Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I've had a lot of snakes, but holding them forcibly down has just never happened before. I've simply never had to grab a snake by the head, I guess it's been good fortune up till now.

Anyway, my new BP shed *almost completely*, a patch of skin right along her spine is left. It runs only a few inches up to right behind her head, not somewhere she will let me freely poke around. Is it ok to pull their skin off in the reverse direction (again, I know it's a dinky question, but it's just never come up), or should a bust out the tweezers and get it from the front?

Yes, I have tried the damp pillow case, soaking her, moss in the hide spot, etc. The skin's in a non-obtrusive place, I doubt it even really bothers her. If it weren't for my itchin' to do a photo-op I'd leave it.

If I do have to get it from the front, what's the best way to go about it? She's an '03, maybe 16". Never bitten yet, but I imagine she'd want to if I went pokin her head.

Thanks guys.

Jmho I'd just let her be...Keep her humidity up and wait for her next shed...if she was an older more settled snake I'd say you could give it a go and try to remove it, but why stress a hatchling out, ya know?...it should come off by itself or with the next shed...good luck and peace...Chris

I'd still like to know 1) can you pull skin off in reverse the same way you can "roll" it off downwards?, and 2) what's a good way to go about holding a snake, i.e. by the head to sex it, pull pieces of skin off, etc.?

You can pull a patch of skin off in any direction, the key word is just 'gently'. I've found rubbing in circles with a wet paper towel can work wonders. I usually don't worry about holding them in any particular way, but most of my star stuck-shedders aren't nippy. But if you're pulling hard enough to elicit a bite, you're probably pulling too hard. If it's not over an eye and it's really really stuck, it might be better to wait.

Thanks.

I know what you mean by gentle. It's more of a rub than a pull kinda thing, I just wasn't sure about backwards.

I tried last night, I got some off, but I just can't get that close to her head. She doesn't bite, she just.... moves. I didn't want to try my luck, so it'll wait till next shed.

When this happened to my snake i gave him a very long bath, about an hour so all the skin got very lose. Then while he was exploring around the bathtub and he was preoccupied, i went and pulled the skin off his head without much fuss. I pulled in the direction of his head. After the long soak, the skin comes off very easily which helps you because it will come off very fast which makes the snake less stressed out. He didnt strike or make any fast movements. Maybe he was glad i was getting this annoying piece of skin off his head. I am sure a lot more experienced people can help you but that was just my personal experience with a bad shed.

Rob Woods

I think I'll try that.

I'm still used to colubrids, where dry or wet the skin comes off much more willingly. She was letting me mess with the skin, just not within the 1/2" of her head where I needed to grab it. I noticed this morning that some more came off, but not much. In Tucson with the drying effects of A/C, keeping her moist is a challenge. I got a good humidity gague, and I have trouble keeping 30% in there.

She's really calm if I hold her in a warm wet washcloth, doesn't bite at all, and the skin would have come off if she'd just move. She gets content, and just sits there with her head out. flickin' her tongue and watching people go by.

One last Q, I promise: Should I bathe her as in literally filling up a little tank a couple inches and tossing her in, or like, fill a bathtub up a couple inches and letting her swim around? I have one of those dinky travel cages (the 12"x6" ones, I usually use it to transport mice before I prekill them), and it'd be a good size for her. Again, I should really know this stuff, but with a kingsnake, wetting down your hands is more than enough to get skin off, you know?

Thanks again.

You don't need (or want) much water in the tub. Maybe 1/2 - 1 inch at the most. I use a rubbermaid with holes and a human heating pad (on low) underneath a part of it. The water temp needs to be checked often and if necessary, I adjust how much area is sitting on the heat mat. I've found that this works quite well. I always put something else in there (cork bark, for example) to give them a little somthing to rub against or rest on if they need to. Then if after a while you still need to help take of the shed, damp hands seem to work very well. Just keep your hands moist and let it crawl through - rubs the last of the skin off very well.
This is what works for me, anyway.

Thanks for the tips, all of you.

Oops, that was IF you still need to help take off the shed. In most cases I don't.

What I have done in like situations is to get a towel soaked in warm water and wring it out, wrap the snake in it and leave him to find his way out or for an hour or so. Usually I put the toweled snake in a sweater box and in a 'not cold' space for an hour. Much easier to convince a snake to let you near that shed if he is pushing out of a towel.
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Sonya