Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi...
My waglers pit viper started to shed 2 weeks ago...but it only managed to shed half its head....till after the eyes...then it stopped..it has been 2 weeks now and it still shows no sign of shedding..the rest of its body has turned milky but it still won't shed. i'm spraying water about 2 to 3 times for moisture.
i actually took it out to peel the skin off myself but it didn't come off as easily as i thought it would.
any ideas, opinions, suggestions?
thx in advance..

what i do when my snakes are going to shed is take them out and spray them down or hold them under running water. you can also make a little humid hide with some moist paper towels or moss. they need higher humidity when they are going to shed to get the old skin off.
i don't know how your viper is with handling but you can try the container method. most folks use a very cleaned out butter tub. leave the lid on and cut a hole for the snake to get into it. put in some moist paper towels and see if that helps.
i've also read that feeding snake before they shed will help also since it hydrates them. but don't take my word about it. i'm just a pet owner.
just my 2 cents worth.......

My suggestion is quite similar from the first responder.

I wouldn’t allow the snake to leave the soaking container.

I would get two cotton bath towels, soak them in warm water, place the towels and snake into a Tupperware container (with air holes) and leave the snake for a day or two. With water bowel. You can mist the towels occasionally with warm water.

If the snake doesn’t shed off, tube him and finish by hand.

Bottom line here is to get that skin off.

Hope this helps. Dann

I tried soaking it overnight in a container with 1 inch of water. That didn't work...maybe i should do that again but leave it for 2 days this time?
i live in malaysia by the way..our humidity here is about 70-80%..quite consistant all year round..plus i spray it down few times a day..
do u think its a hormonal problem?

That would be hard to pin down from here. Could be many different factors involved. If wild caught it could be diet and stress. Give him a soak, tube him and see if you can get under that shed with your fingers. Has he eaten anything during this stopped shed?

Dann

yea its wild caught....and hasn't eaten since this shedding problem...

i tried soaking it overnight in a container with 1 inch of water....didn't work. Reckon i should soak it for 2 days this time? i live in malaysia..our humidity is around 70-80%..quite consistant all year round...plus i spray 2 or 3 times a day..
u reckon its a hormonal problem?

Try putting him in a jar or container with a layer of either saturated burlap or spagnum moss on the bottom. You might have to leave him for several days. Once a skin dries on its very tough to get off, especially on rough scaled snakes and most especially on rough scaled venomous snakes but this has most always worked for me.

It works a lot better if you get him into soak as soon as the skin fails to be shed normally.

Peter
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Peter and Sara
Beouf River Reptiles