Reptile & Amphibian Forums

My snake has been shedding for about a 2-3 weeks, how long does it take? I mist him 4-5times a day. Also i tried feeding before he shed and he would not eat. I tried feeding him today and he doesnt bother. I tried feeding him today because i believe most of his shed is gone but it is hard to tell. Any suggestions about the shed and when should i try to feed becuase it has been a long time. Thanks

Shedding should be all in one peice and taking only one night, if that, to get all of the skin off. If your animal is not shedding in one peice and taking more than one night to get the skin off, then that is a good indication that there is something wrong with the setup. It is obviously not holding humidity well. Remember, you can mist all day and not have good humidity levels. As for now, if it still has dead skin on it, you need to take your animal and place it in a plastic tub with wet paper towels for a substrate. I would leave it in their several hours - longer if you can keep it heated. A shedding lasting a couple weeks is a bad thing. You may need to assist with peeling the skin off. Once this is taken care of, you may need to rethink your setup - make modifications or go with something else completely.

Don't get me wrong, bad sheds happen from time to time, but should not last more than a couple days. As soon as you notice the skin is not coming off all at once, you need to do the wet paper towel trick.

Make sure all of the skin is off and you are able to maintain the proper heat and humidity (humidity is not possible without the proper temps). Once you do this, I am sure the apetite will return. Not surprised it would not eat for you if the shed lasted this long.

Bart

I just caught what you wrote about misting 4-5 times per day. Keep in mind, a good setup should only require misting once or twice per day. The need for more indicates something is wrong (temps too low, too much ventilation). Some keepers can maintain good humidity with just a large water bowl. If I recall from previous posts, you are using those exp terra's with the open top. My advice is to abandon that setup and go with a simple rubbermaid tub until it is large enough for a more suitable adult enclosure. Take it for what it is worth - I know it is not what you want to hear.

Bart

No, i really do appreciate the advice! I tried putting him in a little rumbermaid container to shed the skin off. But i will get rid of my exo terra and get a rubbermaid right away thanks, wish me luck!

Bart, i wanted to thank you again. I got rid of my exo terra and bought a new rubbermaid container as his tank. The humidity is around 65-70% and my thermostat is set at 84%. Last night i was up until 2am and he was working on getting that shed off. He almost has all of it off. Thanks again, hopefully he will finish soon so i can feed him.

I know most people are tempted to keep these little ones in a much nicer setup but experienced keepers use plastic tubs for a reason. It should be fine in a 12qt. rubbermaid or sterilite for its first year and sometimes longer. Once it outgrows this, then you can start looking at larger cages specifically designed for arboreal snakes.

Good luck.

Bart

the exo terras do work ok if you either have a room at high humidity levels....or u modify it by covering the top....i did that and use the tropicaire humidifier with it....it works ok but still not the greatest....im not going to use it for my hatchling though when its time for a move and im still modifying it to make it better for my yearling
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