And by "leave him alone" you mean...?

[LostElise]

First of all, I am extremely lucky in that my $40 second-hand normal bp, Nathan Scott Phillips, is totally idiot-proof. He turned out to be a she (though I have not been so kind as to inform the person I got her from) and is older than I was told (180g yearling is my vet's guess). However, she has been extremely good-tempered and has eaten regularly since I got her (for which I am unbelievably thrilled).

Having had her 6 weeks, I've been waiting on her to start shedding. I did not hold her tuesday night as I'd just fed her Sunday, but I looked in on her and saw her in her humidity hide (with wet sphagnum moss). Due to my ceramic heat lamp, I haven't been able to get the overall tank humidity above 35%, so I put in a couple of soaking bowls, mist the tank daily, put in the humid hide, and have soaked her a time or two (because she took longer than usual to poop, which made me think she was constipated and dehydrated even though her skin didn't indicate that). So anyway, last night I go to pick her up. She was in a ball, so I didn't see her head until she was in my hand, and then I saw that her eyes were clouded. It startled me to the point that I nearly jumped. I put her back in her hide, sprayed the moss, and left her be. My question is this... I know that they shouldn't be handled while their eyes are cloudy. I don't want to stress her out, but with my humidity only being 35% ambiant, I want to spray the moss at least once a day. How much is that going to stress her to pick up her hide box? Is there a better way? Also, I plan to soak her when her eyes clear, but should it be a soak or would a wet pillowcase be better? It's our first shed... I'm so proud and totally have no idea what I am doing.

Any help is appreciated.

Rachel

[Nate]

just spray the interior of the cage. that raises the ambient humidity.

What kind of enclosure do you have? if you've got something with a screen top, then try putting a damp towel on top of the screen...that works awesome for raising and maintaining humidity.

[JLC]

35% is pretty low ambient humidity. Even with the humid hide, I'd try spritzing the cage once or twice a day to at least try and bump it up some. Maybe put a clean, damp sponge on the warm side of the enclosure and change it out each time it dries.


As for moistening the moss in the humid hide, I guess you'll have to play that by ear a bit. Since I don't know the setup, its hard to say how much you'd have to bother the snake in order to take care of it. Maybe you could make a second, identical hide and put it in the cage as well...and then just check and moisten whichever one the snake isn't in.

Whatever you end up doing though, there's no need to soak the snake BEFORE a shed. Doing so can actually end up making the shed more difficult, rather than helping. Wait and see how things go first. Just provide as much humidity as you can, and make sure there is plenty of fresh water for proper hydration.

(We should probably address that humidity issue, but that can wait until after the shed, and for a new thread, if you like. )

[LostElise]

It is a 30gallon glass enclosure with a partially tinfoil/duct-taped top, so I can't do the towel bit though I will spray the tank itself. Before the duct-tape, the ambiant humidity was 23%, misting twice a day. In the plastic sweater box I had him in, the humidity was almost 80% and the temps weren't warm enough because the UTH couldn't get enough heat through the plastic. Damn logistics.

[frankykeno]

180 gram yearling? I'm sorry I sound a bit surprised by that seems awfully small for a snake of a year old. We have four 06 hatchlings here from four different sources...one May 06, two June 06's and an August 06 and every one of them is heavier than that. Are you sure your vet said this was a healthy yearling?

[djslurp1200]

As long as humidity levels are up in the optimum range you shouldn't need a damp pillowcase or the soaking but they do help in having a complete 1 peice shed. Both great options if there is a retaining of shed as well. I have screen top tanks/aquariums myself and i use used aluminum foil and plastic wrap to cover half or more of the tank to see the humidity level increase to where it should be. Just make sure the humidity levels are where they should be and keep handling time low and you she should shed just fine.


my

[djslurp1200]

180 gram yearling? Are you sure your vet said this was a healthy yearling?

Are you sure this vet is a qualified reptile vet and not just a Dog/cat vet?
That would be the question that comes to my attention...

[LostElise]

(We should probably address that humidity issue, but that can wait until after the shed, and for a new thread, if you like. )

Yeah, I have no idea what to do about the humidity issue. I would try to make a humidifier if I could, but I am absolutely certain that I would hydro-electrocute myself in the process. I've tried putting water bowls on the UTH to cause humidity. I have water bowls on the warm and cool side. My temps are 82-84 and 92-94 and stable with my Helix, ceramic heat lamp, and flexwatt tape. I spritz daily. I have the tank somewhat insulated (towel draped over and around so that if my cat happened to break into that room during the day, he wouldn't stare at the poor snake all day as he wont to do). Can I buy a humidifier that is pre-rigged to work in my set-up? Can I bribe someone here to make it for me?

Thanks for the info on the soak though; anapsid.org recommended that I do it, but I think I should wait and see how she does.

[djslurp1200]

there's no need to soak the snake BEFORE a shed. Doing so can actually end up making the shed more difficult, rather than helping. )

]

Some snakes may soak themselves if the water bowl is big enough. I've had snakes that did from time to time... As far as making it more difficult...short periods of soaking will actually make their skin drier...

[Nate]

what purpose does the tin foil and duct tape serve?