Shedding help please

[Himitsu]

I got my girl a little under 3 weeks ago. Got her to eat a hopper mouse two weeks ago and she's been in shed since the day after that. Tomorrow will make two weeks. Now, for most of that time I've had humidity at 30-35% because I couldn't find a way to get it higher. I had to use a heat lamp because I couldn't get the tank heat up any other way. My room stays around 70 degrees, and the UTH I have wouldn't get the temp higher than 76 or so on the hot side. Figured out a way to get the humidity up just a couple days ago, and now it stays around 55-60%. During the time the humidity was low, though, I did bath her in warm water 3 times, about 2 days apart and for about 15 minutes each time, and I only bathed her because she refused to go in the humidity box I made her. Still she hasn't shed out yet. Almost all of her belly has shed (all except a very small amount at her tail). Her back and sides have started to "fray," for lack of a better word, but she doesn't seem to be trying to shed, either... The unshed skin over her right eye also appears a little wrinkly. I'm not sure when I should be worried and how and when I should help her. She is also a bit thin because that's how she was when I got her. Even though her eyes are still cover (although the pictures I have don't show it too well), should I try feeding her?
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The pictures aren't the best because of the lighting, but hopefully they are helpful.

[Skittles1101]

My suggestion for such a horrible stuck shed is to first fix your husbandry. I set up a tub, with holes on the sides for ventilation, with newspaper substrate. I have a UTH (flexwatt in my case) with a thermostat under it. I put in a small hide and water dish. I pour about 1/4 cup of water on the newspaper substrate, just enough to dampen the newspaper a good amount. If she's swimming it's too much. Set the thermostat to achieve 88-92 degrees on the hot spot, put the lid on, and leave her in overnight. 99% of the time, by morning they have worked the shed off themselves, then I clean out the tub and replace everything, minus the water

By the way, I kind of "stumbled" upon this technique, and it worked so well I'll be doing it whenever needed. Unfortunately, I don't even use heat lamps and I've had some tricky sheds lately, thank you winter!

[The Serpent Merchant]

ok, most of her hasn't shed yet. there are a few things to try to get the shed off.

Grab a pillow case, and throw a towel that has been wet down with warm water in the pillow case and then put your snake in there. Keep her in the pillow case for 20-30 minutes and then see if any progress has been made.

There are other methods as well, but that one is my favorite.

I have a few questions for you:

1. was the UTH regulated by a thermostat?

2. how are you measuring your temps/humidity?

3. when you say the UTH couldn't get the hot side over 76 are you talking about the air temperature in the cage or the temperature of the bottom of the tank? (UTH's do not effect air temperature)

4. what type of substrate are you using?

Giving your snake a bath is actually bad for the shedding process and is unnecessary the rest of the time. By forcing them to soak they get stressed out and the water can remove essential oils from their skin that are necessary for the shedding process.

[The Serpent Merchant]

read through this thread, it will help:

http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...Basics...*DUW*

[Himitsu]

To answer your questions;

1. No, the UTH isn't regulated by a thermostat. When i got it the guy said I wouldn't need one.

2. I have dial Temp and Humidity gauges. I know people say to have digital ones, but I'm not sure where to get them.

3. The gauge is 1/2-1 inch above the substrate, tops.

4. I'm using aspen shaving.

As for bathing her, I was going off what my cousin was telling me, but she also didn't have to do that very often because her snake liked its humidity box. I can't get Yuki to stay in it, though, and it took browsing around a while to find a method that worked to raise the humidity.

[The Serpent Merchant]

Ok, UTH's must be on a thermostat, whoever said that they don't don't know what they are talking about. UTH's get so hot they can kill your snake.

As for the digital thermometers you can get this ne at wall mart for $12 it has 2 temperature sensors and a humidity sensor



How thick of a layer of aspen do you have?

Let your snake decide whether or not she wants to be in the humidity... as long as you provide ever the ability to sit in a high humidity environment she will decide whether or not to do so.

[Himitsu]

Not that thick. I'd say 1/2-2/3 inch at most. And as for the heat from it. I tried setting up the tank a couple weeks in advance (which is what showed me I need to get a heat lamp) and I could rest my hand on it and find it barely warm. I'm thinking I got a faulty one, or something, and the place I got it from is over an hour and a half away.

[The Serpent Merchant]

is it still plugged in?

[Himitsu]

No. I'm only using the heat lamp right now. It gets the tank plenty warm.

[The Serpent Merchant]

ok, good. The heat lamp should be all you need.

I would get the thermometer that I put a picture of in one of my previous posts then go from there.

What type of bulb are you using and does it stay on 24/7?