Shed Problem, Not Sure What to Think

[Badgemash]

I'll start off by describing the set-up, all of my BPs (except any in qt of course) are kept in AP racks, on reptizorb tub liners, with ceramic water dishes (the ones who prefer having hides get warm and cool end RBI plastic ones). The water bowls are always over the heat tape which keeps humidity 30-40% as measured with a calibrated digital hygrometer. When one goes into shed I also mist 2x daily and add a clean rock to rub against. Although I realize this is overall a bit lower than the normally recommended 50% mark, I had not had a bad shed until this happened.

Nipper lives one row below her sister Pixel in the hatchling rack, they developed pink bellies on the same day, and went into blue at the same time. Three days later Pixel shed, Nipper did not. I bumped misting to 4-5x daily, no shed. Two days after Pixel had shed, Nipper looked really dry, and her eye caps actually cracked (I should have taken pictures of all of this, sorry), the shedding skin had peeled back a few mm on her nose and stopped. I put her in a tub of warm water and soaked her for 30 minutes then put her back in her tub, on damp aspen, nothing. To make a long story short, the hubby helped me soak her and help her shed, which took about 3 hours before she finally got out of her old skin. The shed was the thickest I've ever seen, and came off in pieces with difficulty despite the repeated soakings (we were EXTREMELY gentle and cautious as well).

She seems perfectly content now, skin looks good, eating fine, and the hubby has bonded with her over it. But I can't work out why her shed went so horribly wrong. She's shed for me three times before this, in the same set-up (which she's been in since hatching) and it's gone perfectly. Her neighbors on every side have identical set-ups and they all shed fine.

Does this kind of thing just happen sometimes? Is there a reason her skin seemed so thick and tough? Is there anything I can change to avoid this happening again? I've left her on the aspen for now (but am feeding her in a separate tub since I don't like feeding on aspen), but that is the only change. Sorry for the long post, but I want to give my snakes the best environment I can, and this whole thing has left me scratching my head.

[dr del]

Is it possible you missed a shed cycle?

Double sheds can be inflexible enough they have trouble getting started.

It sounds like you got the problem dealt with however.

[ViperSRT3g]

I don't think it's that big of an issue if you can help them shed. If you can't, or if their eye caps get stuck, then you may have a problem.

[Badgemash]

Is it possible you missed a shed cycle?

Double sheds can be inflexible enough they have trouble getting started.

It sounds like you got the problem dealt with however.

It's certainly possible. I do my 'rounds' every evening to change water and check for messes, but I'm not going to say I definitely catch everything. We were starting to think she was a mediocre bee until she did this mega shed (looking much nicer now), so it could have been a double shed.

I don't think it's that big of an issue if you can help them shed. If you can't, or if their eye caps get stuck, then you may have a problem.

I was really worried about the eye caps, but they came off cleanly (was holding my breath as we worked on her head). I really feel like she could tell we were trying to help her, she's been a grumpy little thing since hatching (great feeder though lol) but stayed really calm through most of the process and was using hubby's hand to work her skin off.

If this was a double shed, is there anything I can do that I'm not already doing to prevent it in the future? Are some snakes just prone to it, or is it a baby thing?

[ViperSRT3g]

It seems as though double sheds are random. They happen or they don't happen, and when they do, you have a poor snake with a major itch. As for helping them shed, my snake's first shed with me started when he began rubbing his head on my hands to try to start the shed. Seeing this, I let him continue until he started to get it loose, from there I helped him out. He seemed quite happy to let me help him and has shed just fine on his own ever since.

[NH93]

Sounds like you have everything under control. If you find any more problems with sheds in the future (maybe that snake specifically) you can always try adding in some damp sphagnum moss - mine love it!
Very strange though.

[NYHC4LIFE8899]

My guy is really mellow and sweet,my ghost that is,so after he is fully through his blue phase,I'll mist him down hour one to two times a day..he's actually been enjoying it yesterday and today,as he usually runs from it,now he is going towards it...

its nice ice that I can handle him before or righ after he eats,when he is in shed if necessary etc... He is so cool.