Bad-Sheds Question

[Kaball]

This being my first post, I'd like to start by first saying how great everyone is on this forum. Everyone is kind and polite (usually) . I can tell that, for the most part, you all truly care about helping each other maintain these pets. That is the purpose of this Forum after all! I've been reading these forums for about a month. Been gleaning as much as I can to be fully prepared for when a problem pops up, I'll know exactly what to do.

I myself do not yet own any type of reptile. However, I'm extremely interested in BPs and I intend to buy several hatchlings from a friend and local breeder. After proving to myself that I can care for these animals, I hope to breed them. Now, to end the boring details about myself, and move on to the question.

My english teacher has an '09 Pastel ball python named Jackson. (Jackson is in fact the very snake that first caught my attention to BPs. I always ask her to let me hold him in study halls ) Her apartment won't allow her to keep pets, so she keeps him in her classroom. Now since learning a LOT about BP husbandry (mostly thanks to you good folks ) I wondered how she maintained her humidity in the not-so-humid, usually chilly, English classroom. Well, today I discovered she wasn't maintaing good Humid. levels.

I came in this morning and she was holding Jackson. I noticed how gray he was and asked if he was about to shed. "He is shedding," she said. I found it awesome that I now knew enough about BPs to catch on to this. (lol) I came back to class later that day to check up on him. I wanted to see how his shed was going. It wasn't. Bad shed. *I knew there was no way she had good enough humid. in there*

My teacher was holding Jackson over the trash can and violently peeling off his skin. So, FINALLY, (sorry I have a sporadic brain ) to the question. If a BP is having a bad shed, is it a bright idea to manually peel off their skin? Jackson didn't seem to mind, but then again, he doesn't seem to mind ANYTHING.

Main idea= Peeling off BPs bad shed is good or bad?

Thanks!

[MitsuMike]

Well when people have stuck shed we soak the BP's in a 100% humidity bath and then gently peel the skin off it should come off very easily. IDk what happens if don't, but I don't think it's bad just not efficient.
I have my humidity around 80+% and get perfects shed everytime.

[Kaball]

So humidity and peeling? For some reason the idea of peeling after soaking never occurred to me. Thanks for the help

[BPelizabeth]

No peelers....ugh....that scares the bejezus out of me. She can give him a luke warm bath and let him crawl through a warm wet towel. That will help!

In the future as I am thinking she has a tank, this is what you can suggest.

foil off the screen part of the tank
spray the tank once a day when not in shed and 3 times a day when in shed
make a humid hide for when he is in shed out of spagnum moss
Also when he goes blue...right before the shed you can take a wet washcloth and put it over the warm hide.

These should help her to have more successful sheds. Also not sure if she does but she should have a UTH being controlled by the thermostat and then probably a light for the cool side since it is really cold in there. Maybe print out the care sheet for her to help her out.

[CoolioTiffany]

It's best to let the snake get the shedding off itself since they naturally know how to do so. Though, if the snake cannot get the shedding off, it is recommended to give the snake a warm soak for maybe 20-30 minutes to let the skin get moist so it is easier to get off. The snake may try shedding while soaking or will try to shed once it is put back into its home.

I may add that assisting the shed off isn't really an option. I've assisted with some sheds when I didn't know any better, but from being on here I've learned that having the proper humidity and allowing the snake to shed on its own really does the trick. The bad thing about assisting is that if you are too rough or the scales in one area are not ready to come off you may pull off some scales from the snake's skin. The scales also cannot grow back, so once the scales are gone, they are gone for good.

[MitsuMike]

So humidity and peeling? For some reason the idea of peeling after soaking never occurred to me. Thanks for the help

Here is an easy solution. Go get some tin foil a big dog bowl and duct tape. But the dog bowl in (I'm guessing it's an adult BP so a large ceramic bowl would be great) over the lid ( guessing it's a screen lid) with tin foil (3/4) open on cool side and use the duct tape to tape the tin foil down. That will solve your humidity issue for under 10 bucks. Or even if you don't want to spend money on a ceramic bowl. You can use a glad ware container (one of the large short square ones so he can't tip it over but can soak in it). And that should put you out the door under 5 bucks if you can't find all this at home for free. haha
Also don't rely on this but if a stuck shed does occur. Get a plastic tub (large enough for the animal) and fill with warm water half way up the side of the snake. Cover tub and let the snake sit for 1 hour. Use a wet wash cloth to gently go over the snake to get off all the stuck shed.
Hope it all get fixed.

[Kaball]

No peelers....ugh....that scares the bejezus out of me. She can give him a luke warm bath and let him crawl through a warm wet towel. That will help!

In the future as I am thinking she has a tank, this is what you can suggest.

foil off the screen part of the tank
spray the tank once a day when not in shed and 3 times a day when in shed
make a humid hide for when he is in shed out of spagnum moss
Also when he goes blue...right before the shed you can take a wet washcloth and put it over the warm hide.

These should help her to have more successful sheds. Also not sure if she does but she should have a UTH being controlled by the thermostat and then probably a light for the cool side since it is really cold in there. Maybe print out the care sheet for her to help her out.

It really isn't an adequate set up. I am afraid to say anything though. You never know, she may write me up for undermining her authority or something like that. She has heat tape, but I don't think she has a thermostat. Maybe I'll just anonymously slip the care sheet onto her desk. There's just not much she can do keeping it in a classroom, I suppose.

[BPelizabeth]

It really isn't an adequate set up. I am afraid to say anything though. You never know, she may write me up for undermining her authority or something like that. She has heat tape, but I don't think she has a thermostat. Maybe I'll just anonymously slip the care sheet onto her desk. There's just not much she can do keeping it in a classroom, I suppose.

I would just talk her up saying that you love BP's now and thank her for introducing you to it. Tell her about this site...maybe she will check it out. Or you can bring the snakey a present extra hide...lol. You can also tell her since her snake had a bad shed you did some research for her. She would probably appreciate that.

[Kaball]

That sounds like a good way of going about it. Thanks