Bad Shed....

[zrock]

So I get home this morning from work and find my BP did not have a very good shed last night. Looks like about 85% of skin came off in one piece but still retains one eye cap, and a decent size piece on her head and neck region. My humidity has been around 70% and warm hide temp is 92 and cool side hide is at 84. So what is next step, she is not happy right now, when I checked her this morning struck at the glass and just kind of coiled up. Should I give her a bath and if so what kind of temps do I want, warm to touch, cool to touch, how long to soak? can I use the bath tub or is there a better way? Just looking for some advice and how to help her complete her shed.

[Sputnik]

I would soak her in a container, elevate the water level half way up her body and spray her as well. Make sure the water is a mild temp, this will help create some extra quick high humidity and get the old layer off. It should also soften the eye caps!

[xdeus]

I've had great success with the pillowcase trick. Just soak a pillowcase in warm water, put your snake inside, twist it close and place in his cage for about 2 hours. Just make sure the snake isn't under a heat light or directly over an UTH. You can also place the pillowcase in a plastic tub inside your cage. The moisture combined with the snake moving around is usually enough to get all of the stuck shed off.

[zrock]

Ok so I gave her a soak for about and hour then used a damp rag to try to get the rest of her shed off, was only able to get a little bit of dead skin off. thought I better get her back in her enclosure. Since I have only had her for about a month I have not been handling her much at all due to advice from the forum here about getting her use to her new enviorment. So I only handled her for a short period of time hoping not to really stress her out. Will she try to get the rest of her skin off later maybe or should I soak her again tomorrow and try to get some more skin off of her. Sorry is I sound incompetent here, but first snake and first shed and just trying to get this right.

[JLC]

You don't sound incompetent at all! You're just learning the ropes, which we all do and continue to do.


So long as there isn't a complete ring of old shed that could cut off circulation, she should be fine. Maybe not ready for glamour shots, but it won't hurt her to have some retained shed. Give her a day or two alone, with humidity in the 60's or 70% and see if she rubs it off herself. If not...you could try the pillowcase trick or another soak and let her slither through a damp towel in your hands. But if all that seems too stressful, it can just wait until the next shed.

[zrock]

You don't sound incompetent at all! You're just learning the ropes, which we all do and continue to do.


So long as there isn't a complete ring of old shed that could cut off circulation, she should be fine. Maybe not ready for glamour shots, but it won't hurt her to have some retained shed. Give her a day or two alone, with humidity in the 60's or 70% and see if she rubs it off herself. If not...you could try the pillowcase trick or another soak and let her slither through a damp towel in your hands. But if all that seems too stressful, it can just wait until the next shed.

Thanks for the help. I will see if she rubs off the old skin over night. Should I hold off on feeding her tomorrow (normal feeding day) or should wait another week.

[JLC]

I'd go ahead and feed her, although she may still refuse it. Up to you. Just be ready to let her rest and digest for a couple of days before trying again to remove any stuck shed.

[zrock]

Well I figured out where I went wrong with a poor shed for my snake. I have digital thermometers to measure both warm and cool sides but had dial humidity gauges. I put in a digital guage and my humidity was off by almost 20%!!!!! So now getting humidity up and noticed she did shed a little more skin but still has a goo chunk of skin left on the top her head and neck. She seems very healthy and ate on her regular feeding day (took a medium mouse very quickly!). Should I still try to get that last bit of skin off or just leave her alone for a while? Also what about misting her while in her enclosure, is this a good or bad idea?

[snakedude56]

i think it would be ok to mist her while shes in there as long as your careful not to spray her directly. I accidently sprayed monty when he was on his branch and he fell off and was very upset with me for about a week. as for getting the excess shed off I would wait at least 48 hours to handle her after she eats, a regurge is a lot more stressful than getting a bath

[aaajohnson]

Well I figured out where I went wrong with a poor shed for my snake. I have digital thermometers to measure both warm and cool sides but had dial humidity gauges. I put in a digital guage and my humidity was off by almost 20%!!!!! So now getting humidity up and noticed she did shed a little more skin but still has a goo chunk of skin left on the top her head and neck. She seems very healthy and ate on her regular feeding day (took a medium mouse very quickly!). Should I still try to get that last bit of skin off or just leave her alone for a while? Also what about misting her while in her enclosure, is this a good or bad idea?

I think the dial type guages are notorious for being inaccurate, so the digital is definitely a good idea. I would not worry about the last bit of skin, if you keep the humidity up it will probably come off in the next couple days by itself. If it doesn'tit will come off with thenext shed. Misting will not hurt anything, we have to do it here every couple days to keep proper humidity in our larger cages, and it may help her "scrape" it off herself.

Neil