Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hey all. My snake started to shed last night at about 10:30pm, I knew he was going to, he was acting really weird beforehand. The problem is, now it is 5:00 pm the following day, and he's only shed about an 1/8th of his body. Just a little bit past the head is all he got to, and he was working HARD last night, I could barely sleep he was being so loud. And now it seems he just gave up on it! I'm sure he's exhausted, but I want him to shed the rest of the way! I misted his cage yesterday and today, his humidity is at about 62percent and his cage temp. is right around 80 degrees farenheit. What do you guys think I should do?! It doesn't usually take this long for them to shed does it?? Any help or comments would be greatly appreciated.

Relax.... If you have a small shoe box or container just put some damp paper towels in it and then leave the snake inside for a while. This may loosen his skin easier and help him peel. Do not pull the skin off yourself. Sometimes the damp box or even a soak in a waterbowl will make him shed within 15 minutes. Give it a shot. And do not panic if it does not come right off, and do not leave the snake in the damp box for too long, 15-30 minutes should do the trick Tom Stevens

Okay, I am just about to try that, it's weird though, my snake seems to NOT like being in water. I tried to set him in his waterbowl last night and it immediately slithered out, in a hurry.

Just in case this doesn't work, what would you recommend me do afterwards? Just give him more time I suppose?

Use luke warm water, not hot at all and not cold. He still may not like it, try damp paper towel instead of submerging him in water....he may stress less Tom Stevens

Okay, I did it. He's back in his house now though, so we'll see if it made any difference. I just don't see how he could be having such problems. I keep his humidity up (at least 55-60percent), so I know he can't be too dry. And I also try to mist him once every three days or so. I'm relaxed now, but I'm still concerned, almost even bummin' a little bit, lol.

Dude.........many of the Kings we commonly discuss on here are nothing short of tough. Brooksi are very tough. Just enjoy your new snake and be glad you chose the kind you now own. Some of us snake guys torture ourselves by working with difficult snakes. It is rewarding to do this when they thrive and produce babies but a lot of us on this forum seem to like these hardy snakes that are low maintenance. The most important things I feel a snake needs is clean water and good ventilation. You will get a feel for how much it prefers to eat after you have it for a while. Figure out the basics on how to keep it healthy and then later on fine tune your approach. Tom Stevems

Toms advice is excellent and he is right about the brooksi being tough as nails. Just relax. The snake will get the skin off. I am sure he was just afraid of being exposed when you put him in the water bowl (they do live in holes in the ground you know) also try reading the post by FR. He (FR) is a once in a lifetime opportunty for all of us to learn and absorb.

Great timing that you showed up here. Take advantage of it and READ-READ-READ!

P.S.

I am little harder on my snake and don't pamper them like Tom does. I just throw them in a rubbermaid/sterliet tub filled with 1 1/12 " of water and let them chill for an hour. Does the trick and they hydrate during this time real well. Its a must with rubber boas (charina) if you ever kept any.

One of my milk snakes used to have horrible sheds right after I got it. Here is one thing that worked like a charm:
Take a wash cloth, get it wet with with luke warm water. Let your snake crawl through the wash cloth while you hold it in one hand. I usually do this in the bathroom right at the sink so I can keep the washcloth wet. The wet wash cloth has a two fold purpose, it moistens the snakes dry skin to the point that it will slough off, and it provides a gentle surface to help the snake shed. Worked every time for me and even for stubborn stuck tail tip sheds!! Give it a try.
Brian

>>Hey all. My snake started to shed last night at about 10:30pm, I knew he was going to, he was acting really weird beforehand. The problem is, now it is 5:00 pm the following day, and he's only shed about an 1/8th of his body. Just a little bit past the head is all he got to, and he was working HARD last night, I could barely sleep he was being so loud. And now it seems he just gave up on it! I'm sure he's exhausted, but I want him to shed the rest of the way! I misted his cage yesterday and today, his humidity is at about 62percent and his cage temp. is right around 80 degrees farenheit. What do you guys think I should do?! It doesn't usually take this long for them to shed does it?? Any help or comments would be greatly appreciated.
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RATS
1.0 Corn snake "Warpath" (KY locale)
0.0.1 Corn snake (KY locale)
1.0 Black rat snake "Havok" (KY locale)
1.1 Black rat snakes "Reaper and Mystique" (MO locale)
1.0 Albino Black rat snake "Malakai" (Dwight Good stock)
1.0 Everglades rat snake "Deadpool" (Dwight Good stock)
0.1 Greenish rat snake "Rogue" (Dwight Good stock)
0.0.1 Great plains rat snake (TX locale)
1.0 Grey rat snake "Punisher" (White oak phase)(Dwight Good stock)

Good luck and Happy Herping
Brian

Thanks a million again guys. I don't know what I'd do if all of you weren't so understanding about the newbies. I cleared out some of his aspen shavings in one of the corners of his house today and put in a fir tree bark substrate. He's been crawling on it and rubbing vigorously ever since I put it on there. He's gotten a little more skin off, but now he's burrowed under the aspen shavings again. I fed him today and he was HUNGRY! I gave him two pinky mice and his FIRST fuzzy mouse F/T, that was quite a thing to see for me. I love this snake so much, I can't wait til a couple years down the road, I have the experience and knowledge to start breeding snakes.

Thanks for the washcloth idea Hotshot, if he doesn't shed the rest tonight (which I highly doubt he will), then I'll try that tomorrow.

>>Thanks a million again guys. I don't know what I'd do if all of you weren't so understanding about the newbies. I cleared out some of his aspen shavings in one of the corners of his house today and put in a fir tree bark substrate. He's been crawling on it and rubbing vigorously ever since I put it on there. He's gotten a little more skin off, but now he's burrowed under the aspen shavings again. I fed him today and he was HUNGRY! I gave him two pinky mice and his FIRST fuzzy mouse F/T, that was quite a thing to see for me. I love this snake so much, I can't wait til a couple years down the road, I have the experience and knowledge to start breeding snakes.
>>
>>Thanks for the washcloth idea Hotshot, if he doesn't shed the rest tonight (which I highly doubt he will), then I'll try that tomorrow.
>>
>>
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RATS
1.0 Corn snake "Warpath" (KY locale)
0.0.1 Corn snake (KY locale)
1.0 Black rat snake "Havok" (KY locale)
1.1 Black rat snakes "Reaper and Mystique" (MO locale)
1.0 Albino Black rat snake "Malakai" (Dwight Good stock)
1.0 Everglades rat snake "Deadpool" (Dwight Good stock)
0.1 Greenish rat snake "Rogue" (Dwight Good stock)
0.0.1 Great plains rat snake (TX locale)
1.0 Grey rat snake "Punisher" (White oak phase)(Dwight Good stock)

Good luck and Happy Herping
Brian

AWESOME!! It worked really well. I did the washcloth thing today. It took about 25 minutes for me to get him to crawl out of it entirely and it's skin kept breaking off in little pieces. It definitely wasn't a clean shed, but hey, it's all off him now, so once again THANKS SO MUCH hotshot for the pointer. I can't explain how happy I am that he finally got all of his skin off (it's been almost 4 1/2 days), and he's really happy too. I've never seen him move around so much in his terrarium.