Reptile & Amphibian Forums

i need help on 2 things plz
my snake just shed her skin but left the tip of her tail on what can i do to get that bit of skin off i was going to get some cotton wool and try to gently take it off with some warm water, is that what i should do? her first shed came of perfect but this time there is a tiny little bit of shed skin left on the tip of her tale also i would like a little help on the heating in my vivarium, at the moment i have a large heat mat which covers aprox half the size of the viv but whenever i take my snake out of the viv she is very cold, i have hides in both the warm end the cool end and in the middle yet she seems to move towards the cool end more, i have installed a smaller heat mat 3" x 3" and put that nearer the cool end but when i get up in the morning the thermometer in the viv is only showing the air temp at 70 i know that heat mats only heat the area they are and not the air in the viv and i know that snakes take in heat through there scales but i think i need the air temp to show aprox 82 i have a light in the roof of the viv that was fitted by the shop and if i use this during the day it will bring the temp up to around 80, what can i use so that my snake cannot touch the light my viv is 2ft high and the light fitting is right up in the roof and hangs down by about 4" at the moment i only dare use the light when i am actually in the house to watch her as in the past when it gets later on in the day i have seen her use the wires from the lights (there is a uv light to with 2 wires one at each end) to get up to the top of the viv, i was shocked one day to see her up in the roof dangling over the 2 wires so i know she could easily get up there, i have taped the wires up into the roof now but im not sure if she could still find a way up there, sorry to go on but i want to give you as much info as possible, im wondering if maybe she prefers to stay cold, im going to buy her another hide for the warm end that is the same as the cold end (natural bark in the cool end in the warm end its natural wood made round a metal frame to bend into possition) as maybe she doesn't like the other hide as much and that is why she is going to the cool end, let me know your suggestions as im worried about her i need to know what else i can use to warm up the air temp also it is getting colder on a night now and i don't know anyone who can afford to run there central heating 24/7 so as it gets colder on a night the air temp at night is going to get colder .......thanx in advance for any help

Make sure you check the temp of the floor of the cage. The ambient air temp may not be where it should be, but the floor may be hot enough, possibly even too hot.

Most of mine tend to stay on the cool end of the cage as well, except right after feedings.

You might try a space heater to warm up the ambient temp, but be careful if you do. I'm always worried about those things catching fire.

As for the skin, you may want to give your snake a bath in shallow (about 1 cm - 0.5 inches deep) luke warm water. I had this happen to my first snake and I used a towel soaked in warm water that I allowed it to crawl through while I held it and it helped the skin come off. Also, provide it with a moist hide box in it's cage. I just use old cool-whip containers with a hole cut in the side and moistened paper-towels inside.

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alstiver@hotmail.com

1.0 '01 Hypo snow cornsnake (Tesla)
0.1 '02 Ghost (pastel) cornsnake (Banshee)
1.1 '02 Bloodred cornsnakes (Desi and Luci Too)
0.0.3 Goldfish (Kabuki, Isamu, and Yuki)
1.0 American Eskimo mutt (Rusty)