Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Please help me. I have a six month old red tail boa that cant seem to figure out how to shed. I have never experienced this before and have no idea what to do. Best I can figure, he should have shed at least a week and a half ago, and looks just miserable. I have tried soaking him and putting a damp cloth in his tank. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thank you...

Depending on tank size you could try making a humidity box/chamber to place inside the tank. Basically a hide with moist substrate (paper towel). The snake should naturally want to go into it if its dark. The moisture content inside the hide will help hydrate its skin. Regular misting of the tank should be enough though. B.c.c. are less forgiving than B.c.i. Did you see the snake go opaque?

Handling small boa is very stressful to the animal,handling small boa during a blue cycle is a double dose so to speak.
Novice keepers attempting to"help" generally over correct and do more damage then good.Try setting the cage up to 85* w/65% humidity. Somehow I sense you use overhead lighting as a heat source ?hopefully not,anyway . . . . .
Provide a hide and cover the cage so it stays dark.
Dont mist the animal directly,just maintain the humidity.
Dont touch the animal for at least a week,just let the animal do what IT needs to do,it really doesn't need your interference.
Do you have the proper tools to manage these parameters ?
Plenty of sources available for these tools,just ask.

Be mindful this could take "several weeks" to correct !
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TnK

thank you both for your suggestions, i have tried the smaller box with extra moisture, and have left him completely alone for the past week, i guess ill just continue to do so.

no, i dont have an overhead heat lamp, and yes i have the rest of the necessary equipment. i have been raising pythons for 6 years, just new to boas... never had this kind of problem before, and he shed fine last time.

anyway, thanks again...

How long have you tried soaking?

Are you sure the boa should have shed already? (did the head part of some of it come off already?)

I've had stubborn shedders, esp one of my Amazon Tree Boas.

I'll set up a holding tub with about an inch of water, put a rock or extra water bowl upside down in there. Add snake and let sit... for anywhere from 30 min to over an hour (using a heating pad if needed under the tub). The rock or water bowl gives them something to hold onto (don't want a drowned boa!) and something to help slough the skin off on. If some of the skin has already come off, after soaking the snake, hold it and let it crawl through your hands or through a damp towel... you can usually hand shed them this way, let the skin come off on it's own, don't pull it... It doesn't always work all the way the first time.

You can also put damp towels on top the cage (if it's a mesh top) or in the cage as you've been doing.

Sometimes, I'll take a tub and set it in the bathroom when I shower, the tubs have air holes in them and I take really hot showers so the room gets very steamy and humid. This sometimes helps with the huge burst of humidity.

I bought a mister (no more ATB shed problems now!) from an online reptile store, I think it was only $15 or $25. Use distilled water and mist the cage, those things work wonders.

I feed f/t, thaw them out in a tub in zip lock bags, sometimes the zip lock has a leak and the rat gets soaked, feed it to the boa and they get some extra hydration going on.

Sometimes if there's a stubborn piece on that just won't come off, it'll come off on the next shed.

I've rambled on enough! Just a lot of ideas.. I hope they help.
Good luck!
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'There is a very fine line between "hobby" and "mental illness."' -Rainshadow