Retained shed?

[dfisk5]

How would I know if a BP I recently purchased had a retained shed? When I got her, I just kind of noticed that she wasn't as soft or pliable as my other BP. Seemed like she was kind of "tough" or something. Anyway, she was recently blue, then shed the skin on her head, including eyecaps, but nothing else has come off. I just started soaking her today (she's been in about 30 minutes), but the skin on her sides and back is staying put. Could she have possibly retained her whole shed from a previous shed, except for her head? Is that why she felt so "tough"? If the soaking is unsuccessful after an hour (total), how do I get the shed off? I'm afraid I'm stressing her out...

[PrincessErica]

My guy retained his whole first shed except for the head, so it happens. But any owner who cares about their BP is going to help them get the shed off, which it sounds like is what you're doing. Try soaking your ball closer to 45 mins. After one soak this long, my guy's skin was literally hanging off. All I had to do was lightly rub him with a wet washcloth and it just peeled right off. If that doesn't work, you can put him in a wet pillowcase and let him crawl around to try to peel it off, or let him run through a wet towel for the same effect. Good luck!

[Ginevive]

You can tell easily. The skin will have a dull, sometimes wrinkled and dehydrated look to it. If it's a partial retention, there will be some areas of the skni that look nice and bringt, while others (the retained parts) are almost like they're wrapped in plastic.
After soaking, a humid hide in her regular tank should do wonders. There are instructions on how to make one, in the Caresheet section of this site. I had a snake with a STUBBORN retained eyecap and this helped more than the soaking, since the shed was on her head and the head is, of course, not soaking while the BP keeps it up out of the water.