Help! My snake looks like she is having trouble shedding!

[queenlollipop]

My 4 month old baby Ball Python looks like she started going into shed last wednesday/thursday (week and a half now to date.) Sometime earlier this week (maybe tuesday) it looks like overnight she might have accidentally tore/pre-shed part of her skin just right only underneath her neck (ventrals) and now it is just a little piece of skin hanging while her whole face and spine (dorsals) still attached. These past few days (maybe since wednesday), she would come out at night looking like she wants to shed by gently rubbing the tip of her head (mouth) on the side of her water dish and crawl around her cage like she is confused or doesn't know what to do. It appears she still has NOT shed and I am unsure of when to intervene/assist her.

What Cues/Signs should I look for before I consider assisting her?

General Husbandry:

- Humidity is at a steady 65-70% ( i read this is perfect for shedding)
- Ambient temp is between 77-81
- UTH of 88.5-93 Degrees F (max)

Thank you!

[Daigga]

The only assisting that can/should be done is to take her and give her a soak in lukewarm water. Whatever you do, do not try to peel off the shed yourself. If she's already partly shed, it may have stuck (does she look crunchy?), in which case I direct you to the sticky post about how exactly to deal with it here.

[KMG]

It sounds as if you have a stuck shed. If your using a cheap analog hygrometer it has probably been giving you false readings.

I would mist heavily and if you have some moss I would add it to each hide. Make the moss damp and place it in the hides. This will create higher humidity in the hides that will benefit the snake most since the hide is where it stays most of the time.

Another thing you can do is place a damp towel in the cage and let the snake crawl through it. The snake knows what it needs and knows how to shed. Do not help the process as you could pull off good skin with the old skin and create a bigger problem.

If your humidity has been a steady 65-70 you should get a nice single piece shed. It should not be flaky.

[Wizard]

Don't worry about it.
I've had my share of partial sheds and most times it will come off at the next shed cycle. Just make sure the humidity it at least at 70%, you can facilitate this by adding a damp wash cloth on the hot side of the enclosure.

[queenlollipop]

The only assisting that can/should be done is to take her and give her a soak in lukewarm water. Whatever you do, do not try to peel off the shed yourself. If she's already partly shed, it may have stuck (does she look crunchy?), in which case I direct you to the sticky post about how exactly to deal with it here.

If by crunchy, you mean partially shed, then yes, she looks a little crunchy past the neck area leading to the rest of her body. It is just underneath her entire neck that has peeled off but the rest of the skin remains attached (entire face and spine/dorsal skin.) She looks a LITTLE like the ball python in the sticky you linked me, not AS partially shed but as the days go by, I notice more of her skin underneath her neck slowly peeling off by itself possibly leading to the ball python in that sticky.

By the way, thank you very much for the response and sticky link! I have come across that sticky recently but wasn't sure if that currently applies to me yet...I am now considering it may possibly be my situation !

So then my next question would be:

Since it has been 3 nights since I have seen her crawling around her cage and gently rubbing her head against the side of her dish here and there (but still no shed)...how much longer should I wait before I start soaking her? Few more days? Week? Now? lol

Thank you again!

[KMG]

I would mist heavily now and get some of the above tips into play soon. I would mist and put a damp towel in tonight and if by the morning it has not changed a soak might be in order. You might be surprised how much some heavy misting and a damp towel or moss can help.

[queenlollipop]

It sounds as if you have a stuck shed. If your using a cheap analog hygrometer it has probably been giving you false readings.

I would mist heavily and if you have some moss I would add it to each hide. Make the moss damp and place it in the hides. This will create higher humidity in the hides that will benefit the snake most since the hide is where it stays most of the time.

Another thing you can do is place a damp towel in the cage and let the snake crawl through it. The snake knows what it needs and knows how to shed. Do not help the process as you could pull off good skin with the old skin and create a bigger problem.

If your humidity has been a steady 65-70 you should get a nice single piece shed. It should not be flaky.

It is just the bottom of her neck that appears to have accidentally torn before she even started looking like she wants to shed. I feel that she is stuck due to that tear (preshed) under her neck only which could be why she hasn't peeled off the skin on her face first in order to roll out of her skin like normal sheds. My other ball pythons all have the same set up and all have had perfect sheds, same humidity, same ambient temps, same everything so this girl....i don't know what happened to her.

However, I WILL place a damp towel on the floor of her cage and monitor her frequently to see if it is helping.

[KMG]

Place the towel in the cage kinda balled up. Put it in so that it can be crawled through and rubbed against not just slithered over and under.

Being that Im not there I can only judge the situation by what you have described. Its sounds to me that it is stuck. If it started by accident or not the skin should still come off with little fuss. The fact that it has not makes it seem to be stuck. I don't think it is a big issue and I truly believe misting and a towel will clear it up for you.

[queenlollipop]

Don't worry about it.
I've had my share of partial sheds and most times it will come off at the next shed cycle. Just make sure the humidity it at least at 70%, you can facilitate this by adding a damp wash cloth on the hot side of the enclosure.

Sounds like that is my next move! Thank you!

[queenlollipop]

Place the towel in the cage kinda balled up. Put it in so that it can be crawled through and rubbed against not just slithered over and under.

Being that Im not there I can only judge the situation by what you have described. Its sounds to me that it is stuck. If it started by accident or not the skin should still come off with little fuss. The fact that it has not makes it seem to be stuck. I don't think it is a big issue and I truly believe misting and a towel will clear it up for you.

Based on the consensus, it is established she is stuck in shed (I know that now.) It also seems like she wants to shed which is my personal cue to give her some form of assistance. Accidental preshed/tear or not, correct humidity readings or not (as she is my only snake that has had this issue)...placing a balled up damp towel in there and additional misting seems to be my best form of action right now! I will place a towel in there tonight. Otherwise I will soak her soon. Thank you for the little bit of advice.

Thank you to everyone else who mentioned putting a damp towel in there! Greatly appreciated!