Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Ok so I took in a few "rescues" and have some questions. I have had a 3 ft Tiger retic for about 6 month now. He has taken every meal except the last one when he was in full shed (didn't realize until it was thawed and thought we would try). He has only gone through 2 sheds and is in one now. He has such a hard time! Last time with much soaking we had success but the complete shed took a few weeks. It has been about a month now and all he has shed is his head. He doesn't seem interested in doing much more. Any ideas? I'm worried that he could develop a bacterial infection or something if he doesn't get the old shed off. Any help would be much appreciated !

Thanks,
Desiree

what is his enclosure set up like and what type of enclosure is he in
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retic is king of kings

1.0 Tiger Retic
1.0 Albino Tiger Retic
0.1 Striped Tiger Retic (het albino)
0.1 Salmon Boa
1.0 Albino Boa
0.1 False Water Cobra

He is in a 55 gallon with heat lamp (hottest from 85-90 and coolest about 75). Large bowl of water well enought to submerse in. Large stick and rock (granite roughness).

I bet you have a screen top on his tank don't you? Sounds like the heat lamp is drying the air out too much and the screen top doesn't keep in any moisture. I would get rid of the lamp and cover the top most of the way with plastic or something else to keep in the humidity. As for heat I would use and undertank heat source. Snakes don't need heat lamps, belly heat is what they use. Misting his enclosure every other day will keep the humidiy where is needs to be and he should shed fine from here on. As for this shed I would soak the snake for a couple of hours and remove any skin that is left especially around the head. You don't want to leave old eyecaps on. Do you know if he shed the caps this time? Thats about all I can think of. Hope I could help.