Injured Ball Python and Trouble Shedding

[Sir Herp]

Hello!
Recently, I took home a baby ball python from a local pet store, who happened to have received some sort of cut/bruise on the top of her head. She came with 2 topical medicines (Silvadene, a cream, and Nolvasan, a liquid to be mixed with water) to be applied twice a day. She was an absolute sweetheart, and stayed surprisingly calm when it came time to apply her medicines. We diligently followed the schedule, until she started showing signs of shedding. When her skin started flaking off, I gave her a break so as not to stress her out (and I also assumed the silvadene wouldn't properly absorb into her skin if it was lifting off of her).
A few days after that, I gave her a soak and gently rubbed some of the skin off of her back and tail, which she finished later that night. So, obviously, snakes shed starting from their head and wriggling the skin off down the body, usually coming off in one or two big pieces. However, this girl isn't doing that, and the skin on her head seems to be stuck. I notice it around her eyes and the tip of her mouth- which looks very dry- and I notice especially on her head that the skin seems to be "cracking." There also seems to be some silvadene cream stuck under the skin.
Unfortunately, I don't have a picture of her head before the shed, or when we first bought her, but here are some pictures from today.

I'm thinking about seeing the vet that prescribed her medications, but my mom would rather see our regular vet (who doesn't really do reptiles...).

As for technical information, she's almost a year old and I've had her for a few weeks. Her temperature is normal. As for her humidity (which affects a lot during shedding), the resting humidity for our house is very low, so I spray her cage thoroughly and often. While the overall humidity in her cage is only around 50% (up to 55% right after sprays), she has sphagnum moss in her two hides, and they are very humid (I picked her up for the pictures and she was damp).

So, if anyone knows what I should do for her (regarding medicine, humidity, vet care, or just general husbandry), please tell me what to do!
Thank you!

[bcr229]

She's too dry and likely was before you got her. A good shed actually starts when the new skin is forming under the prior shed, so if she was dry in the pet shop then that will affect her current shed. Also her eyes look dimpled and cracked a bit, which is another indication that she's currently still dehydrated.

If your ambient air is very dry you can mist many times a day and still not get the humidity in a tank to remain high enough for long enough to do any good, especially if you're running a light or CHE for heat. Do you have the top of it covered with anything? Most people cover the top with foil except where the light or CHE is to keep heat and humidity inside.

I would go ahead and soak her in some lukewarm water to help get that shed off of her. Alternatively you could rub her from nose toward her tail with a warm dampened towel.

Has her tail-tip shed out?

If she'll take f/t rats feed them wet, the extra water will help rehydrate her.

[Ladybugzcrunch]

Just wanted to point out this. The snake should not be damp nor should the enclosure. This can feed a whole different set of issues including mold and scale rot. Humid air is not the same as wet substrate. You could try putting the water dish under or over your heat source. If the snake will eat you could offer it wet, live or frozen thawed can be easily wetted down humanly. Be gentle with live rodents, please don’t throw it in a bucket of water alive.

[Craiga 01453]

Both above replies are very well said.

It's important to understand that shedding starts as soon as the old shed is starting to shed itself off. So, the best thing for a good, clean shed is proper husbandry all the time.
Since you've only had this snake a few weeks, this shed isn't on you. But, you can start now to help the next one.

I would try a quick warm water soak, then try using a warm, damp towel to let the snake slither around in. Apply just enough pressure to help the skin off, but not enough that you're restricting the snake's movement.
The cracked skin and dented eyes are a sign of dehydration.

Are you offering a big enough water bowl?
What substrate are you using?
A different substrate may help with your humidity. Also, if you're using a glass enclosure, cover most of the screen lid. I actually wrap the sides, back and top of my glass enclosures with 1/2" foam board insulation. This helps immensely with heat and humidity control while also blocking the sides and providing a sense of security for the snakes. Just cut pieces to fit, including cutting a hole a bit bigger than your heat lamp for the top.

Feeding the prey items wet will also help if the snake will take them wet. Some will, some won't.

Also, like Ladybugzcrunch said, you don't want wet substrate, even inside the hides. This can lead to a whole other set of issues.

Lastly, I don't think a vet visit is necessary at this point. However, it may be worth mentioning to your Mom that she wouldn't go to a podiatrist for chest pain, so why bring a reptile to a mammal vet???

Edit: one thing I forgot: I know you've been medicating the snake twice daily, but it's very important at this point to refrain from any handling that is not 100% necessary.

[Sir Herp]

Thank you everyone for responding and helping me out!

If your ambient air is very dry you can mist many times a day and still not get the humidity in a tank to remain high enough for long enough to do any good, especially if you're running a light or CHE for heat. Do you have the top of it covered with anything? Most people cover the top with foil except where the light or CHE is to keep heat and humidity inside.

I would go ahead and soak her in some lukewarm water to help get that shed off of her. Alternatively you could rub her from nose toward her tail with a warm dampened towel.

Has her tail-tip shed out?

If she'll take f/t rats feed them wet, the extra water will help rehydrate her.

I currently do not have the top covered with anything, but I will get on that right away! Also, her tail tip has shed off with some gentle rubbing, since I was also worried about that.

Just wanted to point out this. The snake should not be damp nor should the enclosure. This can feed a whole different set of issues including mold and scale rot. Humid air is not the same as wet substrate. You could try putting the water dish under or over your heat source. If the snake will eat you could offer it wet, live or frozen thawed can be easily wetted down humanly. Be gentle with live rodents, please don’t throw it in a bucket of water alive.

Thank you for telling me! I didn't even think about scale rot or mold! I'll be refraining from spraying the substrate down next time, and focus on the walls. She does eat frozen thawed mice thankfully, so I'll make sure to do that today when I feed her!

Are you offering a big enough water bowl?
What substrate are you using?
A different substrate may help with your humidity. Also, if you're using a glass enclosure, cover most of the screen lid. I actually wrap the sides, back and top of my glass enclosures with 1/2" foam board insulation. This helps immensely with heat and humidity control while also blocking the sides and providing a sense of security for the snakes. Just cut pieces to fit, including cutting a hole a bit bigger than your heat lamp for the top.

Her water bowl is fairly small at this point, so you're right that I should upgrade. I'm currently using cypress mulch (this stuff). What would you recommend? I do use a glass enclosure, so this would be a really good idea if I can find this stuff.

Edit: one thing I forgot: I know you've been medicating the snake twice daily, but it's very important at this point to refrain from any handling that is not 100% necessary.

I hope the medicating hasn't been stressing her out too much too. I don't handle her any other times, and return her to her cage right afterwards.