Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi all, this is my snakes 2nd shed since I've owned her. She looks really ragged right now. Shes got her head over with, it's just the rest of her body. I have increased the humidity, plus put in a wet hide, still that's not helping. Any other ideas? The increased humidity has been going for about a day now and the humid hide was put in there last night. She crawled in for a bit then left to sleep on her cool side. She does not like water very much. I have already tried soaking her and she just freaks out. Ideas would be nice. Thanks!

If your snake has started to shed, but has patchy unshed skin remaining, take a plastic animal cage, such as the Kritter Keepers, which are sold by pet stores and animal suppliers, of an appropriate size. Make sure the container is secure! Nothing is worse than finding that your snake has escaped the container. Put about 1/2 to one inch of warm water in the bottom. Then put several paper towels in on top of the water. Put the snake in there. Then put a few dripping wet paper towels on top of the snake. Leave the snake in there for about 30 minutes. Check to see if the snake has completely shed. If not, put the snake back in for another 30 minutes. Repeat as necessary. I have also heard of people using small towels in these containers. The beauty of paper towels is that you can just throw them away instead of having to wash them. You can also take a wet sock, for a small snake; or a wet pillow case, for a larger snake; and put the snake into it, secure the top, and put the whole thing into the snake’s cage overnight.
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phflame
kingsnake.com host

Thanks for the suggestion. She actually finished by this evening. I had put here in a plastic container with warm, wet aspen bedding and one of her caves. I put the on top the warm side. Left her in there for an hour and let her loose in her cage. About an hour later, she had shed all but her tip. When I got home, she was done. So, maybe I rushed it a bit. The odd thing is I only fed her 2 timed since her last shed. Is that normal? Thanks again!

so it is normal for them to shed when they are ready to shed. Does that make sense?
Snakes can shed for different reason: outgrown skin size, old skin, injuries, sickness....
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phflame
kingsnake.com host