Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I'm a new burmese owner. I was wondering what do I do when my snake is approaching shed? She doesn't like the water much, like I see a lot of the larger burms in the local reptile store, just hangout in their water tanks. She drinks it, she'll hang out if I place her in it, but she never goes in on her own.

Do I soak her ever? Do I soak her in a bucket or some sort of container of water when she starts shedding? Do I have to add some type of humidity controlling device?

Please help me with some suggestions on any of the 3 topics:
Shedding, Water Contact/Soaking, and Environment Humidity.

Thank you,
Richard

THere are many ways to accomplish proper humidity levels. We keep several very large burmese pythons along with many burms that we take in to rehab before placing with responsible homes. For the most part, our burms are not given large tubs to soak in. They each get a large water bowl and that's it. In order to provide the proper humidity, particularly prior to a shed, we heavily mist the cages twice a day with lukewarm water. Just this heavy misting alone provides the proper humidity and our burms almost always shed in once piece (if they don't, we place them in a large plastic container in 10" of lukewarm water for approximately 30 minutes and then hand assist the old skin off). We typically maintain humidity levels in the 80-90% range but never sacrifice good air flow, and, since we live in the Midwest, we also use a cool air humidifier/vaporizer during the winter months. This, too, helps quite a bit. So, you do not have to provide large soaking basins to have success and in your burm's case, who doesn't seem to like to soak, heavy mistings will work fine. Hope this helps.

Rob Carmichael, Director/Curator
The Wildlife Discovery Center
City of Lake Forest Parks & Recreation (IL)