Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hey guys, i have a problem. I went away to NY for a week and came back and my sharp strain adult female shed her skin and so did one of my adult orange females. They both had the same problems. One, the shed was still stuck to the WHOLE lower jaw, which i have taken care of already. Two, they both had some stuck shed sticking out of there cloaca. Now, i have removed sheds stuck in the cloaca before BUT these snakes shed probably 3-4 days before i returned and discovered this, so you can imagine how dry it is. I soaked them for about 4-5hrs each and that is when i got the lower jaw shed off, which is not easy. I then tried to get both stuck sheds out of the cloaca's, with little luck. The part that goes deeper inside i have not gotten out. I have never had this much of a hard time before so i wanted to ask and see if i can hurt the inside of the cloaca lining if i pull the skin out hard, i would have to pull hard to get it out. I used tweezers to pull some out and could probably get what's left inside out but i am not sure if i would sacrifice damaging the animal so i would appreciate any info and experience on this topic. I was wondering, if it would not hurt the animal if the dried skin stayed inside of the cloaca for a week and a half till it takes another big dump. That would push it right out would'nt it? Well, i am just thinking of what might be possible. Any and all info is welcome. Sorry for the newbie question but i would rather be safe than sorry. I have never had this happen before.

Thanks,
Dallas

sounds like you did the rite thing soaking them for a good period,if you soak them like that it should n't be to hard to pull it out,if its not all out just soak them again and do it all over ,just get off as much as you can,they should be ok ,,hope this helps you out

want to keep a close eye on their next shed... soak them a while each day leading up the the shed... i had a problem witha bad shed once and this seemed to do the trick. everythings been fine since.