Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I also posted this in the rat snake forum so please forgive.

Anyway...

My year old yellow rat started shedding last night and did not have a complete shed. The shed on the head to the back of the neck did come off incuding eyes.The rest of his shed came off clean. I noticed that he appeared to be a little dehydrated last week even though I have a water dish with fresh water every day. I have a humidity box inside his enclousure also.

So what should I do? I have a spare 10 gallon tank not being used so should I put some warm water at the bottom of the tank with some paper towels and a rock to help with the rest of the shed? How long can I leave him in there for? I placed him in his water bowl today and he stayed there for maybe 5 mins tops then when I turned my back he was gone into a hide box.

This guy ALWAYS hides. Another question is why would he NOT come out of hiding to drink water? I mean its very quite at night time and he still won't come out. I actually took him out of the subtrate and placed his face in front of the water dish because he started to get little folds of skin behind the neck.

This is the first time the eye caps did not come off with the shed(I couldn't find them with the rest of the shed anyway but some of the shed did not come off clean but in pieces so it's hard to tell.) How long should I wait for him to try to shed this? I read that retained eye caps can cause a snake to go blind? Is that true on ONE shed or multiple sheds? Should I wait a few days then take him to a vet or should I wait to see what his next shed is like?

The temp on the warm side is 85,cool side 77,aspen subtrate.

Thanks for the advice!

I am sorry the shed from his head to the back of his neck did NOT come off.

This is what I do. It's not the only way, but... it's what I do.
Get a well latching rubbermaid container, I use 16 quart ones for smaller snakes. Drill or solder a few holes in the top. Put the snake in there with a very wet cloth towel. Leave it for at least 2 hours, maybe four. This should soften the skin so much that you can gently rub it off with your fingers. Just don't pull too hard on parts that don't want to come off.
Having drinking water isn't always enough to prevent a bad shed. You may want to consider a humid hide. I use deli cups or those disposable plastic lunch containers (thanks again Rubbermaid) and cut a hole in the lid, then put peat moss on the inside. Then put it in the cage Wetting this down once every day or two is great for shedding, and snakes really love hiding in them.
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I would take the snake into the shower with you. Set the spray to find and water temp to warm. Plug up the drain (don't forget to make sure it does not overflow. Make sure that the snake gets a through soaking.

Conrad
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Peace through Strength
War through Weakness
Defeat through Kerry (like Johnson)