A Shedding Problem

[johnsgirl128]

Ok well I have a wee little problem with Morrighan my female bp she went into shed at the beginning of this week and has started getting the skin off. When I fist noticed the blue I rasied the humidity to 60-70% and everything well she has a medium sized piece of shed still on her head her eye caps did come off though, I tried soaking her and she hated it as soon as her tail hit the water she was gone the water wasnt cold nor too hot how can I get the shed off her?

[xdeus]

I like using the pillowcase trick. Soak a pillowcase in warm water, wring it out a little until it is barely dripping, place your snake in the sack, twist it shut, and place it in your snakes cage. Just be sure to not place it under a heat light or directly over an UTH.

Leave it in there for an hour or two (set a timer). The wet sack will loosen the shed, and your snake moving around should make it come off. This method has worked great for me plenty of times.

Good luck!

[hoo-t]

They don't necessarily LIKE being put into a tub of water. Make sure the tub is big enough - for a hatchling a plastic shoebox should be ok, for an adult a 32 qt tub would work. About an inch of 80-85 degree water. Be sure there are ventillation holes. Put the snake in and put the lid on. The snake will try to find a way out for a while, maybe the whole time she is in there. Leave her in for 30-45 minutes. She may be feisty when you take her out. Then you can use a damp bath towel (again, should be warm). Let her "hide" in the towel, and very gently rub the retained shed off. Alternatively, you can skip the soak in the tub, and just use the damp towel. Get the towel more wet than damp, and let her hide in it (in your lap) for about a half hour to loosen the shed before very gently rubbing the shed off.

With it being on the head, you may have to be kind of "sneaky" about it. Don't just reach for her head with the towel. Let her hide her head in the towel, and slowly and gently put pressure on her head. Make it seem as though SHE is rubbing against the towel instead of the other way around. This will help to avoid the "head shy" problem. Be sure to work from head to tail, the other direction will lift her scales.

Steve

[johnsgirl128]

I was using a medium sized steralite with quite a few holes in the top i was just going to leave her in but i didnt want to stres her out too much and she seemed pretty freaked out to me I could have been wrong though Ill be getting my warm towels out when I get home I guess

[TheAudOne]

I had a similar problem
http://www.ball-pythons.net/forums/s...ad.php?t=38037


But last night I took a wet pillow case placed it in a small sterilite container (18 qt) placed it half over a heating pad and half off...let it get warm in there and put my snake in it over night. The vet said I could leave him soaking in the water tub or a pillow case over night but I was worried about him getting to cold because the pillow case reached 70 degrees right have I rung out the water.
So it was nice and toasty in there and in was in it all night going in and out of the pillow case, and he even pooped in there lol . But yes I woke up this morning and his shed was off...thank god!

[frankykeno]

Are we talking a big piece of shed that's fully encircling any part of the snake or just a small patch of stuck bit. Personally if it's only a little stuck piece and not encircling, I'd leave it be and it will come off on the next shed. Stressing him with repeated soakings is something you're going to have to decide is worth it or not depending on the particular situation.

[johnsgirl128]

No its not encircling her its just a spot on her head I didnt know if I should be concerned with getting it off soon or anything