first shed FAIL

[Jaseb1987]

hi everyone, I woke up this morning to find Dominus had shed, but it wasn't all in one piece, should I be worried? temps and humidity were spot on. don't know what I did wrong really, looks like there is a bit stuck on his tail, whats best thing to do? I know I need to remove it but best way?

many thanks

Jase

[TRD]

soak the snake for a bit in lukewarm water for 10-15 minutes... make sure water isn't deep enough to drown and supervise it. The stuck shed will become soft and you can simply take it off afterwards.

Then to the other issues. Stuck shed can come from a multitude of causes. Humidity being the may offender... this is not just overall air humidity, but also moisture intake of the animal, so what kind of python are we talking about here, and what do you mean with "spot on". How are you keeping your animal in detail (substrates, etc).

[Jaseb1987]

soak the snake for a bit in lukewarm water for 10-15 minutes... make sure water isn't deep enough to drown and supervise it. The stuck shed will become soft and you can simply take it off afterwards.

Then to the other issues. Stuck shed can come from a multitude of causes. Humidity being the may offender... this is not just overall air humidity, but also moisture intake of the animal, so what kind of python are we talking about here, and what do you mean with "spot on". How are you keeping your animal in detail (substrates, etc).

Sorry he's a pastel ball python, he is in a 3ftx2ftx2ft viv the substrate is eco earth coconut on the bottom with retibark on top of that, humidity is normally 55%-60% but around 75% when I noticed he was blue eyed. temps 90c basking spot which the cool end gets to 75c

Any advice would be appreciated

many thanks
Jase

[Jim Smith]

My guess is that the humidity was a bit too low to offer the right conditions for a full one-piece shed. As TRD mentioned, allow the snake to soak in the luke-warm water for about 15 minutes. Then put wet paper towels in your hands and have your snake "slither" through your hands while you apply very slight pressure on the area where the shed is stuck. It may take a few moments to get it all off, but it is important that you do so to prevent the old shed from constricting blood to the tail area. I also use eco-Earth for my BRBs and find that in the dry winter months, I have to add moisture to the enclosure to keep the humidity up. I do three things to do this. 1. spray the enclosure every couple of days with water. 2. I place a shallow (1.5" deep 5x8" flat dish) in the enclosure filled with small polished river rocks and water. The water wicks up onto the rocks and evaporates fairly quickly so keep it filled with water. 3. I actually pour some water directly onto the bedding since the Eco-Earth can get bone dry in the winter. Not too much water and spread it around. This really helps with the humidity. Good luck.

[Jaseb1987]

My guess is that the humidity was a bit too low to offer the right conditions for a full one-piece shed. As TRD mentioned, allow the snake to soak in the luke-warm water for about 15 minutes. Then put wet paper towels in your hands and have your snake "slither" through your hands while you apply very slight pressure on the area where the shed is stuck. It may take a few moments to get it all off, but it is important that you do so to prevent the old shed from constricting blood to the tail area. I also use eco-Earth for my BRBs and find that in the dry winter months, I have to add moisture to the enclosure to keep the humidity up. I do three things to do this. 1. spray the enclosure every couple of days with water. 2. I place a shallow (1.5" deep 5x8" flat dish) in the enclosure filled with small polished river rocks and water. The water wicks up onto the rocks and evaporates fairly quickly so keep it filled with water. 3. I actually pour some water directly onto the bedding since the Eco-Earth can get bone dry in the winter. Not too much water and spread it around. This really helps with the humidity. Good luck.

Many thanks I just put him in the bath he didn't like it lol obviously not a deep bath, think I got the rest off but it's so hard to tell, it was literally only the tip of the tail that didn't shed. Still got a lot to learn, thanks for the advice.

[TRD]

Also check if the snake is drinking properly... air humidity is one thing, but he needs enough moisture in his system to begin with to properly shed. It may help to offer wet prey (ie- not dried off mouse/rat) and maybe move the water bowl to an area he's more comfortable to drink from/provide shelter at the drinking area.

What many people don't realize is that raising humidity during shed is only a band-aid fix for general husbandry issues.

On ball pythons specifically, they would retread in burrows during a shed cycle... the air humidity where they are from is around 55-65%, but inside a burrow the humidity would raise easily above 80%. Now to make this in a vivarium setting is difficult without some adjustments, because raising overall air humidity in the whole enclosure to 80%+ isn't healthy for a ball, but, one can create underground shelters when using natural substrate and consequently introduce these micro climates quite easily in a vivarium.

That, and drinking enough, is most important for a shed cycle.

[Jaseb1987]

Also check if the snake is drinking properly... air humidity is one thing, but he needs enough moisture in his system to begin with to properly shed. It may help to offer wet prey (ie- not dried off mouse/rat) and maybe move the water bowl to an area he's more comfortable to drink from/provide shelter at the drinking area.

What many people don't realize is that raising humidity during shed is only a band-aid fix for general husbandry issues.

On ball pythons specifically, they would retread in burrows during a shed cycle... the air humidity where they are from is around 55-65%, but inside a burrow the humidity would raise easily above 80%. Now to make this in a vivarium setting is difficult without some adjustments, because raising overall air humidity in the whole enclosure to 80%+ isn't healthy for a ball, but, one can create underground shelters when using natural substrate and consequently introduce these micro climates quite easily in a vivarium.

That, and drinking enough, is most important for a shed cycle.

That's such a great response to be honest I have only seen him have a drink once since I have had him, how else can I check if he is drinking? I'll put one of my fake plants in front of the bowl and see if that helps.

Many thanks