First Bad Shed: Water bowl related?

[threadgoode]

Hi all!

My BP had her first bad shed last week. Pieces EVERYWHERE and I could tell she had an awful time getting the little that she could off. Her tank looked trashed- hides were moved wherever, her paper towels were all rumpled, shed pieces plastered on every surface in sight... it was just an overall mess. She has never done this before. Her past sheds were always in one perfect piece and very neatly tucked under her hot hide.

Nothing about her husbandry has changed at all since her last shed. The humidity is kept consistent 60-70%, and I purposefully spike it to 80-90% for her shed cycle. Her temps are consistent. The only thing that changed was downgrading her water bowl because I got her a bigger hide (she has grown quite a bit) and her old water bowl didn't fit anymore. I know the water bowl should be big enough for her to soak in, but she had a really hard time eating her rats with how cramped her old bowl made the tank. She isn't much of a soaker, or at least that's what I've noticed. I'm still working on a better solution (bigger tank? smaller hides?), but a smaller water bowl seemed like the best compromise.

Looking at her now, I don't think the shed itself was as bad it looked when I found it. She shed her eye caps, nostril scales, vent scales, belly scales, nothing was in a "shed-ring" around her body, just really bad patches left on the top and sides. I planned on soaking her, but over the past few days she has slowly shed the last of her pieces. Perfectly clean now, it's like nothing happened!

I guess the point I'm trying to get to is I don't know what could have caused the bad shed. I want to fix whatever I did wrong, but I kind of don't know where I went wrong?? Should I switch back to her old water bowl? Is the water bowl the problem at all?

Thanks in advance for your advice!

[alittleFREE]

Maybe she isn’t drinking as much because of the water bowl change, causing her to be less hydrated, leading to the bad shed.

How long ago did you switch the water bowl?


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[Bogertophis]

A larger water bowl does help to raise the humidity...how are you measuring the humidity? Some gauges aren't very accurate.

She may have used the larger water bowl for a soak when you were asleep...maybe it's time for a bigger tank...?

When did she eat last, in relation to this shed? I've found that when some snakes are fed during their shed cycle (once they start clouding up) that it may
impact their shed, making it stick & come off in pieces like this. That's because shedding requires good hydration and so does digestion...some snakes
appear to have trouble doing both at the same time ("multi-tasking" ), so even if a snake will accept food sometimes it's better to wait, & let them do
one thing at a time.

[Mr. Misha]

I'd definitely re-check how you're measuring your humidity.

My humidity during shed is around 60-70% and always in one peice. I'll have a horrid shed once in a blue moon but it's always due to very low humidity.

[threadgoode]

When did she eat last, in relation to this shed? I've found that when some snakes are fed during their shed cycle (once they start clouding up) that it may
impact their shed, making it stick & come off in pieces like this. That's because shedding requires good hydration and so does digestion...some snakes
appear to have trouble doing both at the same time ("multi-tasking" ), so even if a snake will accept food sometimes it's better to wait, & let them do
one thing at a time.

She usually does eat during her shed cycle and is just fine. However, this past shed was unique in that she skipped her usual meal (my own fault, the rat cooled down too quick and she lost interest). Do you suppose that might have stressed her out and factored into the bad shed?

For future reference, is it better to not feed her at all during her shed cycle?

[threadgoode]

I'd definitely re-check how you're measuring your humidity.

My humidity during shed is around 60-70% and always in one peice. I'll have a horrid shed once in a blue moon but it's always due to very low humidity.

I usually measure the humidity with 3 different electronic readers (one is an Acurite and the other is an ExoTerra. I had a third Reptile Basics reader whose monitor crapped out a couple weeks ago, will be getting a replacement soon.), and have 1 back-up Acurite of a different model to double-check whenever I feel like the numbers are wonky. I also live in a very humid city, and somedays the humidity in my house reflects that. Our house gauge typically reads upper40s-50, or even higher, depending on the season.

Though with this bad shed, maybe my readers are starting to wear down? How long should a good reader last? Is there one you would recommend instead of the ones I have? They've worked really well for me in the past since her sheds were always in one piece, but I've always been a little confused by differing opinions on which humidity gauge to buy.