Reptile & Amphibian Forums

My new ball went milky two/three weeks ago, has bathed all day everyday until dusk, humidity is 60 - 70%, and I have misted him a little too......BUT STILL HASN'T SHED.

For over a week he's been trying to rub his face against the drift wood every evening, but to no avail...

...I'm sure everything's fine cuz I'm a fairly meticulous owner but I just wondered if the experienced owners can relate to this??

Thanks

Good luck with all yo projex

Willzy

Some can take longer than others. I would mist the enclosure down. If it is a tank cover the top with a shirt or something to keept he humidity in there. Get humidity up to at least 70 80 % till he sheds. then when he is done you may have to tweak things to keep your humidity correct. In tanks it is hard, but possible cover it at least 90% tha always helps.

I had this problem with a female pastel hatchling. She was in shed for two weeks. I soaked her one day for about 3 hours in 1/8" water on the rack. I then took her out and got a wet rag, rubbed her nose, and started the shed for her. It was so easy that I just wrapped the rag aound her, pust some pressure around her with my hand, and when she slithered out she was completely shed. I do know that a snake can have an entire shed stuck. This makes the snake feel like it is in a straight jacket. The snake's body cannot expand, therefore it cannot eat. I would try this as it is very easy to do. If you need help, send me an email and I will be more than happy to walk you through it step by step.
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Happy Herping,
Jody Barnes
Royal Kreationz

1.0 albino
1.2 het albino
1.0 het caramel
1.0 het pied
0.1 poss het. pied
0.4 normals (beautiful pastel sibs)

I'm curious about one thing that you said...that he has bathed everyday until dusk. In his water bowl? If so, this could be part of the problem. Wet will help with stuck sheds, but humid is what helps a snake shed. To much wet can cause the shed to be more difficult. He really doesn't need to soak as long as the humidity is high enough. None of my snakes have a water bowl that is big enough for them to get into. If a bp spends a lot of time soaking, its usually a sign of something wrong. Check the water bowl for little black things that look like small poppy seeds. If you find some, your snake probably has mites. Mites can be a serious problem, but are easily taken care of with Provent-a-Mite. How are you measuring the humidity? If it is an analog mechanical gauge, it could be off. Get you a digital gauge from WalMart, Lowes, Home Depot, or even Radio Shack.

Hope this helps,
Steve

Thanks for your excellent replies everyone, I'll heed the advice.

The white paper substrate and water bowl have no signs of mites I'm sure, and the humidity guage I checked against a $600 museum guage...should be right! The humidity is fairly high at 65-70 daytime and 70-80 nightime. I didn't increase it further as all the decent care sheets suggest not to due to the risk of infection/respiratory disease etc... perhaps I should just for the shed period though.

Thanks RK for the shed initiation procedure!! If it's same at weekend I'll get the rags out.

Thanks again + all the best,

Willzy

PS

With those humidity levels, your snake should have no problems shedding. You shouldn't need to elevate the humidity at all with those levels. I would suggest a smaller water bowl that the snake cannot get into. I don't fully understand this, but its my understanding that when they are about to shed, they secrete moisture underneath the skin to lubricate. Perhaps excess soaking replaces what they secrete with water, which evaporates and makes the shed more difficult? All I know is that excess soaking can cause more difficult sheds, so this may be the problem.

Steve

Gotcha, thanks for taking time to reply again....I'll see how he's doing when I get back from work tonight and replace the bowl, or maybe he's shed! Let's hope.

Most of you guys are in the states aren't you? It's really cool cuz I send msgs at lunch time in the UK and the replies come back at 6.40am your time...and I can't believe people are on it so early!!!
I got hooked on snakes in Texas, when my friends in Plano showed me their corn! 1 year later and I'm asking about breeding...LOL

Thanks again,

Willzy