Cecilia's bad shed and how I helped her out of it [pics!]

[firedragon]

So then. For the second time Cecilia (the Swedish ball python) completely surprises me with her shedding. I didn't notice any change in her colors, no blueish eyes, nothing. the only thing I noticed was that she was hiding most of the time, but figured that's pretty normal for a bp. I fed her (it took her about one second to strike at the mouse), she looked absolutely normal. Then, the next day, I notice shreds of skin all over the tank. The humidity was around 60%, she has a humid hide but apparently she doesn't really like it, I've never seen her use it. She got most of the skin off, but there was some along her sides and on the top of her head and neck. And one eyecap. I soaked her for 30 minutes, the skin on her sides came off. I let her slide through a damp towel, but the rest of the skin remained. So, I boosted up the humidity to 80+% for two days, and then tried again. And I got it all off!! I used a damp Qtip. It took me 30-45 minutes, and she didn't like it, but to my great surprise let me gently rub her head and the eye. Pics below!

She didn't poop though, and I'm a bit concerned about that. The last time she pooped was well over a month ago.















I love her so :heart:

[Danny350]

Nice looking ball python, and good job on helping her with her shed.

My bp did not shed completely about 3 weeks ago, had a little skin left around his head and neck, but I think it will come off next shed.

[Marla]

I'm glad you got her shed all cleared up. Sometimes it takes more than one try to get it all. By the way, for anyone with an incomplete shed: you can try waiting for next time to see if the old skin comes off then, but it is not advisable to leave eyecaps, tail ends, or any skin that completely encircles the body. You can end up with a blind snake or one with necrotic tissue if you do so. Patches other than that can be left without fear of harm to the snake.

[led4urhead]

Glad to hear you got that cleared up man! On the question of poo: in my experience its more relative to how many times they have been fed. How many times have you fed her since then? A month is not anything to really be worried about.

[firedragon]

I know I could've waited for the next shed, but I was uncomfortable with the eyecap, so I figured might as well take it all off while I was working on it. I think she'll feel better, and, look better too (a snake with skin left after a bad shed looks so uncared for). She'll be left alone now until her next feeding, which should take place after five days or so. Don't want to stress her too much. I feed her around once a week, every 5-7 days, but it might be that the mice have been a bit small, since I ran out of adult mice I gave her young mice (the guy I get my frozen mice from had none in store). I'm going to wait for the poo

[UberAlice]

I've also heard soaking a Q-tip in vegetable oil can help remove eyecaps...Roo's never retained hers, so I've never had to do this before. Has anyone done it? Opinions?

[firedragon]

I just used a Qtip soaked in water and the eyecap came off pretty easily (I'm sure it had something to do with the high humidity she'd had for the previous days).

[led4urhead]

I would sooner try the method described by firedragon than use any kind of foreign substance. I dont know if vegetable oil is ok. I've heard mineral oil is good, but i'd be leery to try anything but high humidity for a few days and a Qtip with water.

[UberAlice]

Ooops, it was mineral oil, not veggie oil.
Right thinking, wrong typing.

[led4urhead]

Ooops, it was mineral oil, not veggie oil.
Right thinking, wrong typing.

I hate when my brain does that :wink: