Did I RIP his skin!?

[bretvaldez]

If he's never been a good shedder, you need to check your humidity levels. What kind of setup is he in?
A better technique is to get a separate clean tub, fill it with about an inch of lukewarm water (not hot) and let him soak in that for about an hour. Then you take a washcloth (soaked, also lukewarm), hold him and let him slither through your hand with the washcloth while gently applying pressure. That's always worked for me. You can also get a rubber thimble for sewing and use that to gently peel off skin as well. Always, always go from his head to his vent, never pull or tug at any skin in the opposite direction.

As for if his skin is ripped, is he bleeding? Could you possibly post a picture?

I do keep his humidity as normal as I can, but even when it's absolutely perfect, he still just can't seem to shed himself. The woman I adopted him from had told me he was never able to do it himself, and she'd give him a warm bath and do it for him in there. I used to do this but haven't had a moment's free time lately, which of course I feel awful about. For trickier sheds, I do use a soak or the washcloth technique you mentioned, but I hadn't even gotten so far as to just barely start peeling off flakes until this happened.

I don't have a picture of my snake at the moment, as I am at my grandmother's, but this picture I found is exactly what it looks like:



He did not bleed, no. He showed absolutely no signs of distress... I basically packed the skin back in place as best I could and watched him for a few hours, and he just went back into his terrarium under his rock den hide... I checked on him again before I left home this evening and he still seemed normal... I'm just scared I hurt him or that this is a sign of a serious medical condition...

As far as his terrarium is concerned, it is a custom built 4' wide by 2 1/2' high plexiglass enclosure, built into what used to be the bottom of a book shelf. He's not very long, perhaps 5' - 5 1/2', so he fits just fine. He has lots of decoration like a petrified tree branch he's had since he was born, a clay jar which he can slither in and out of, and is tight enough to aide him shedding, some vines, a heating lamp on the left side, a heating pad (underneath the plexiglass) on the right, set to low, for his cool spot... a ceramic water dish, about 4" deep... aspen bedding... he likes his habitat a lot, he has lots to do in there, and I always keep the humidity as regular as I can, usually by misting (often).