The only materials needed are your hands, a towel, and a soaking box.

You need a plastic shoe box or something similar to soak the snake. Use water approximately 85 degrees Fahrenheit (roughly 30C). Use enough water to reach 1/4 of the way from the snake's belly to its backbone. About every five minutes pour a little water over the top of the head. After about 30 minutes try to loosen the skin around the lips, either the upper or lower jaw, with a thumbnail. Get the skin off as much of the head as possible. For the retained eye cap, place your wet thumb on the eye cap and wipe towards the rear of the eye. The friction ridges of the thumbprint will probably pull the eye cap back far enough to get it off. If the eye cap does not come off, it is no big deal. Leave it to come off with the next shed. One the shed skin is off the head, it is mostly a matter of letting the snake crawl through a wet towel, turning the old skin inside out as it goes. Make sure the skin on the tip of the tail comes off.


Good luck.

Thank you for this! I will try this ASAP.

[WhompingWillow]

I start misting / spraying as soon as they get their colour back and eyes go clear again - they shed in the next few days or so ...


..... and yes ... If you start spraying a few times ( or more ) each day it will normally come off fine by itself ..
It has to be humid and the glass will mist up but not so wet there are puddles on the floor of the Viv / rub

Are there any branches or pieces of bark in there to rub against - they help the shed come off .. as does orchid bark and the like ... Aspen is useless full stop ( IMHO )

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I just saw this whole reply, thank you for the reassurance! I definitely increased humidity, and I put a small half log in there specifically for shed. A little while after humidity was increased he became very active in trying to finish shedding. I assisted a little because nothing was actually coming off, but now 95% is off, just a bit on the head, neck, and one eye cap... Here's hoping he'll successfully remove it!

[redshepherd]

What are you using exactly to measure humidity? The round analog humidity monitors don't work at all and are super inaccurate.

^ The above advice with the shoebox only applies if you're certain the snake officially has a retained shed, and isn't simply in the middle of trying to shed. If your humidity is at least 70% (measured accurately), the snake should have no problem finishing the shed on its own. Additional misting really isn't necessary unless you're having a problem with dropping humidity.

Be sure your substrate/ground of the tank isn't wet, or it could cause scale rot.

ETA: I just read that 24 hours passed with the shed, it's definitely a retained shed!

[Zincubus]

I just saw this whole reply, thank you for the reassurance! I definitely increased humidity, and I put a small half log in there specifically for shed. A little while after humidity was increased he became very active in trying to finish shedding. I assisted a little because nothing was actually coming off, but now 95% is off, just a bit on the head, neck, and one eye cap... Here's hoping he'll successfully remove it!

Just keep spraying well for a couple of days to sort the rest out ..

When you say 'assist' don't be tempted to 'pull' or 'tug' any bits off ... I tried that ONCE when I first started .... I got a painful warning !


You can get a very damp /wet rough textured towel and let the snake slither 'inside' the towel - applying very gentle pressure to the snake - do this in a sink or bath .. any stubborn skin will come off painlessly on the towel .


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