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Cook's shedding problem

scooter182 May 25, 2004 09:41 PM

my cook's tree boa is acting very weird lately. it's going into it's shed like normal, but it doesn't want to shed. i can see the skin just hanging on her, but it's like she just doesn't want to bother with rubbing up against something to get it off. i have the heat and humidity at normal levels and nothing has changed since the last shed, any ideas why she's acting weird?
-----
1.1 crested gecko
0.2 antherystic kenyan sand boa
0.2 madagascar ground boa
0.0.1 frilled dragon
1.1 cook's tree boa

Replies (7)

kennethzweerink May 25, 2004 10:10 PM

Hi,
Put your snake in a damp, not saturated warm 80 degree's
soft pillow case,tie the knot and put it back in the
encloser,the next day all the skin should be off, sound's
like your snake could be dehydrated,Make sure you keep
humidity level's at 70% Plus, Are you misting your Amazon
Tree Boa's Daily, you should be misting Twice Daily. Also
what type of encloser are you useing.
Kenneth

scooter182 May 25, 2004 10:13 PM

i've tried the pillow case trick a couple days ago but will try it again. i mist my cook's once in the morning and once at night. it is a custom wood cage that is epoxy sealed and full of live plants to help with the humidity.
-----
1.1 crested gecko
0.2 antherystic kenyan sand boa
0.2 madagascar ground boa
0.0.1 frilled dragon
1.1 cook's tree boa

kennethzweerink May 25, 2004 10:28 PM

Wow ! Sound's like your doing it wright ya,try the pillow
case again it cant hurt, It could be sick, you might need a
Vet. visit, It could be What they call Dysecdysis,a failure
to shed normally, The snake will have patches of loose gray
skin stuck to it's body, this is usually caused by low humi-
dity the snake's skin may appear wrinkled and sunken as well.
Kenneth

BillyBoy May 26, 2004 12:41 PM

How many days has it been since she came out of blue? I have had this happen on very rare occasions with atb's, retics and bloods, all high humidity species. It seems like for some reason they cannot or will not break the skin at their nose at the normal two days clear period and then the "oil" between old and new skin layers goes away (or was never built up to begin with). I would first recommend the pillow case trick again, but make it more than damp and make the water very warm. As long as it's warm enough in the enclosure, should be no risk of her catching a URI. If that doesn't work and if it has been more than three days since she has come out of blue, you may have to resort to hand-soaking her in a warm bath and VERY GENTLY rubbing her body with the flat of a finger (NOT YOUR FINGER NAILS). This will take awhile, but once the old layer is broken, the warm water will begin to get under the old skin and loosen it up. Then just keep gently rubbing and it all should come off in time. The tricky part will be getting the skin off the head (particularly eye caps and lower jaw) and the tail tip. Once that's all done, revisit your husbandry and triple check to make sure your temps and especially humidity are all good, as the humidity is more than likely the cause of her disecdysis. Good luck! Billy

>>my cook's tree boa is acting very weird lately. it's going into it's shed like normal, but it doesn't want to shed. i can see the skin just hanging on her, but it's like she just doesn't want to bother with rubbing up against something to get it off. i have the heat and humidity at normal levels and nothing has changed since the last shed, any ideas why she's acting weird?
>>-----
>>1.1 crested gecko
>>0.2 antherystic kenyan sand boa
>>0.2 madagascar ground boa
>>0.0.1 frilled dragon
>>1.1 cook's tree boa

kennethzweerink May 26, 2004 12:51 PM

Hay,
Good ! ! Post thank's for sharing your knowledge ! Real
informative.
Have A Good One ! !
Kenneth

BillyBoy May 26, 2004 02:22 PM

Thank Kenneth. You may see me around her a little more often as I am just getting back into atb's after a looooong lay off (5 years?). I just traded a lone male Guyana red tail for 1.1 patternless, colored atb's. I'm very excited to be getting back into these gorgeous snakes. I will have to get some pics up soon. Billy

>>Hay,
>>Good ! ! Post thank's for sharing your knowledge ! Real
>>informative.
>>Have A Good One ! !
>>Kenneth

kennethzweerink May 26, 2004 02:37 PM

Sound's good Billy ! I'll be looking forward to the pic.'s
Five long year's, I'll bet you missed them did'nt you ! !
I will be getting a Digital Camera this week and once i fig-
ure out how to use it , I'll be able to post some pic.'s.
Have A Good One ! !
Kenneth
3.4.9 Amazon Tree Boa's
3.3 Nicaraguan Boa's
0.0.25 Ball Python's

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