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I have several thayeri in brumation but a female has had a bad shed. There are still pieces of shed attached. I am hesitant to remove it as it is really stressing the animal out. Any opinions on whether I should go ahead and warm her up? She's a month into cool. Thanks.

>>I have several thayeri in brumation but a female has had a bad shed. There are still pieces of shed attached. I am hesitant to remove it as it is really stressing the animal out. Any opinions on whether I should go ahead and warm her up? She's a month into cool. Thanks.

Is there a water bowl in her enclosure while she's in brumation?
Alot of mine are in the water bowls right now, soaking while in brumation.....
If it happened to one of my snakes I would soak her real good and peel it off and put her back in brumation....I see no harm in doing this without warming her up......
Explain what you mean by "it is really stressing the animal out."

Also.....A month may be a good enough brumation for a female, but probably not a male. If you want to breed her she may ovulate without a male around to fertilize the egg follicles.....

I take it you are brumating for breeding purposes not just because you think they need it.....or maybe she went off feed and you brumated her for that.....

I hope this helped....
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John Lassiter
Poor planning and procrastination on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part...

Thanks very much for the reply. Stressed - Violently moving, attempting to bite, voiding fecal material like a wild caught. This animal is typically calm. Have a water bowl and found a couple soaking. This animal is not scheduled to be bred next year but are cooling down all adults regardless - logistic purposes. Breeding is secondary at this point. We have one of those surface temp readers and got her @ 47.5 F. cooler than i had wanted.

>>Thanks very much for the reply. Stressed - Violently moving, attempting to bite, voiding fecal material like a wild caught. This animal is typically calm. Have a water bowl and found a couple soaking. This animal is not scheduled to be bred next year but are cooling down all adults regardless - logistic purposes. Breeding is secondary at this point. We have one of those surface temp readers and got her @ 47.5 F. cooler than i had wanted.

Remember the cooler temps the slower ALL their functions are.....
I've put animals into brumation that were just turning blue and they did not shed until 6 weeks later......
If your geographic location dictates brumation I am sure you live in a cold / dry climate.......I just bet the humidity was low at those low temps.......She'll be fine if you just warm her up, soak her and peel off the stuck shed.....If she doesn't want to feed I'd put her back in brumation.......
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John Lassiter
Poor planning and procrastination on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part...

I know this is an old post but it's quite normal for kingsnakes and all colubrids with which I've worked, to be a bit spastic or high tempered if they're handled or disturbed in any way during hibernation. Your snakes stressed behavior likely had little or nothing to do with it having a stuck shed and it was just reacting the way they normaly do when they get disturbed while in a state of brumation.
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