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I have a 6-8 month old male sumatran blood (CB). We're going to the herp vet tomorrow but I have a few questions.
Problem 1.: Blood has had some poor sheds i.e. retaining eye caps, shedding in patches and maintaining a lot of dead skin on his head at the righ jaw. The right jaw now does not fully close. Since this has not resolved in 2 shed cycles were going to the vet.
Problem 2: Near the base of the tail about an inch above his vent is a mass? I'm not sure if its feces or urates that haven't passed, impaction or what. It doesnt seem to be getting larger.
Problem 3: He vocalizes a little more than he should with little hisses and clicks. As far as a URI I've taken all precautions to prevent one so I'm a little baffled. No discharges, fluid, necrotic tissue or apparent signs of infection at the mouth, nostrils or eyes.
Conditions: since I aquired him in November I've been following pro-extotic's reccommendations to the letter. Enclosure is a small sweater box with good ventilation, under tank heating, humidity is good, substrate is newspaper changed every other day, ample water dish, hide spots etc. I cover the front of the box with balck paper to calm him down if theres a lot going on in the room. I use moist paper towels for humidity as the moss tends to rot. He gets soaked once every week or two and fed one mouse every two weeks or so (I dont like to power feed. for me less is more). He has a great appetite but has not passed any waste yet.
Obviously we're going to the vet for all this, but I want some input from other blood keepers. Everything else in my collection is thriving and I always quarantine. So any help or advice would be appreciated.

I have had Bloods for periods of time over the past four or five years, but don't pretend to be an expert. The animals I've had have always thrived and I have never had a health problem, including compromised sheds, with the 11 or 12 animals I've owned (I have four now). I never soak my Bloods, and also have never provided them with any special humidity set-up other than a medium sized water bowl and aspen bedding as a substrate. I wonder if the problem is too much humidity...and perhaps the need for a cleaner source of bedding?
Barring this as a problem, perhaps there is a diagnosable condition that has nothing to do with husbandry...
Good luck with the snake--it is a frustrating thing to deal with, isn't it?!
Jim
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There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Rom 8:1

Thanks for your reply. I actually just gave him an extended soak with more water than usual. Skin sloughed right off. As for his jaw i wiped him down with a wet paper towel and managed to clear all that out.

I must start off by stating that I also do not pretend to be any type of snake expert and the honast truth is the that I do not have any personal experience with bloods but I do have pretty extensive experience with pythons in general. I completely disagreee with the previous responders statement about the humidity might be to high. In all my experiences to high of humidity has never resulted in incomplete sheds and retained eyecaps. The only real problem I can think of that might result from the humidity being to high would be belly rot or scale rot. Every case of incomplete sheds and retained eyecaps I have ever dealt with was the direct result of a too low humidity level. During the next shed cycle as soon as the snake turns blue I would try to retain a humidity level of about 85% until the shed is finished. I would also mist the snake several times during this time. I would be willing to bet that if you follow these guidelines then the next shed your snakes has will be much better. As far as a cleaner substrate I do not know how any substrate can be cleaner than newspaper. If you use a mulch of some sort then no matter how well you spot clean it you never remove all the urine dampened mulch and therefore create a less then desirable atmosphere for your snake. With newspaper it is easier and more obvious when the substrate needs changed. I wouldn't switch off the newspaper. Hopes this helps, todd

I agree that incomplete sheds are generally due to low humidity, but I have seen plenty of instances where a poor shed was due simply to a snake's being weakened/compromised by poor health...the snake is unable to carry-out the necessary movement and activity to complete a shed. From the description provided, it doesn't sound like humidity should be a problem.
You are certainly correct that newspaper is a good substrate! I scanned the message and thought he said he had moss in the caging...turns out this wasn't the case.
All the best of the evening-
Jim
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There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Rom 8:1

It is pleasant when one can state their opinions in a forum with out everyone getting all defensive and starting a big ordeal about it that takes away from the initial thread. I admire you for your ability to communicate in a calm and rational manner. So many others in the other forums seem unable to do this.
I will agree that a weak or sick snake might not have the energy or strength to go through the process of shedding with out some difficulties. One other possibility that might be hindering your snake is the fact that you have it in a rubbermaid. They are perfectly smooth and may not offer enough rough material to aid the snake in removing the skin. However if all the conditions are right and the snake is healthy it should be able to just crawl out of it on his on with out the need of much else but it is a possibility you might want to look into. Once again hope I have been helpfull. Todd

that's an excellent point. there was a time or two that my snakes had incomplete sheds and i came to the conclusion that it might be due to not having a rough surface to shed on. so i tried two things and i havent had any problems since. when i noticed them turning blue right before shed i'd put a rock or a piece of wood or anything else that had some significant weight and a rough surface for them to shed against. one other thing that i've found to work well is to give them a hide with moss in it right before shed, one that they can get all the way inside of. with the wet moss it really helps the skin slough off. i've actually had one of my females shed against herself completely inside one of these hides and i got a perfect shed. i used to be under the impression that do to the body shape/size that bloods couldnt shed in less than 2 or 3 pieces, but since i've been trying that i've been getting full sheds every time, no problem. hope this helps out.

-voodoo

What kind of conditions has he been kept in. Temps/humidity/type of container, and what are you using to monitor conditions. Your snake looks very dehydrated and stressed and I would be very worried about it.. best thing to do now is raise the humidity
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"It's my snake, I trained it, so I'm going to eat it!" - Mad Max, The Road Warrior

here is the same snake after i soaked him. All the dead skin is gone and I was able to gently clear his lip with a wet paper towel. as for conditions, ambient is around 83-87 with a basking spot of near 90. I use a temp gun to check several times a day and i have a hydrometer for humidity (typically 60-70%)

No Post-
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There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Rom 8:1

He looks alot better, might still have a little skin on his nuzzle tho. You should still raise your humidity by 10 percent, it should be between 70 and 80. Make sure he has a water bowl big enough to soak in, and a moist rag right before a shed will help along with the moss as you mentioned. Good luck with him.
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"It's my snake, I trained it, so I'm going to eat it!" - Mad Max, The Road Warrior

And they were ALL resolved in a few days by putting him in a very high humidity enclosure. Took him a few months to develop all those symptomes, too.
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Eryx - All the fun of a boa in a convenient pocket size!

NP
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There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Rom 8:1

Thank you all for your input. I had considered the piece of rock to aid in shedding and good point about the humidity. I'm going to fine tune everything a little better to suit my guys needs. I think humidity is the key here, so again thanks all