bad shed

[mysticman22]

hi
my snake is having a bad shed, he only got his head uncovered. i want to help him get it off but he just ate yesterday and hes still kind of chubby. i already took hi out about 3 hours ago and i went into the cage to fill the water bowl 1 hour ago. would it be to stressful on him if i were to take him out and help him start getting out of it by rubing him with a damp cloth?

[IamKaervek]

hi
my snake is having a bad shed, he only got his head uncovered. i want to help him get it off but he just ate yesterday and hes still kind of chubby. i already took hi out about 3 hours ago and i went into the cage to fill the water bowl 1 hour ago. would it be to stressful on him if i were to take him out and help him start getting out of it by rubing him with a damp cloth?

I'm probably not the best person to take advice from on this, but I would think that since he recently fed, you should be OK with wrapping him (loosely!) in a warm & damp kitchen towel (larger than a washcloth, smaller than a bath towel), and letting him wriggle his way out of it. This will moisten him up some while providing a soft surface to rub against that will hopefuly aid in removing some of the shed. In a day or two, after he's digested his food (look for a nice poop in his home), soak him for 30 minutes or so in a dish or small tub of tepid water, but keep an eye on him to make sure he's safe. The water should come about 1/2-way to 2/3 of the way up his sides.

You might want to wait for some more reliable advice, but I think this would be a good place to start... Good luck!

[tigerlily]

I'd wait until he's got that meal digested. A retained shed doesn't seem to outweight the risk of a regurg. I'd just wait another day and then do the soak. You can soak him for about an hour too. Of course that's just me.....

[Adam_Wysocki]

Wait 2 days to make sure the meal is totally digested and then soak him for 1 hour a night in a sealed rubbermaid type container until the shed is all gone.

-adam

[greenmonkey51]

I found that putting a washcloth in the soaking container with them helps. It helped my bp by providing something to rub on.

[reptile-girl]

if you soak him it would help, but make sure he has fully digested his food. also when your soaking him rub him gently with a cloth. that might help, but im not an expert i've just read that alot.

[Adam_Wysocki]

With the size of my collection I always get at least a couple of bad sheds each week, and I've never had to use any type of rag to help the shed come off. If you soak the the way I described, the skin just slides right off when you put them back in their cage. If it doesn't all come off the first time, try it again the next night. Sooner or later it will all come off without the added stress of towels and rubbing and picking.

-adam

[greenmonkey51]

Adam, how deep do you put the water and where in the cage do you put the container.

[Adam_Wysocki]

Adam, how deep do you put the water and where in the cage do you put the container.

No deeper than 3/4 of the way up the snakes back and I put the container on the hot side of the cage ... the idea is to turn it into a mini sauna.

Works like a charm!

-adam

[greenmonkey51]

Do you have to watch them very closely then while they're in there. Or can you leave the room and go do something else.