First Shed!

[McRiddalin]

My BP Shaggy is starting to shed and I was just about to clean the tank ffor it stinks. Shoudl I just let him be and fight through the smell or go ahead with the cleaning?

[dr del]

Hi,

When you say staring to shed what do you mean exactly?

If you mean belly going pink and eyes getting cloudy then I would say go ahead and clean as you have a good few days yet.

If you mean he has actually started removing the skin I owuld say wait until he has finished as it generally only takes a short while and they tend to poop and pee afterwards anyway.


dr del

[adam_degel]

i'm confused

[McRiddalin]

Hes almost done just have a quarter left on him how long does it usually take to complete?

[dr del]

Hi,

Generally about 3 hours for mine - how long has he been at it?

I should point out some of mine can be lazy and stop for hours at a time then finish it later and one gernerally gets half way through and gives up.


dr del

[McRiddalin]

Its been a couple days Shaggy just has about not even a quarter of its end left but has just stayed in his hid and has not left. A little more is coming off each day i keep finding new pieces but I am just wondering when and how I should help?

[withonor]

Sounds like the humidity level is really low since it's taking so long and coming off in pieces. You may want to give him a bath and let him soak for a little while. Others with more experience will probably have better advice. My snake just shed for the first time under my care. I misted his enclosure a few times a day and kept a damp wash cloth on the screen to keep humidity between 60-80% from the moment I saw his belly turning pink. I woke up one morning and he shed completely in one piece during the night. Don't know how long it took him but it was less than 8 hours.

[McRiddalin]

Ok I will remember that for sure next time he had just finished his shed. I did some reloctaion of the tank and I did some insulating of the tank and have gotten the humidity up quite a bit but I will remember that for next thanks

[Crawdad]

Yep, with proper humidity and something to rub against, the actual shed can take as little as an hour.

[McRiddalin]

He still has a little tip fo skin left on his tail.
I thought he had finished his shed a while ago and he ate fine in fact fastest yet but today I just noticed the little bit of skin left on the tail.