Shed troubles. Advice?

[marisa]

Well our GTP was in fact going to shed and he started last night. Unfortunatly it didn't go well. We are going to remove the rest of the skin today using the wet towel method.

What I am more curious about is why this happened? I don't want to patch the problem, I want to cure it.

Hot spot in cage: 88 down too about 78 on the cool end.
Humidity- I spray heavily around 10 am. This brings humidity up to about 80% for roughly 6-8 hours, then it starts dropping slowly before going down to 50% by the next morning when I go in to spray. When he was opaque I was spraying him three times as often. Didn't seem to help though...I always spray both him and the cage itself.
Food- Eating like a champ, never misses a meal

Any ideas? This is his second shed with us. The first was a few days after coming here and was about 80% perfect with just a few patches. This one about 50% came off and 50% is left in patches.

Marisa

[Gregg M]

Shedding problem are usually attributed to improper humidity........ For an animal like that I would go with a misting system......... The larger they get the more likely they will have problems with shedding if the humidity is not right........Or what you can do is spray it down alot though out the whole cycle and not just during opaque.......... Also a few more natural branches my help aid in the shedding process........

[UpscaleBoas]

try a later bowl filled with water in the bottom of the cage.....make sure its heavy and that it is uner the hot spot....that will bring up the humidity....also try spraying more often or having we moss on the bottom of the cage....soak it everyday......any of these things will help....but a misting system is really the way to go......

[marisa]

I have both a large water dish on the bottom of the cage, and natural branches. He did use them but still some was stuck on him. I also mist him directly once per day, and when he started fading I was misting two+ times per day, on him and the cage. Today we took him out and removed the remaining shed, that went well and easy luckily.

I am thinking it has more to do with his personal water consumption instead of the humidity in the cage. Most chondro owners over at Greg Maxwells forum have a dry out period each day and I have modeled my misting cycle after theirs...(80+ for a good part of each day, then slowly drying out overnight) So what I am thinking is maybe he isn't drinking enough on his own on top of the humidity. Anyways I will look into a misting system for sure.

Marisa

[greg schroeder]

For a retained shed damp green moss in a plastic storage box works pretty good. The shed will come off on its own over night as the snake moves about.

A while back I got this idea from another forum member named Ed. It should work great for any size snake, but particularly well for hatchlings that are most delicate.

I've found that a water source can be placed on top of a heat pad to increase enclosure humidity .

[Sonyr]

I am in agreement with Greg S. here. I have had a few retained sheds in my collection in the past couple of years.

IMO, you can go Greg's route with the shoebox with damp moss, or you can just put the chondro in a shoebox with a damp paper towel or washcloth.

As far as misting systems, I'm really not a fan of them. I think they clog up easily and become a major hassle. Besides, I like to hand mist them just to promote interaction with the animal. That in turn will make you aware of any potential problems or what not.

And regarding letting the cage actually completely dry out, I'm not sure what the consensus is...but I don't do that. In my cages, I have heat panels on one side. I have a large water bowl on the floor right underneath it. I mist daily, but for the most part, my cages are pretty dry except for the humidity produced by just the water bowl under the heat panel.

[Memnoch]

From what I've seen and experienced, the reason why you let the enclosure dry out is to prevent mold growth (dowels are horrible for attracting mold).

As for the heating the water dish, just make sure that its changed frequently b/c the added warmth will increase bacterial growth.

If I suspect that a snake may have problems shedding, I tend to drench the enclosure around the time of the shed and try to keep the humidty above 80% for most of the day if not all of it. I use paper towels for substrate. If I want to keep the humidity up longer, I just add more sheets of paper towl to the bottom.

Marisa, your GTP is about a year old right? During the first year their skin is really thin meaning that they;ll dry out faster or not keep the water in as well. B/c of that I would try to keep the enclosure humid as long as possible and even longer during the shedding. I've seen baby GTPs take 2 days to shed. They'll shed the first half one night, and then the other half the next. If that happens, I found the best thing is to drench the enclosure. The humid hidebox will also work.

[Holy Mackerel]

I have had a similar problem with my GTP not completing a shed in one night.

A drying period during the evening and night is great, as Memnoch noted due to the susceptibility for mold growth. During my snake's second shed, only the head (incl. brills) came off the first night. The rest was removed over the next two nights! This gave me moderate concern, however subsequent sheds were great. Increasing your misting during a shed is probably a good idea, and the future will let you know if your snake is experiencing a legitamate problem.