Hi,



I have a pet corn snake, Spot, who will be 16yo this fall. He has always been healthy but as he gets older he is starting to have problems with incomplete sheds. We've had him since he was just a few weeks old, and as he has grown so has his tanks.



For years now he's been in a 55-gallon aquarium with pine shavings as a substrate. He has 3 hides: a half log in the middle, he can get underneath his water dish at the cool end and also a large overturned plastic bowl with an access hole cut into the side on the warm end of the tank.



I lurk here on a regular basis and have attended each of the Chat Weeks since the beginning, but I very rarely post. Over the years you folks have helped me understand some of his behaviors, and when I wanted to change him from eating several live mice at one feeding to small F/T rats you answered my questions and helped in making the process successful. Thanks!



Every time Spot sheds I've always checked right away to be sure the end of his tail shed too. Whenever it didn't I'd just hold him with a damp paper towel around the end of his tail and the old skin would soon slough off. Where he's having a problem now, though, is around his neck on both sides just behind his head. I've just started spritzing him with warm water a couple times a week, but he hasn't had a shed yet since.



Is there anything else I can do? I have tried "swimming" him in the kitchen sink (stainless) but that's such a pain. I'm so afraid he'll get sick from something that I wash the sink out, then let water and bleach sit in it and then I rinse and scrub it again with hot water and salt. Then there's even more rinsing, until I'm positive it's safe for him. Then of course I have to do all that again when he's done!



He isn't too crazy about swimming, though I am very careful about water temp. I've also read on here about a method of using enclosed plastic containers with a small amount of water and the snake in a pillow case, but I don't want to do that. I tried it once years ago for a temporary problem and he thrashed around, scaring himself and me half-to-death.



I've thought about getting a plastic tub just for him for swimming, but I'd be just as OCD about cleaning it, and doesn't bleach soak into plastic? And I've already tried covering half his tank to keep the humidity up, but that doesn't seem to be helping enough.



In case it matters, I got him from a private local breeder ($15 in '92), the warm side of his cage is currently 82*, humidity is 60% in the middle. He's got a heat rock with a rheostat that gets checked regularly and also a 40 watt bulb overhead on that side. The cool end is the ambiant temp of the dining room. He eats when he's hungry (takes a break from end of Nov. to sometime in Feb.), and because I didn't know any different when we got him I swing the rat above his head by the tail until he grabs it. If I ever get another snake we'll do things differently! Also, every other rat gets his butt sprinkled with Reptivite vitamins.



I get him out about once every 6 weeks or so, and he is always calm and seems to enjoy being held.



I'll check back later for any responses. Thanks so much for reading. Appreciate it!



Ralphine

[ Hide Replies ]

• Older pet corn, incomplete sheds (long) - bamboo42, Sat May 24 02:23:54 2008
• RE: Older pet corn, incomplete sheds (long) - DMong, Sat May 24 11:40:29 2008
• RE: Older pet corn, incomplete sheds (long) - bamboo42, Sat May 24 12:34:11 2008
• RE: Older pet corn, incomplete sheds (long) - mrkent, Sat May 24 12:51:14 2008
• RE: Older pet corn, incomplete sheds (long) - DISCERN, Sat May 24 21:53:03 2008
• RE: Older pet corn, incomplete sheds (long) - ADDICTED23, Thu May 29 17:21:39 2008
• RE: Older pet corn, incomplete sheds (long) - bamboo42, Sat May 31 12:54:49 2008