How long to hydrate my snake?

[M&NSnakeDen]

We're not going to shun you because you "made a mistake." That's not what this site is for. Goodness knows we've all made husbandry mistakes at one point or another. The most important thing is that you're asking for help and that's the first step in making sure your snake is happy and comfortable.

Let's start with the snake. I imagine his skin is pretty bad. Could you post a picture? I'd say soak him in luke warm water for about 30mins. He probably won't like it initially (but who knows, maybe he will) but he'll get used to it. Get a cloth or towel damp & let him slither through it while you're holding him. This will loosen up some of that stuck on skin. I know some places you can actually get some sort of solution to put on the snake or in the soaking water to help loosen it up more. I don't have experiences with it, though. The most important thing is his eye caps. If you're inexperienced, don't try to take them off yourself as you could blind him. If you think he has stuck eye caps, take him to the vet. Try & get all the old skin off his body, though.

Now on to the humidity. PERSONALLY, I found glass aquariums to just be way too hard to keep humidity up. All of my snakes are in plastic Sterilite tubs (you can find them at walmart for cheap) with paper towels, a water bowl & hides. Easy peasy. Plastic keeps humidity up naturally, so all I need to do is keep the water bowl on their hot sides and mist once in a while. I've never once had shedding issues (so all my advice is just from what I've read on this site. Someone can correct me if I'm wrong). All but once, I've had complete sheds and I've been keeping snakes for over a year now. I find the tubs way easier to clean & my snakes feel way more secure in smaller, less high enclosures. If you stick with the glass, yes, I'd suggest tin foiling the lid some. How much exactly, I don't know but 3/4 seems okay to me. I'm sure a towel would work too. As for the substrate, I've HEARD that cypress mulch is really good at holding in moisture & keeping humidity up.

Whichever type of enclosure you decide to go with, I would suggest bumping up humidity to about 60-70% for a while. Though, keep in mind, if you have a lot of substrate & lots of things in the enclosure, you could risk things going moldy, which can cause respiratory infections for your little one. This is also a reason why I love plastic tubs. No mold!

I can't tell you how long it will take for him to get hydrated, but in any case, I think you should probably take him to a vet to make sure he doesn't have any old eye caps stuck on his eyes. And from now on, when he sheds, make sure you inspect his old skin just to double check to see if his eye caps have come off as well as the tail end.