Another Bad Shed!!??

[jcorley556]

I started off with a glass tank but could not control the humidity and my bp had a bad shed. So I moved her to a plastic bin and I have been able to control the humidity really well. I have a digital hydrometer and the humidity stays between 65 and 80. I know that is a little on the high side, but I clean the bin out every day so I'm not worried about a respiratory infection. I have a heat pad set up with a thermostat which keeps the basking area between 90-93 degrees. I noticed she was going into a shed recently and I monitored the humidity even closer. I fed her 4 days ago during the first couple days of her eyes getting cloudy and she ate just fine. With all that being said, her shed was even worse than the first time. This is so aggravating, I just don't get what I'm doing wrong. One possibility that I think it could be is the fact that she is always in her hot side hide. She comes out at night snd slithers around quite a bit, but during the day she is always on the hot side. Maybe the pad is drying her out too much.

[DVirginiana]

So, how bad of a shed are you talking about? Like, you had to intervene and remove pieces, or it just came off in multiple pieces?

What are you keeping the humidity at? About 60 is good normally, but you can bump it to 70 before a shed. Another trick is to fill a hide with damp sphagnum moss. That creates an extra humid microcosm that they'll use to shed.

[C2tcardin]

How big is your snake? I've had problems with hatchlings in the past that seem to get things right later as they get bigger. I've used the humid hides before too with good degrees of success. Also what are you using for substrate? I use paper in my tubs and will put in sheets of soaking paper towel, right under their hot side hide box, for mine that are stubborn shedders.

[jcorley556]

Im using paper too for substrate and she is 230 grams. I was actually planning on putting a wet paper towel in her hide next time she starts going into a shed. I'm glad it worked for you, hopefully I have the same results

[Citrus]

I had a similar problem at first. I have accurites and while the probe temp and thermometer temp seem to be spot on, the hydro function in both seems off. I started spraying the inside of their hides and the kids of the tubs. This morning my pinstripe had his third shed with me, and his second perfect one. I went crazy with making holes to lower humidity though because of the issue I have with these hygros, So depending on how fast it evaporates, I would only lightly spray the lid and not the hide at first and see how that works.


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[Citrus]

Im using paper too for substrate and she is 230 grams. I was actually planning on putting a wet paper towel in her hide next time she starts going into a shed. I'm glad it worked for you, hopefully I have the same results

Don't do the wet paper towel. I don't know how common it is but people on here talk about incidents where the paper towel can get eaten and expand inside the snake.


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[DVirginiana]

Plus the moss can hold humidity for a long time without being sopping wet. With towels it's basically either totally dry or soaking wet in my experience.

[bcr229]

I think it can take several shed cycles for conditions being too dry to resolve into good sheds. The new skin needs the moisture when it's growing, not just when the snake goes into shed.

Also, the air under the warm side hide could easily be dryer than in the cooler part of the enclosure. Have you tried leaving the hygrometer probe under the hide to see what it's reading?

[C2tcardin]

I've never had an issue w/ the damp paper towels being ingested plus a lot of people here use paper towels as their substrate so I have a hard time agreeing with that. I will agree that they dry out quickly so you would need to refresh them at least once in the morning then again at night. The moss in a hide box is better for holding humidity but it can be hard to remoisten as the snake likes to stay inside while getting ready to shed. In my experience at least. I will also say that I don't generally have shedding issues, thanks to NC weather, and have only done the humid hide trick twice and the paper towels once.
Oddly enough I just checked on mine and found my Fire shed today and I didn't even know she was in a shed cycle, the shed was perfect. So it does get easier as they get bigger, she's pushing 1000g's.