So, let me start with his history as best I know it. I just got my first snake last month, it's a long story but let's just say his previous owner didn't take care of him as well as he should have. When I got him he had a nasty burn on his belly, it almost looked like his skin was split down the middle. was off his food to the point I could see his backbone and the skin on his neck was sagging badly, and he was trapped in what looked like 3 or 4 layers of shed in places. It was the weirdest shed I have ever seen, you could actually see the pigment colors in it. So we got him cleaned up, changed out the rocks that were in the tank for paper towel changed regularly to minimize the risks of infection, insured the tank was at a good temp, and kept it pleasantly humid with a heat lamp directly over the water dish which we clean and refill daily. I did not exactly take him to a vet, we have a gentleman in town that raises, breeds, and educates people on snakes, he is also the go to man to source mice, since I'm not inclined to try frozen/thawed and I trust him far more then the vets around here.
So fast forward almost a month, Sampson is now on a good feeding schedule (one good sized mouse every 5 days) and is filling out nicely. He is actively moving around his tank looks genuinely happy to be free of his old skin. His belly is begining to heal up and I'm not finding much ooze on his paper towel, any more. We were cautioned to keep his humidity up, but not to actually get him wet (no damp paper towels soaks or mistings) to minimize the risk of infection. SO that's what we've been doing, then last week he holes up in his hide by the water dish (the one w/o the heater under it btw) and we don't see much of him for the next couple of days. Yep he's shedding again. Now I have been handling him more then is recommended, but he is a very calm snake and I have been very careful. He has yet to try and strike at me despite his eyes being milky white, I am still changing his bedding daily and checking on his belly. It appears to be scabbing up nicly along the sides, and is beginning to scale over. His shed however is looking very patchy. I noticed 3 places along his back and 1 on his neck where the shed was beginning to peal it definitely looks better then before, but his still seems to be struggling to remove it At this point I was still confident he could manage to sort it ou, . Now today he has started to get more active in rubbing at his rocks and other textured things in his tank. He is also climbing the side of the tank we open, a behavior I associate with him wanting out (he genuinely seems to like being handled) or him being hungry, which should not be the case during a shed I believe. . I am very worried in his quest to remove his old skin Sampson will open up his belly, it has started to ooze again. I want to help him, but I don't think I can raise the humidity level any more with out using more direct methods. which I was told not to use. I am far more concerned about his belly then the shed, but he seems to be more concerned with his shed. As I said the burn is still very raw and I am unsure how it will be affected by his shed. I could really use some advice from anyone that's been in this situation.