Reptile & Amphibian Forums

im very worried about my mbk. he started his shedding process on the 17th and his eyes turned over to blue and everything, but today i came home and he was wedged between his hide place and the side of the tank. so i went to move the hide and he jus kinda fell over!!! his belly was up and he looked dead, i started frieken out but then he started to move, but he was moving VERY slow. his eyes are clear now though, but he didnt shed. im concerned that something went wrong during his shedding process, maybe dehydration? the snake is about three months or so. i have a 33 gal tank, the only thing else i can say is his humidity was low, in the thirties (i tried getting it up with towels) so idk.... i sprayed him down and he seems to be doin much better now moving around like normal and stuff, but im still very worried, any help would be appreciated, thanks

first thing I thought of was... HEAT...you mentioned that it was sluggist...but then you mentioned humidy..so I take for granted your not a "nubie" in the world of reptile keepers & you know that they need extra heat..I hope you can find your answer.
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Richard Evans

no not THAT one

did you clean the cage recently? if so what did you use?

Is there anyway something could have got into its water and poisoned it? Like someone spraying Lysol near it or something?

My 1st guess would be that the fact it was shedding had little to do with anything.

good luck with everything
Tom Stevens
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TomsSnakes.com

I don't have any idea at the temps you keep it at, but a young '07 MBK does optimum if the one side of the enclosure is kept at an ambient room temp of around 73-76, and a warm side with underneath heat source(heating pad) on ONE END ONLY be kept at between 80-85, with hides at BOTH ends for optimum thermoregulation. You MUST put a reliable thermometer down at substrate level WHERE the snake is, guessing temps does NOT work well at all, and can lead to huge problems. Your enclosure is gigantic by young snake standards, so give it the heat gradient I suggested, with plenty of tiny hide boxes throughout, and it will do fine.

If too cold, snakes metabolisms will slow down, and can make the snake seem lethargic. This being said now, from what you said, the snake was in "Blue" of it's shedding cycle the 17th, this lasts a few days, then when the eyes TOTALLY clear up again, it will shed in two to five days AFTER clearing, depending on the temps and activity level. If it's eyes have been clear again for a couple days, snakes can wedge themselves between things, and contort in wierd positions trying to work the shed off the labial scales on their mouths.

If you have your husbandry environment as I've mentioned, you should have no problems, but IF NOT, it would be in the snake's best interest to do so quickly before serious problems DO arise.

hope this helps a little.

best regards, ~Doug

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"Better to be silent and thought a fool, than to open mouth and remove any doubt!"

thanks for your help guys. maybe i just over reacted a lil. thanks for clearing up the eyes for me too. i just got him two weeks ago and this is his first shed here. his tank is set up fine, clean, he has his heating pad and a light, and his cool side is fine as well, he has three hides in a big tank so he can go wherever hes most comfortable. idk, ive just never seen a snake belly up like he was and it just frieked me out. i just got home and he seems to be fine, plus hes not in that weird spot anymore.
i kept his light off the last few days and have just been running the pad, i was trying to keep the humidity higher. right now its about 40 though, is that alil too low. i mean i mist daily but i want to make sure thats enough. again thanks

40% himidity is a little on the low side, so EXACTLY when you see the eyes TOTALLY clear up, mist a little, and put some plastic wrap, or anything similar over 2/3 of the cage, this will allow a higher humidity until it sheds. Remember, it will actually shed two to five days AFTER the eyes clear back up, again, depending on when he decides to cruise about and start rubbing it off.

This will go off without a hitch if you do these things. You could also provide the snake with a small piece of broken Cinder block, or something similar to assist the snake with getting it sloughed off easily. Just make sure the shed is COMPLETELY off, paying close attention to the ocular scales(eye-caps), and tail tip. If these are not shed off, it can lead to big problems. Don't get excited about this, just be aware of it. Given the right conditions, snakes will take care of this 99.9% of the time on their own.

best regards, ~Doug

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"Better to be silent and thought a fool, than to open mouth and remove any doubt!"

