Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Can somebody on here give me some advise as to what to do with my female suriname shedding problems this is the second time she went into shed and it still coming off in pieces. i do keep high humidity in the tank and i tried soaking her but it wont come off totally its building up on her and i dont know what to do. please help.

The first approach is to get a reading on what your actual humidity is, second you mentioned "tank" so I assume you have this animal in a glass cage.

Tanks are horrible for holding humidity as most use screen lids, and glass is a terrible insulator, allowing heat and moisture to escape freely. If you in fact have this type set up then the first step will be shut off "most" ventilation to the enclosure, this will not hurt your snake.

You can do this a number of ways and you can determine the method you want just keep fire safety in mind, I use plastic sheeting cut into strips on my vision cages which allows me to keep my humidity at 60% (ideal) in my opinion.

If your animal is not shedding in full skin the most likely place to start is with humidity, this is also the easiest to correct. Good luck.

Joel Thomas

Joel i have her in a 29 gallon full hood tank you can actually see the condesation built up in the incloser all over the glass its just shes the only one that wont shed right out of all my boas. is it possable she does not know how to shed. i mean what will happen to her if these layers just keep building up on her?

Where are these layers ? Are they on the head at all ? Or the body . How much (%) is she covered in a shed?

If it on her head - Then I'd hold her while placing a warm washcloth (not too warm) on her head for about 15 minutes. Then I'd gently pick at it to see if it can easily be removed. DO NOT use force , especially around the eyes, as that can cause permanent damage. If it's stuck around the mouth, then you need to easily start at the front of the lip line with your fingernail (inside the lip), and try to get it started. I stress the point that you do this gently. Also , you can just try "petting" the stuck areas with the wet washcloth to get it to break loose. You can't let it build up though. If you do, then you will always have problems.
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Snake room janitor

Her head always sheds and the face its the middle to the bottom of the body that stays on cracked in different areas i would say 45% of the body that does not shed and stays stuck on.

The cloaca area needs to be free of old sheds. Many Boas will have a bowel movement just after shedding - so it seems to be a hinderence. I'd do the warm washcloth wrap, and try to work it off.
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Snake room janitor

You will eventually need a larger cage for her so what I would do is start to research which one you would like to purchase...Boaphile and vison cages make some nice display cages.

I can almost say for certain that the humidity is less than optimal as glass will condensate with temperature changes not really meaning that the humidity is right.

You could get some type of foam insulation and wrap that around three sides of the enclosure and that will hold temperature better making it easier to control humidity.

When you say you have a full hood what is that made of Glass, plastic, Screen? One other option would be to get a plastic tub like a hide box with a lid and cut a hole in it fill it with moist sphagnum moss, when you think your snake is in the shed cycle encourage her to stay in the moss box.

If she has multiple layers of skin stuck on her then she is at risk for many health problems and above all STRESS! which lowers the immune system. Again pick up a hygrometer so you are not guessing what humidity is, you can pick one up specially made for reptiles or one at a garden shop where you can pick up sphagnum moss too.

I hope this helps.

Joel Thomas

Joel actually i have invested in freedom breeder cages there actually awsome fully equiped there 48x26x30 and thats one cage per boa(4)i have three cages so far and actually my argus monitor has one, all to him self. I keep the female suriname in the 29 gallon for now cause that holds the most humidity until she finally sheds right.well thanks for the advise from everyone.