Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have a new baby bairds (actually it's the male clutchmate to Gargoyle's female from Julie Buckley) that's generally doing great, eating like a pig, and growing well...He's shed twice so far, but neither shed was great..when I saw him going into his second shed I offered him an area of damp paper towels (which I kept moist), but the second shed wasn't perfect either...I'm about to move him into a 10 gallon tank, out of his plastic shoe box, and wondered how I can set him up to improve sheds...any advice would be appreciated...thanks so much...

SR

Well this is how I have mine set up with no problem.

about a 4" diameter water bowl
Aspen Substrate
Covered half the screen top (the cool side where the water bowl is).

i've never had a shed problem... hope it helps.
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-Chris

The reason mainstream thought is thought of as a stream is because it's so shallow. -George Carlin

A fool doesn't learn. A smart man learns from his mistakes. A wise man learns from the mistakes of others. Which one are you?

My Website
N. American Rat/Corn snake care sheet I wrote

Current snakes:
0.1 Licorice Stick Black Rat (Lola)
1.0 Black Rat (Frankie)
1.1 Texas Bairds (Jose and Rosa)
0.1 Blue Beauty (Brunhilde)
1.0 Green Tree Python (Claudius)... coming soon

I just mist them when there eyes clear up just before the shed.My adult male has never had a decent shed yet.He reminds me of the retics I once owned.He gets a soaking for an hour and then I take the rest off by hand.The rest of my snakes shed perfect everytime.
The little girl from Julie is a true hog when it comes to feeding.She would eat daily if I let her.I have her eating 2 mouse fuzzies a week.She is growing like a weed and isnt fat.
Paul

First of all--thanks guys for the replies...I'm afraid my guy is going to end up like your adult male...his sheds aren't awful, but they're never in one piece and it seems like there's always a little to pick off...oh well; I'll try the misting and I'll try covering the top of the cage over the water bowl and see what the third shed brings...

Second of all--your'e not kidding about the appetite on these guys; mine has literally never refused food; I ended doing exactly what you did; limiting him to two fuzzies a week until he gets a little bigger, but he's not real happy about that...he'll be lying there after feeding with two big lumps in him, and the minute I walk in the room his head snaps up and he starts looking for more mice to fall from the sky..They're pretty funny...

SR

>>I just mist them when there eyes clear up just before the shed.My adult male has never had a decent shed yet.He reminds me of the retics I once owned.He gets a soaking for an hour and then I take the rest off by hand.The rest of my snakes shed perfect everytime.
>> The little girl from Julie is a true hog when it comes to feeding.She would eat daily if I let her.I have her eating 2 mouse fuzzies a week.She is growing like a weed and isnt fat.
>> Paul
>>

That little bairdi is looking great, Paul.
Very nice
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Corn snakes and rat snakes..No one can have just one.
"resistance is futile"
Jimmy (draybar)

Draybars Snakes

np

I don't think my baird had ever had a "good" shed. This time around I added another small water bowl on the warm side and covered 3/4 of the screen top trying to up the humidity. She has been trying to shed for 2 days now and I looked in her cage before work today and still didn't see the shed. Tomorrow is feeding time, so looks like I will be giving her a soak and helping her clean up tonight when I get home.
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0.0.1 Amel Motley Corn (Cosmo '03)
0.1 Baird's Ratsnake (Sugaree '04)
1.0 White Oaks Grey Rat (Tennesse Jed '04)
1.1 Shepherd mix (Dylan 5yrs, Porter 8 months)

>>I don't think my baird had ever had a "good" shed. This time around I added another small water bowl on the warm side and covered 3/4 of the screen top trying to up the humidity. She has been trying to shed for 2 days now and I looked in her cage before work today and still didn't see the shed. Tomorrow is feeding time, so looks like I will be giving her a soak and helping her clean up tonight when I get home.
>>-----
>>0.0.1 Amel Motley Corn (Cosmo '03)
>>0.1 Baird's Ratsnake (Sugaree '04)
>>1.0 White Oaks Grey Rat (Tennesse Jed '04)
>>1.1 Shepherd mix (Dylan 5yrs, Porter 8 months)

I have been lucky and never had a problem with my bairdis shedding. I think it may have a lot to do with the tanks I put them in as they grew.
I had them in Sterilite as hatchlings. I've always made sure to use a water dish large enough for them to curl up in if they desire. I also don't drill too many holes in the sterilite containers. Helps hold moisture. If they sweat I just add a few holes.
When they got large enough I switched them to twenty gallon aquariums. I made the lids out of 3/4 inch plywood with cutout for a light and holes drilled for circulation.
With these plywood tops I would say that there is probably only about 15% open.
I have since swithched them to a 55 gallon aquarium that I divided into two halves. I use the same type of plywood tops with this and once again probably only about 15% open and large water bowls.
So, what I would suggest would be...If you have ascreen top cover almost all of the top and go with as large a water dish as you can.
I bet this will help.
Not a very good picture but a look at the "split" 55 gallon tank. This was when I had a couple of different snakes in it.
I* moved them to the bairdi's old twenty gallon tanks and the bairdis to the split tank.

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Corn snakes and rat snakes..No one can have just one.
"resistance is futile"
Jimmy (draybar)

Draybars Snakes

Although I live in AZ and only have a pair of hatchling Bairds, mine haven't had any shedding problems. The relative humidity in my snake room is 45% and I only mist their enclosure about once a week. They do, however, soak in their dish about once a week.

My male wont shed right even with scale rotting humidity.All my other bairds,corns,kings dont need any additional moisture to shed.The humidity in my snakeroom/bedroom is around 55%-65%.
Paul

My Bairds have hide spots made from flat rock and it holds humidity very well. You might consider using a substrate that holds moisture better like Bed-A-Beast or the ones made from recycled newspaper.

Truthfully, with the forced air heat on in my house this time of year, I bet my ambient humiditiy is a lot less than 45%...Like 25-30%..It will be interesting to see if the situation improves this summer, when we typically get very humid (I live in Pennsylvania); in the meantime I was thinking of setting him up on Repti-Bark--because I have some left over from my lizard's tank...Also, I've never given him a water dish big enough to get into, so I think I'll provide that too...Thanks for all the advice

It seems like west Texas would be a very dry habitat, but maybe these guys live in a moister micro-habitat? Or maybe some individual snakes just need more humidity than others...

SR

Ive used reptibark and really liked it.Just dont feed on it.The bark is to big to digest and can kill a snake fast.
Paul

np

...it is very dry but I learned otherwise. There is some great photos on the Vivid Reptile site (http://www.vividreptiles.com/psj/metallic.html) that show the natural habitat. He points out that the rock crevices where these snakes live hold dampness very well. The surrounding area is probably pretty dry though. That would imply that a moist hide spot vs moist enclosure is the best approach. Please bear in mind that I'm not speaking from broad personal experience.