Reptile & Amphibian Forums

hello, i have a hatchling pair of cave dwelling rats. i've had them 2 months. they are eating great and the male has shed twice. the female hasn't shed yet and now has that wrinkly look.
i am misting and trying to keep humidity up.

any advice on helping her shed? i believe she has retained a shed and i'm kind of worried. she is still active and feeding, but doesn't quite look right. any advice is appreciated. thanks...

jonathan

Jonathan if it does have a full shed stuck on it I would put it in a shoe box with water about as deep as it's body is high and let it soak. Put a small rock in with it for it to rub aginst. I would also put something soft in like a balled up paper towel or some spagnum moss but nothing tall that is can get on top of and get out of the standing water but it gives it something else that it rubs aginst as it roams about the box. It does not need to be warm water but just room temp. I would leave it in there for a few hours and see if it gets the skin off itself. If not and you are sure it has a full shed stuck on it I would try, starting at the lip to get it started after it has soaked for a few hours and get it off. I would not count on it shedding it with it's next shed even if kept humid.
When all subspecies of beauties are young I keep them in a container without too much air movement, a big water bowl and aspen or cypress mulch that holds moisture well. They will often go in and out of the water bowl, spilling some out and keep it damp around the water bowl themselves. When they do I just leave it unless it's enclosure gets too wet. Aquariums with screen tops (unless most of the top is covered)are terrible for beauties as they will dry out extremely quick. Paper towels or newspaper dries out too quick even if sprayed frequently. Baby beauties can be so shy that they won't come out and soak in their water bowl when they need to shed so you have to keep up the humidity at all times especially their first few months. Another thing that is good is to keep in it's enclosure is a small container with a small hole cut in it with moist spagnum moss that they can get in. The spagnum moss hide is especially good as they should have some kind of hide that is fairly moist they can get in and feel like they are still hiding because if not they will often just sit in a dry hide and dehydrate themselves before they will get out in the open to get wet.
Good luck and keep us updated.

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Randy Whittington

thanks for the advice randy. i will try soaking her with a stone for her to rub on. i have soaked her several times but didn't put in anything to rub against.

i have them in 3x2 pvc herp cages that are stacked. i believe i am going to cover most of the screen vents. i have been misting but it seems to dry up fairly quickly.

i do have a "moist" hide. i use 1/2 gallon icecream containers. they prefer blue bunny :0) i have been using aspen in there hides also. i will get some moss.

thanks again. take care....

jonathan

If it really looks wrinkled and you are fairly certain it has at least one shed stuck on I would strongly suggest you help it get the skin off after it has soaked for a long while.
If you can't get the shed off I would keep it in a container where the substrate in every single inch of the cage is totally damp (not just humid)until it sheds, or attempts to shed again and that is the ENTIRE cage so that it (the snake)can't get dry. I wouldn't have a dry area in the cage until you get the skin off. I hate to put it this way but I went through the same thing several years ago with a couple baby beauties and it will kill them. If it just has occaisonally misted aspen at this point it probably won't make it.

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Randy Whittington

ugh... that is what i'm afraid of. i put her in a large deli cup with moist aspen and a rock to rub. i was told that they needed a slightly higher humidity but i didn't know that it was that critical. i should've done some more research before hand. i just researched ridleyi and didn't find much about them. i should've researched the beauties more. i fel really bad and will feel even worse if she doesn't make it. i will keep you updated.

jonathan