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I purchased an ATB from a reptile specialty store about 2 months ago. We have had an incredibly rough time: two weeks after I bought him he developed a severe pneumonia. He recovered after two separate courses of antibiotics. Two weeks later I discovered that the only other snake in the room was infested with mites. During the grueling de-miting process I discovered that the only other snake who I could find mites on was the ATB. I suspect that since the other snake had been with me for 2 years, the ATB was the source of the mite infestation. During the mite treatment of my whole collection one little kingsnake developed severe neuro-toxicity but seems to have recovered and my lovely little rough green snake who had been with me for 2 years died (I suspect that the "non-toxic" de-flea product that I used for this insect eating snake --couldn't use prevent-a-mite or black knight because of food issues- killed it) The ATB and the other infested snake went off feed (I treated them with black knight).
The ATB looked absolutely terrible and for a while I figured that this was the "beginning of the end" for the entire collection. Well he finally shed and last night ate, so I think he will actually be alright and so far none of the other snakes seem to be going downhill.
Now for the questions:
1. Not surprising but he had a horrible shed--the skin came off in little patches and most of it required soaking and assisting him. His face did not shed at all. I can't really soak his head. How do I help him remove the retained face skin?

2. I have learned some important lessons and will be much more rigorous in my quarantine if I ever get another snake. I also need to be more cautious about where I get reptiles ( the reptile store said they had too much inventory to know where animals came from). I have really enjoyed expanding my collection over the last 2 years but this may well be the sign that I should pick another hobby (one where things don't die!) but should myself and my collection recover from this, what would be a good source for a HEALTHY, CB ATB? (Yeah, I know that I should have asked this question before I got my current ATB -but I naively thought this reptile store would only sell healthy animals)

I'm sorry to here about your experience, but It can't be over stated, QUARANTINE, QUARANTINE, QUARANTINE!!!! But we all have to learn the hard way, myself included. To solve the first problem, soak some paper towels in water and put them in a shoebox or a 12Qt. container and let your ATB set in it over night. Make sure there is no standing water in the bottom of the container, I had a stressed neo nearly drown in a 1/2" of water. The next day try to remove the unshed skin. if you have waited too long the snake may go into a second shed, in which case, keep the humidity high and let the snake shed again on its own. The major concern is that the eye caps come of clean.
Q-tips with water will help with this, just be very gentle.
Don't be dicouraged by your losses, unfortunately some of the hardest learned lessons do take a toll on your animals. I know there are a lot of arrogant "Experts" in this hobby, but you don't gain years of experience without some mistakes and/or losses. And last, Kingsnake.com is a great place to find C.B
ATB's, check out the classifieds. Be patient though, every once in a while you will find really good legitimate deals. I'm expecting my female ATB to drop within a month so keep in touch, maybe we could work something out. I'm in this for the love of the animals, and the hobby, not an income.
I hope this helps, good luck, Phil Patton