Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Well, my BP just shed yesterday and sadly it wasn't as successful as the last one he had. He shed in pieces and still has a big chunk of unshed skin on the top part of his head. I can't even tell if the eyecaps are still on there, but they might be. Anyway, he's pretty head shy like most BP's so is their a way I can try and get that off for him? I already soaked him in some luke warm water last night because he still had some skin on his body which he eventually worked off. But his head still has a big patch that needs to come off. What can I possibly do to get the skin off of a snake that won't let me go near his head?

This was probably my own dumb fault because, the last shed, I did a lot of misting in the tank and he shed perfectly in one piece. This time I thought the humidity was already high enough and I didn't need to mist. Big mistake. Anyway, I learned my lesson. Any thoughts on this would be much appreciated! Thanks!

Wet pillowcase in a wet box, insert snake, let him grope around the case for a good 20 minutes or so, voila!

Don't worry about shedding in pieces. To be honest, I get that more often than a full-piece shed. It just happens, and is not really a big deal. I would recommend against trying to pull it off yourself, though, if possible. Usually the wet bag trick will work. And if it doesn't, try it again a couple days later. One of my boys can never shed the left side of his head, so he's a regular in the pillowcase. And it never fails for me!

The box that I should put him in, is that a wet cardboard box or would a plastic container be better? I noticed in another thread on here that someone suggested a vented rubbermaid container along with the wet pillowcase. Thanks.

Plastic. Chances are good, you'll be using it again.
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Jay A. Martin

OK, I just tried this and it was successful. The rest of the skin apparently all came off. How do I know if the eyecaps came off? I couldn't tell from the shed since it was in pieces. Is their a way you can tell by just looking at their eyes? Thanks for all your help.

Look and see if you can see any flaking. Just keep looking for about a week. If the eyes look shiny an clear, the eye caps most likely are not retained.
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Jay A. Martin

Even if they are retained, leave them be. You're more likely to do irreparable damage to the snakes' eyes (if you try to remove them manually) than you risk by leaving the caps there. 9 out of 10 retained shed pieces will come off with the next shed.

Not cardboard...sorry for the ambiguity.