Helped my snake shed

[rabernet]

I know that Adam has told me that there are some snakes that are just poor shedders, no matter how good your husbandry is.

Oliver just got a tiny piece of his head off on his most recent shed, and I had to soak him and assist him with the rest of his shed. He's been a perfect shedder every other time.

Made me wonder if him breeding had anything to do with it, because that's the only thing that's changed for him (even though the enclosure he was "visiting", Echo has perfect sheds all the time).

[Ginevive]

Reminds me of my friend's boa. She had some scarring from before she got her, and would develop a little pockey of fluid near the one scar like you said. Upon shedding, clear liquid would come out and the skin underneath would be without said bubble; so I guess it was a buildup of the fliud that forms in between the skins before shedding?

[rockyhorror]

I can understand that perhaps some snakes are bad at shedding no matter what.

I do not understand why anyone would pull the skin off the snakes themselves. I've had a few bad sheds and I use the wet pillowcase and problem solved. Rather do that then damage the new scales under the shed.

[bearhart]

I don't see where you get the damage thing from. They normally get it off by rubbing themselves in the dirt and against rough objects. How is a soft human finger going to be damaging?

[rockyhorror]

A " soft human finger" is different than PULLING the shed off.

A snake rubbing itself on someone's hand to shed is one thing. A person pulling the shed off is another.

[dr del]

Hi,

I think you may have a slightly rougher idea of "pulling the skin off" in mind than we do Lisa.

I basically use the pad of my finger to rub at the edge of the stuck area (starting at the end closest to his nose) till it begins to lift misting with warm water from a plant sprayer ( they still hate it even when its warm ) as neccesary and sort of rolling it back like a sock. Not much actual pulling goes on at all really.

If you encounter a bit that will not lift easily then try spraying again and if that doesn't work I either soak or use the pillowcase and simply try again afterwards.


dr del

[Ginevive]

If I had a snake that was consistently shedding badly and needed help, I would want to know why. Simply stating "some of them just shed bad" does not really explain it to satisfaction in my opinion. Is it a deficiency that prevents the snake from building up the fluid that forms in between the new skin and old, that aids in shedding? Is it inadequate intake of water or minor dehydration? Parasites? Bloating or overfeeding that makes the skin tighter than a snake's that is not relatively overfed for its size?

[dr del]

Hi,

I agree I'd like to know why he is the way he is but it seems to be more a psychological rather than physical cause as the shed cycle itself seems to be fine he just doesn't try and shed at the end of it.

He is in deep blue just now in fact so I took some pictures that show the "bubbles" of fluid as best I can and one that shows his swollen nose ( vet AGAIN on friday hopefully with a diagnosis this time). The nose isn't related by the way as it is a relatively recent problem though it probably doesn't help. I had hoped to show the vet the bubbles but he will have lost them by friday for sure.

Just to show he does go fully blue;


A good shot of one of his milder scars;


On the next two you can see the "pouching" of the fluid bubbles around his scar - these are of the same scar so you can see how much the fluid can move around the area. Once he sheds there will be no sign of anything wrong and the skin seems to be attatched to the underlying flesh perfectly well but this turns up to a greater or lesser amount with every shed and disappears as the fluid layer dissapates.







dr del

[Patrick Long]

everyone is taking this out of proportion. assisting by gently rubbing is one thing, pulling is a complete other. if you are holding the snake and you gently grab the shed and he slithers forward, i see no harm in holding the skin if it slides of smooth then its fine....if it sticks thats not so bueno.......its all within a fine line people

[JoshJP7]

To be honest the 1 time I had to assist with shedding it seemed as though she enjoyed my help... At first she was a little squirmish but after a couple mins she understood what was going on and just chilled there... warm water and a washcloth works wonders with no harm.