Shedding prob.

[Randolph]

I have a problem with my female ball python. She shedded her skin about a week ago while i was away for a week at my cottage. When i returned she had not shed properly and had all kinds of skin left on her. So i spent about an hour and a half at midnight soaking her to get all the skin off. I thought i had gotten all of it off until about two days ago when i noticed a little bit of skin left on her. I've spent about 2 hours over the past two nights soaking her and trying to remove the remaining skin. Is there anything else i can do? Should i even be bothered by this, or will the skin come off next shed? could someone please help me out i'm in the dark. Thanks.

[drewlowe]

When i had a bit of skin left on my corns tail i used vegtable oil on it. You may or may not want to try this out. It worked great for me, but i caught it that night. I haven't tried using it a few weeks after a shed. You can wait and find out what other people say.

Jamie

[mykee]

Well, after all you've done and the skin is still there, you may risk injury if you keep trying. I would leave it alone and it should come off during the next shed, assuming you do something about your humidity. Increase your humidity while the snake is in shed to 80+% to guarantee a perfect shed. Mist your enclosure, or put a water dish over the hot side of her tank. Good luck.

[Tim_Cranwill]

You can try putting her in a small rubbermaid with a warm and moist towel for a few hours. Put the bin on a heat pad to keep it warm. With her moving around in there, she might be able to get the skin off by herself. :)

[AshleyL]

sorry to hear about that! Definetly don't leave the shed on, as she grows it wont stretcha dn will therefore hurt her. Try putting her in a rubbermaid with a damp towel in it overnight. She should be able to get it off by herself then. good luck!

[Randolph]

thanks to all who replied i'm gonna try the rubbermaid idea tonight.

[Linds]

I agree with Tim and Ashley, leaving your snake overnight in a rubbermaid with wet papertowels or a bath towel is the msot effective, stress-free way to remove a stuck shed ;)

Originally posted by mykee
I would leave it alone and it should come off during the next shed.

It depends on where the skin is, in most cases it's fine to leave it til the next shed, but if it is around the tail it can be a potential hazard, especially in young, rapidly growing snakes. It can cut off circulation to the tail, and if neglected, may cause the tail to become necrotic.

[Lisa]

I like a similar method, putting the snake in a damp snakebag/pillowcase, the rougher the fabric the better.

[Randolph]

i tried the rubbermaid idea last night and again today during the day. I was able to remove a couple of individual scales but nothing signifiacant. Also the leftover skin is about a quater down the length of the snake so it is a distance from the tail. I'm just about to give up on this i have spent about 8 hours in total working on this unless someone else can offer me another idea or some help i may have to leave it until the next shed. Thanks for everyone's help but it's just not working.

[JonD]

Originally posted by Randolph
i tried the rubbermaid idea last night and again today during the day. I was able to remove a couple of individual scales but nothing signifiacant. Also the leftover skin is about a quater down the length of the snake so it is a distance from the tail. I'm just about to give up on this i have spent about 8 hours in total working on this unless someone else can offer me another idea or some help i may have to leave it until the next shed. Thanks for everyone's help but it's just not working. My Amazon had some stuck shed to it when I got it. I kept up humidity, also a few times in a damp pillow case (which he musked in while he was in there :D)and most came off. There was some stubborn skin which wouldn't come but came off perfect with the next shed. Now I probably would be more hands on to helping a snake that is handleable. Whatever you do though, don't pull on it if it's sticking ;)

[Tim_Cranwill]

Sometimes it's a matter of how soon you catch it. The morning after, it should be easy to fix. A few days after the shed it can be tricky.

Keep us posted...
:)