She's getting ready to shed- how can I help?

[Arirang]

Hello, all!

Nagini, my first python who I got just over a week ago, seems to be preparing for her first shed in my care. Her eyes are milky, and she's spending a lot more time than usual hiding. I have a bearded dragon, and I know for him, the best thing to do is to spray him with water, provide water to sit in, and leave him to it. Norbert, the dragon, loves being sprayed with water. Nagini, on the other hand, shies away whenever I mist her terrarium to maintain humidity. I was wondering what, if anything, I can do to assist her.

I have a water dish large enough for immersion, and a rough natural bark hide and a couple other rough surfaces to help her get started. It's obvious, but I feel I should state that I know enough not to actively help her by peeling it away or anything. She has been skittish due to the cloudy eyes- I didn't know she was prepping when I last went to handle her, and she hissed at me- very unusual. Then I saw the eyes. Feeding day is Wednesday and I feed her outside of her habitat- should I either attempt to feed in the habitat or else not try to feed her this week?

Side question, is there any benefit to feeding outside the habitat? I was told by my coworker that it keeps them from being aggressive in their habitat, as they will think every time you reach in, you have a mouse. It didn't make sense to me, but it's what we do with the snakes at work and it's how Nagini has always been fed, so I did it the first time I fed her.

Also, a question for once the skin is shed. Can I keep it? Will it decay? Is there a simple way to preserve it?

[Sonny1318]

You can create a humid hide, all you need to do is add sphagnum moss to their favorite hid, damp not soggy. From the sounds of it you may need a better hide. And feeding out of the cage is very unnecessary, I did it for years with large boids and regret not knowing better. Get a better hide, some sphagnum moss, and please just feed in the enclosure. Best of luck! Let us know if you need more help or advice.

[EL-Ziggy]

If your temps and humidity are dialed in there's nothing you need to do to assist your animal with the shedding process. Just let her do her thing. There's also no reason to feed your snake outside it's enclosure. The whole cage aggression/mistaking you for food thing is a myth if you ask me. I have (8) snakes and they're all fed in their vivs. However, I do hook train all my snakes so they know they're not being fed when I reach into their enclosures. That makes it really easy to remove them from their vivs or for me to do routine maintenance and spot cleaning. As far as feeding during shed, it's totally up to you, some snakes will eat and others won't. I prefer to wait until after my animals shed to feed them. They're usually pretty hungry post shed. Best wishes with the first shed.

[Arirang]

She has three good hides, one of them is humid. She spends most of her time in the middle hide, neither humid nor rough, but I can tell from tracks that she uses both at night. I will feed her in her terrarium this week. Thanks for the help.

Input on keeping the skin still appreciated

[RickyNY]

Don't try to assist, just keep checking the humidity daily.
Like Sonny and Ziggy, I would suggest you feed in the terrarium.

[Sonny1318]

She has three good hides, one of them is humid. She spends most of her time in the middle hide, neither humid nor rough, but I can tell from tracks that she uses both at night. I will feed her in her terrarium this week. Thanks for the help.

Input on keeping the skin still appreciated

Sorry, yes you can keep the skin, they are a little fragile and usually more easy to manipulate when damp. When I was younger I would hang them in my snake room. Hopefully you can grab a poop free one. I personally don’t know of anyway to preserve them, other then straightening them out and letting them dry. Good luck.

[Craiga 01453]

Hello, all!

Nagini, my first python who I got just over a week ago, seems to be preparing for her first shed in my care. Her eyes are milky, and she's spending a lot more time than usual hiding. I have a bearded dragon, and I know for him, the best thing to do is to spray him with water, provide water to sit in, and leave him to it. Norbert, the dragon, loves being sprayed with water. Nagini, on the other hand, shies away whenever I mist her terrarium to maintain humidity. I was wondering what, if anything, I can do to assist her.

I have a water dish large enough for immersion, and a rough natural bark hide and a couple other rough surfaces to help her get started. It's obvious, but I feel I should state that I know enough not to actively help her by peeling it away or anything. She has been skittish due to the cloudy eyes- I didn't know she was prepping when I last went to handle her, and she hissed at me- very unusual. Then I saw the eyes. Feeding day is Wednesday and I feed her outside of her habitat- should I either attempt to feed in the habitat or else not try to feed her this week?

