Reptile & Amphibian Forums

ok, i have already mentioned that i got a new young ball python on the 25th of oct. right after i got her she went into a shed cycle. i think the stress of everything caused her to have a really bad shed cycle..
i have given her some soaks and helped get most of the skin off. but theres still some left on the head and neck- including her eyes and her nose. she tries to rub it off of her nose, but shes having trouble getting it.....
is there anything i can do that wont hurt her, drown her, or freak her out worse than she is to help get the rest of the shed off of her? and wont get me bit?
i put a rock in her tank so she has something rough and heavy to rub on.....ive tried moist moss, etc...i make sure shes got clean water every day, etc...

i did go ahead and feed her a small hopper, which she ate after she got a good taste of the bloody spot on its little belly.
i feel bad for her. i just want her to see and breathe without all that dead skin. i want to be able to hold her and her trust me that im not going to be picking at her..LOL...

thanks yall
-----
~Snake Charmer~

3.1 dogs (church, bandit, willy and tonka)
0.2 cats (squeaky, cami)
1.1 'normal' ball pythons (zenith, zahara)and i want more snakes. guess you can say im developing a "reptile addiction"- lol

I would recommend giving her a good soak, and then take her in one had holding her right behind the head and letting her body wrap around your forarm. Then us your thumb and rub from the back of the head, where the end of the loss shed starts, up towards the center of the head. A good soak is very important for this because with out it you will not get the skin off easy at all. Then when you have some lose ends of skin pealed up take a tweezers and sipply pinch the loss skin and slowly peal it off, be extreamly careful around the eyes. The snake will not like the head rubbing and will try to retreat back so firmly hold but still allowing it to retreat but it is still getting its head rub through your hands in the process.

When you hold them like this they well get a little freaked out but I have never had on strike me. The closes thing to a bite that I have had is that when you rub their heads they kind of flatten out and then the teeth are sticking out over the sides of their mouth and on catchs my holding hand every now and then, but it doesn't even seem to draw blood. Just a prick.

As I said be very careful around the eyes.

Let me know if this helps,
matt

You can also try a long soak and then place in a VERY rung out damp lightweight pillowcase (Don't wet all of it). When I did this, it only took about 4 or 5 minutes to get the shed off. The soak is important, as it will loosen the skin and the rubbing from the pillowcase should gently rub it off.

it's been a few years since I have used this method, but I still see people recommend it. Just a suggestion.

ive worked on her some more. but as far as the soaking- how is that going to help her when she wont put her head far enough in the water to get it wet? lol i had a little misting bottle that i used to mist her head- she kind of didnt like it- but it was a way to get some moisture onto her head.
it wasnt really enough- but it helped some. i had one of those coconut shell hides and i turned it upside down and let her rub her face along the edges and inside--she was able to break some of the skin there on her cheek area...maybe she will work some more off of her tonight. she started getting really antsy, so i went ahead and put her back in her tank. poor lil girl.

i tried using a damp wash cloth- thinking she would retreat and rub some off of her--the lil brat didnt do that- she would always go forward. lol...i tried for a minute, if that...but she was getting pretty unsettled, so i figured id give her a rest...
probably try to feed her another hopper tomorrow night---

thanks guys for your responses- ill post pics of her as soon as shes all cleared up of this shed....that is if i can get any good pics of her. all the ones of my lil male are blurry. lol
-----
~Snake Charmer~

3.1 dogs (church, bandit, willy and tonka)
0.2 cats (squeaky, cami)
1.1 'normal' ball pythons (zenith, zahara)and i want more snakes. guess you can say im developing a "reptile addiction"- lol

A easy way to get their heads wet is very high humidity; however as you have stated the spray bottle is not one of their favorites and if you are using a bedding like aspine bedding this can be very dangerous as aspine can mold. So I like to remove then from their cage and take them to the most humid room in the house. Where would that be you may ask??? Before I tell you you must promise not to look at me like a freak! Ok, that we have agreed. The most humid place in the house it the bathroom. Close the door, turn the shower on warm, and in minutes you have a nice humid clement. HOWEVER, there are some things to take into consider ration before your snakes go in. First of all when what the bathroom cleaned last and with what. You do not want to loss your pet do to poisons from some cleaner. Also Temp is always important to hot, to long, death. And do not leave then unattended. I normally put them on the shower rod and let them wonder around for 10-15 mins before I try to pull the skin. They can fall off the rod and if the water is to hot and no way of escape can also lead to death.

This may sound like a very risky way to wet heads but it seems to be the easiest for me, just use common sense if you use this method and as I said keep a close eye on them.

Matt

Thanks for your help Matt...and others who responded
Last night I finally got the most of it off of her head. I was worried about eyecaps and over her right nostril. She whistled when she breathed because that nostril was just a pinhole size because of the dead skin.
I put her in one of those plastic ice cream buckets (empty of course) with a damp wash cloth and left her in there with it for a little bit. and i misted her neck and head too...and a few times i would pick her up and make her rub her head on the rag, or i would try to get some of it started.
she had a part of it broken on her left side, and she was able to finally rub it off of her eye. you could almost tell there was excitement and relief cause she could see better out of at least one eye..lol...i think she finally realized i was just trying to help her because she didnt flinch so much and she was more patient with me..
so i put her back with the rag in the bucket to let the other side get more soft.
then,while holding her behind the head, i carefully pulled more off of her with a pair of tweezers, like youd suggested before...
she flinched a few times-half heartedly trying to get away. but she was perfectly still for the most part and i was able to pull it off of her other eye, her nostril and labial area. it was very weird pulling it off of her eye-lol but i felt better and i think she did too. she had a bit of it still left on the back of her head and start of her neck..but im not so worried about that....
i put her back for a few minutes to settle down and then to "reward" her i fed her lol...
she was ready for it anyways.
i need to step up size of food though cause these little small hoppers she eats isnt enough-shes kinna skinny and shes not full around- kind of loose skin thing too...fatter hoppers maybe or just small mice like my male gets..lol...
anyways...just wanted to say
THANKS!!!!!!!

-----
~Snake Charmer~

3.1 dogs (church, bandit, willy and tonka)
0.2 cats (squeaky, cami)
1.1 'normal' ball pythons (zenith, zahara)and i want more snakes. guess you can say im developing a "reptile addiction"- lol