First of all thanks for all the help. I've just gotten the new guy into a nice clean cage. First thing it did was run over to the water and get a drink. Did I mention the original water was pink?!?!?! Grrrrrrr. I've never had to soak so but if memory serves (and it rarely does) it's in room temperature water or slightly warmer and for an hour right or less if shed comes off. The previous owners must had handled it a lot because it's a pretty relaxed little guy. They said they'd had it for 6-7 months and it's only about 24" long and 165g. None of the shed seems be encirling the bp so I'll try the soak. It seems to be mostly around the head. Anyway the gameplan is this....First run to get some mice (I only have small rats right now of course). Then grab another accurite from walmart. Come home soak and attempt to feed the poor thing. Leave alone and try and get a vet appt for next week. Sound good? Here are a couple pics!