Reptile & Amphibian Forums

My bp is in the middle of a shed...and has been for over a week. Hes had that gray, plastic wrap look for a couple of days and has been shedding bits and pieces. i've given him warm baths twice, hoping to help out, but its not. Every so often hell shed a small bit, but heel just pull the shed off and go back to ignoring it. his last shed was also a bit difficult, but not nearly this bad. Is there anything i can do to make his sheds less troublesome?

what type of humidity % do you have in the tank?

When you see him/her getting milky again, offer a humidity hide box.

It's always easier for them to slough the shedding off in one piece than lots of little shreds later.

Here in Florida I keep snakes in my garage. Seems the humidity works out perfect because all of my snakes have great sheds all spring/summer/fall long. I don't use any heating/lighting for anything during the warm months.

In the winter I watch closely and when I see the eyes cloud up I give them a bath. Then I tape over the ventilation holes on 2 of the 4 sides and spray them twice daily. This seems to do the trick for me, I haven't had any snakes have nasty shed since, well, I can't remember lol.

Cole Maas

thanks. im not sure the humidity of the tank, but im now sure its too low. i tried the warm bath again and it worked wonders. i just need to make it a more regular habit, i suppose.

Also putting your snake in a damp pillowcase/snakebag tied shut and putting it into the cage to stay warm works. When i got my Ball Python he had a bit of retained shed on his head and i put him in a pillowcase for an hour and it came off.

Wayne

you can kind of see the retained shed in the picture.

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0.0.1 03 Normal Corn Snake - Kula
0.0.1 05 CB Normal Ball Python - Smeagol

1.0 Boston Terrier - Blaze
0.1 Long Coat Chihuahua/ Papillion Mix - Taz

I throw a damp towel in with the snake right after the eyes clear up and the shed is going to happen. They rub on it to help the shed seperate from their body.

Also, On trouble spots like the eyes, I put some K.Y. Gel on them the night before or on areas that don't completely come off.

Make sure you use a water based product like K.Y., not petroleum?? based like Vasoline.

Alan