Dude, that's just a really beautiful photograph. I don't think I've seen it before. Excellent.

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1.1 Florida Kingsnake
1.0 Kisatchie Cornsnake

Thanks for the compliment Eddie!,........I'm glad you like her!

~Doug
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"Better to be silent and thought a fool, than to open mouth and remove any doubt!"

Don't you think that Doug always has the ugliest snakes on the forum?

Nice snake, Doug!

"Don't you think that Doug always has the ugliest snakes on the forum? "

Yes, he should send them all to me. ^_^ Then he won't have to look at their hideous patterns and colors.... nah, I can't do it, even in jest I can't think of any bad thing to say about them. They're just too beautiful. I love the pattern on that first one you posted in here, Doug.
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Holly

0.1 Lavender California Kingsnake (Lizzie Borden) (missing )
1.0 Florida Kingsnake possible mix (Eddie Gein)
1.0 Bearded Dragon (Charley Manson)
1.0 Orange Marmalade Cat (Oliver)
1.0 Egyptian Arabian (Bagan)

2.0 Toddlers (Justice & Trevor)

Doug that's the one you are going to send to me free of charge with the goini pair, right? RIGHT!

Scott D

Uhh,..sure thing,.......anything else?..LOL!

~Doug
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"Better to be silent and thought a fool, than to open mouth and remove any doubt!"

1 free snake once a month for a year. Nothing, but the best though! LOL!

Scott D

Thanks Holly!,.....I have BIG plans for her in the future!

~Doug
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"Better to be silent and thought a fool, than to open mouth and remove any doubt!"

~Doug

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"Better to be silent and thought a fool, than to open mouth and remove any doubt!"

Yes! That is such an awesome pattern. I may hit you up for one of her babies if they keep her pattern going. ^_^
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Holly

0.1 Lavender California Kingsnake (Lizzie Borden) (missing )
1.0 Florida Kingsnake possible mix (Eddie Gein)
1.0 Bearded Dragon (Charley Manson)
1.0 Orange Marmalade Cat (Oliver)
1.0 Egyptian Arabian (Bagan)

2.0 Toddlers (Justice & Trevor)

One day down the road, that might be possible.

~Doug
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"Better to be silent and thought a fool, than to open mouth and remove any doubt!"

Thanks!,...you know I just love drab, ugly colorless snakes!..LOL!

~Doug
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"Better to be silent and thought a fool, than to open mouth and remove any doubt!"

Another thing you can do is put a plastic container in the cage with damp moss or paper towels in it big enough for the snake to crawl in and out of. The damp moss/paper towels will help with the humidity in the cage and should help your snake to shed.

ok he shed, i woke up this morning to a fresh, black, shiny snake. he shed all in one piece just like normal too so i feel alot better now. yeah i do have to get a digi, ill get one soon and post pics of my lil guy. thanks guys!! off to feed him, he looks HUNGRY!!

Glad to hear it all worked out OK.

You could try getting a small plastic tub like a zipoc container and a big sponge like you find at the auto parts store for washing a car. Tear the sponge up into a few big chunks. Wet the chunks and put about a quarter inch of water, and the chunks, in the little tub. The snake can crawl around those sponge pieces and it will help them shed all in one piece. Just put the tub in there a day or two after the eyes clear. You could keep it half on the under tank heat if you really want to raise the humidity, but I don’t think you have to. I had this “cure” a snake that was a problem shedder. Then find out what kind of camera Doug has, go buy one, and start posting some really great pictures of your freshly shed snake! Buy the way, it actually sounded to me like your snake was perfectly normal. Sometimes they zone out like daydreaming. Maybe it is quite content in it’s home.

Thanks my friend!,....... I'm glad you like those!

~Doug
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"Better to be silent and thought a fool, than to open mouth and remove any doubt!"