Side question, is there any benefit to feeding outside the habitat? I was told by my coworker that it keeps them from being aggressive in their habitat, as they will think every time you reach in, you have a mouse. It didn't make sense to me, but it's what we do with the snakes at work and it's how Nagini has always been fed, so I did it the first time I fed her.

Also, a question for once the skin is shed. Can I keep it? Will it decay? Is there a simple way to preserve it?

First things first, bump humidity to 70-80%
I have always had good luck creating humid hides by adding sphangnum moss in their hides. Keep it damp, but not soaking wet. Most snakes won't tolerate being misted directly. Other than that, just wait it out. She'll shed when she's ready. She'll likely stay hidden day and night until she sheds. Once her eyes clear, her skin will appear normal as well, and a few days after that expect a shed (and probably a poop right next to it).

As for feeding, I try feeding each of my snakes one time while in shed, if they refuse, I just wait them out and feed the day after they shed moving forward. If they accept, then I keep offering. My Kingsnake is my only snake who eats in shed.

Using a seperate feeding tub is old school and proven counter productive. I feed all my snakes inside their enclosures and have never been bitten or even struck at within the enclosure. I've been tagged several times outside the enclosure.
Using a feeding tub will
a) increase the chances of a refusal due to stressing the snake while moving
b) increase the chance of getting tagged while the snake is still in feed mode when you move it back
c) increase the chance of the snake regurgitating it's meal due to being moved after eating.
Feed in the enclosure, plain and simple.

Lastly, as far as keeping the shed skins, I save each of my snake's first shed. I just put them in Tupperware and label them. I also one hung my Kingsnake's shed over the curtain rod in my snake room as a joke to mess with my girlfriend, it's been there for over a year, hahahaha, still perfectly intact.

[Zincubus]

Hello, all!

Nagini, my first python who I got just over a week ago, seems to be preparing for her first shed in my care. Her eyes are milky, and she's spending a lot more time than usual hiding. I have a bearded dragon, and I know for him, the best thing to do is to spray him with water, provide water to sit in, and leave him to it. Norbert, the dragon, loves being sprayed with water. Nagini, on the other hand, shies away whenever I mist her terrarium to maintain humidity. I was wondering what, if anything, I can do to assist her.

I have a water dish large enough for immersion, and a rough natural bark hide and a couple other rough surfaces to help her get started. It's obvious, but I feel I should state that I know enough not to actively help her by peeling it away or anything. She has been skittish due to the cloudy eyes- I didn't know she was prepping when I last went to handle her, and she hissed at me- very unusual. Then I saw the eyes. Feeding day is Wednesday and I feed her outside of her habitat- should I either attempt to feed in the habitat or else not try to feed her this week?

Side question, is there any benefit to feeding outside the habitat? I was told by my coworker that it keeps them from being aggressive in their habitat, as they will think every time you reach in, you have a mouse. It didn't make sense to me, but it's what we do with the snakes at work and it's how Nagini has always been fed, so I did it the first time I fed her.

Also, a question for once the skin is shed. Can I keep it? Will it decay? Is there a simple way to preserve it?

Three quick answers from me

Watch for the eyes going clear and then spray the viv well , a few times each day until you find the shedded skin .

Please don't consider feeding in a separate container- just feed in the viv and put a few pieces of card down over the substrate to minimise the chance of them swallowing any substrate.

Finally , in my experience shedded skins last perfectly well for years and years ..


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

[Arirang]

Is substrate swallowing a problem? I use ZooMed Forest Floor, which is cypress.

[Bogertophis]

Sorry, yes you can keep the skin, they are a little fragile and usually more easy to manipulate when damp. When I was younger I would hang them in my snake room. Hopefully you can grab a poop free one. I personally don’t know of anyway to preserve them, other then straightening them out and letting them dry. Good luck.

I like to save intact skins too, for when I share my snakes with the public for "meet & greets"; skins & eggs are great props that help people to learn more about them.

Sometimes a snake will defecate right into their shed as they "undress"- keeps the cage neat but that shed is a total loss for saving, lol...

As Sonny1318 said, the time to work with (unroll) the shed skin is while they're damp, and one thing that makes it easier to dry them flat is to blow into the mouth
part of the shed (don't actually touch it with your mouth) to inflate the skin, then lay it flat to dry.

Shed skins will last a long time, as Zincubus said, UNLESS you live some place where the wrong moths get a hold of them. Be aware that certain types of
moths will EAT them, so if you save them, keep them in a tight container.