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  1. #1
    BPnet Veteran MuicyJelon's Avatar
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    Bad shed. Flaky & coming off in bits.

    Some of you may have saw the last post I did the other day about him being out of his hide during the day, now he’s shed well sort of anyway.
    It’s flaky and just coming off in bits is there a way that I can help get it off?

    I was looking on other forums about this and someone had done a step by step tutorial w/ images saying get a shoebox sized container fill to half the ‘height’ of the snake with lukewarm water, close the lid and then leave them in it for 30 minutes or an hour.
    Would it be best for me to do that?


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  2. #2
    BPnet Veteran Spicey's Avatar
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    My KSB can't shed to save his life, it's like he skipped that part of the tutorial. I usually rub him with a shedding aid and then put him in the top of a container filled with damp sphagnum moss. It has a hole in the bottom and by the time he finds the hole and crawls out, his old skin has usually come off. I don't want his environment to be too damp since KSB's are desert snakes, but you'd think they would be adapted enough to shed in the dry. Even this last time, when he had completely (I thought) shed, I had to pull a strip off the side of his head.
    Last edited by Spicey; 10-20-2020 at 10:39 AM.
    "Something Clever"

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    MuicyJelon (10-20-2020)

  4. #3
    BPnet Veteran Caitlin's Avatar
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    I like to use a humidity box to help with bad sheds. You'll need a tupperware container or a plastic bin that is just large enough to hold your snake. Make sure it has a lid. You will also need a heating pad on a thermostat, your temperature gun, and two wash cloths or hand towels.

    Warm the heating pad up to 85-88F (no higher). Put one clean washcloth or hand towel on the bottom of the container so that your snake will have something to grip.

    Put an inch or two of warm water (no warmer than 85F - check this with your temp gun) in the container.

    Put the snake in the container and make sure it isn't completely submerged - you don't want an accidental drowning.

    Soak the second washcloth/hand towel in warm water, then put it loosely on top of the snake - make a little snake sandwich.

    Put the lid on the container and leave the snake in there for 30 minutes to an hour.

    Monitor your snake while it's in the humidity box to be sure all is well.

    Just moving around between the cloths will help remove a lot of shed; when you remove the snake you can also use one of the damp cloths to gently remove remaining shed.

    If there's still quite a bit of stuck shed, repeat the process over the next day or two.

    There are products out there like "Shed-ease" that you spray or rub on the snake to supposedly assist with shedding. I've never used those as I am very cautious about any chemicals around my animals, especially since warm water/high humidity works fine.
    1.0 Jungle Carpet Python 'Ziggy'
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    MuicyJelon (10-20-2020)

  6. #4
    BPnet Veteran MuicyJelon's Avatar
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    Re: Bad shed. Flaky & coming off in bits.

    Quote Originally Posted by Caitlin View Post
    I like to use a humidity box to help with bad sheds. You'll need a tupperware container or a plastic bin that is just large enough to hold your snake. Make sure it has a lid. You will also need a heating pad on a thermostat, your temperature gun, and two wash cloths or hand towels.

    Warm the heating pad up to 85-88F (no higher). Put one clean washcloth or hand towel on the bottom of the container so that your snake will have something to grip.

    Put an inch or two of warm water (no warmer than 85F - check this with your temp gun) in the container.

    Put the snake in the container and make sure it isn't completely submerged - you don't want an accidental drowning.

    Soak the second washcloth/hand towel in warm water, then put it loosely on top of the snake - make a little snake sandwich.

    Put the lid on the container and leave the snake in there for 30 minutes to an hour.

    Monitor your snake while it's in the humidity box to be sure all is well.

    Just moving around between the cloths will help remove a lot of shed; when you remove the snake you can also use one of the damp cloths to gently remove remaining shed.

    If there's still quite a bit of stuck shed, repeat the process over the next day or two.

    There are products out there like "Shed-ease" that you spray or rub on the snake to supposedly assist with shedding. I've never used those as I am very cautious about any chemicals around my animals, especially since warm water/high humidity works fine.
    Is a RUB (Really Useful Box) a good thing to use for it? It’s not a big one but he would have enough room to coil and try and get it off by going in circles.


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  7. #5
    BPnet Veteran MuicyJelon's Avatar
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    Re: Bad shed. Flaky & coming off in bits.

    Quote Originally Posted by MuicyJelon View Post
    Is a RUB (Really Useful Box) a good thing to use for it? It’s not a big one but he would have enough room to coil and try and get it off by going in circles.


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
    8.5 x 6.5. Would that be ok to use?



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  8. #6
    BPnet Royalty Zincubus's Avatar
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    Re: Bad shed. Flaky & coming off in bits.

    To get stubborn skin or bits off you can wrap the snake up in a wet , rough textured bath towel and let it slither around in it .. when it’s head pops out simply cover it up with the excess towel and continue.. any dead skin will normally come off onto the towel without hurting the snake at all .


    I don’t recommend pulling bits off by hand .. I tried it many years ago with a Woma python ... I must have hurt him because he sure hurt ME !!


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  10. #7
    BPnet Veteran Caitlin's Avatar
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    The RUB should be fine - you just want to be sure the snake has enough room to move around between the damp towels.

    And I agree with Zincubus about being cautious when helping with stuck shed. I'm OK with doing it and have never had an issue, but I am super conservative about it - if I feel even a bit of resistance when I am helping, I stop. Let humidity and the texture of the cloth do the work gently.
    1.0 Jungle Carpet Python 'Ziggy'
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    MuicyJelon (10-20-2020)

  12. #8
    BPnet Veteran MuicyJelon's Avatar
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    Bad shed. Flaky & coming off in bits.

    I tried putting him in a RUB with a bit of warm water & two small damp towels and only a little bit came off so there’s still a decent amount left on him including some on his heat pits.



    It doesn’t look like there’s much there on these pictures but there is.


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    Last edited by MuicyJelon; 10-21-2020 at 08:07 PM.

  13. #9
    BPnet Veteran MuicyJelon's Avatar
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    Re: Bad shed. Flaky & coming off in bits.

    ***


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  14. #10
    BPnet Royalty Zincubus's Avatar
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    Bad shed. Flaky & coming off in bits.

    Quote Originally Posted by MuicyJelon View Post
    I tried putting him in a RUB with a bit of warm water & two small damp towels and only a little bit came off so there’s still a decent amount left on him including some on his heat pits.



    It doesn’t look like there’s much there on these pictures but there is.


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

    Did you try soaking it for around 30 minutes in a 2 to 3 inches of water ?

    Then wrap it up in a very damp , roughtextured bath towel and you just let it slither around whilst applying very gentle pressure .. this normally results in the skin coming off painlessly.


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    Last edited by Zincubus; 10-22-2020 at 10:40 AM.




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