Reptile & Amphibian Forums

My Rubber Boa started to shed last night. I noticed his skin wasn't coming off very fast. I put a humid hide in and a smooth rock in to see if that would help more. I checked on him this morning and still no luck with the shed. I put him in the humid hide thinking he might be afraid to go in himself.. he ran across the tank as fast as he could go. I tried putting him in the hide again today and he's playing around in it now. Is there anything else I can do to help?

Not to sure. Maybe soaking the individual would help out. I am not to familiar how C. Bottae shed in the wild so it’s hard to say.
My reptile collection and research

Tavia,
This is the wrong time of year for the species to be shedding. I suspect you are keeping your specimens at unnatural temperatures at this time of year. No big deal.

When a boa is not able to properly shed it skin, it is because its internal water balance is not proper--that is, it is somewhat dehydrated. You need to place the boa in a jar with a small amount of water in the bottom and leave it there for 15 - 30 minutes, possibly longer depending on just how dehydrated it may have gotten. For a small boa, a quart jar with 1/4" of water is fine and for an adult, 1/2" of water in a gallon jar is suitable. Make sure you have a secure lid with air holes. It generally takes a while for the boa to settle down but once it does, it will drink and soak.

After a period of time, removed the boa and you can usually assist by manually helping it shed. If the skin will not readily come off, then you need to soak the boa for a longer period of time. If the snake has eaten recently, you need to moniter it as if it passes a scat in the water, you need to remove the snake and clean out the jar as you do not want the snake to drink contaminated water. This is very important.

Richard F. Hoyer

Thanks for all the advice. He shed a few hours after soaking in the water/moss hide I put in there for him. He's very young so I would think this is his second shed so far. I hope the temp isn't to much of a problem.. just normal house temps. We've had strange weather.. last weak it was in the 80's and this week we hit 20's. I feel tons better that he's alright.. this is my first baby. I got my corn when she was 6 months and never had any shed problems with her so far.. *fingers crossed*

Thanks again,
Tavia