Poor shed on tail

[shadowsnakes]

Hello BP.Net! Firstly I love this forum and stalked it for a few months before diving into the world of owning snakes. I have one low white pied male for a year and he is a well-fed, happy snake. I believe one of the best ways to gain knowledge is to ask, so I have a few questions for the community.

Firstly, I gained a beautiful normal female about a month ago and she was very malnourished at the time. She is about two months old and feeding well on f/t hopper mice. Last week she shed almost completely except for the last inch of her tail. The shed is rather dry and the scales look a bit malformed, as if there is healed scar tissue. The skin underneath is otherwise healthy and there is no sign of blood or inflammation. Soaking didn't help remove the shed. Should I take matters into my own hands and help remove the shed?

Second question, I see a lot of members have collections in their signatures such as "2.0 spider". What do these numbers mean? I can't find a clear answer online.

Third question, substrate. I am using ground coconut husk and my pied male absolutely loves it. He likes to mound it inside a hide and then burrow a little. It holds moisture well and I don't feed him inside the enclosure, but I am worried about possible ingestion and impacting problems. Anyone have experience with this? Is newspaper a better substrate for a happy snake?

Thanks for your time, this site is a treasure trove of information!

[bcr229]

Numbering system: Males . Females . Unsexed . Eggs. So, 1.0 means 1 male, 2.0 means 2 males, 0.2 means 2 females, and 1.2.3.6 = 1 male, 2 females, 3 unsexed, and 6 eggs in the incubator.
Keep the humidity up in her enclosure and every few days take a warm, damp cloth and gently rub the stuck shed, going toward the tip of her tail, to try to remove it.

Can't help with the substrate as I've never used that type, only newspaper and cypress.

[thecrazyandinsane]

My ball python had the same problem with shedding yesterday. I got the shed on his tail off with a moist paper towel

Also I use aspen bedding since some substrates are made with chemicals that can kill your snake. If you are worried about the snake ingesting the substrate, you can do like I do and feed them in a tub and put them back into their enclosure afterwards.

[Mike41793]

You can get a warm, damp paper towel and just gently roll the skin off.

1.0= male
0.1= female
0.0.1= unsexed
0.0.0.1 = egg

You can feed him right in the enclosure. Ingesting some substrate isn't a big deal.

[Mephibosheth1]

Numbering system: Males . Females . Unsexed . Eggs. So, 1.0 means 1 male, 2.0 means 2 males, 0.2 means 2 females, and 1.2.3.6 = 1 male, 2 females, 3 unsexed, and 6 eggs in the incubator.

Thank you SOOOOOOOOOOO much for this; I've been trying I figure it out for 2 weeks and was to embarrassed to ask

[shadowsnakes]

Thanks for your input! I tried rolling off the shed using a moist paper towel after another lukewarm soak but it is very stubborn. I will leave it until afternoon and try again. Also thank you for clarifying the numbering system.

I find it is easier to feed them in a separate enclosure (in this case, a cardboard shipping box used only for feeding). The snakes show no feeding aggression while in their primary habitat and have no interest in striking anything until they are in the box. Once inside its like a flip is switched and they actively hunt!

[KMG]

Feeding inside its home will not cause aggression. By moving the snake in feeding mode you are increasing your chances of getting tagged and only causing unneeded stress. It really helps your snake in no way. Plus when your one snake becomes many it is almost impossible to feed your collection in that way in a timely manner.

As long as you are using a quality substrate you will not have any issues with alittle being swallowed. Just make sure the rodents are as dry as possible if you thaw f/t in water and you will be fine.