Bad Shed.

[Vengeance]

My Cali King just went through its first shed with me and it didn't go so well. It didn't come off in one piece, he was shedding last night so when I get home from work today I'll see if he retained any. If there is some shed retained I'll stick him in a Rubbermaid with a damp towel for a night to clean him off, but what am I missing in terms of husbandry so that his next shed will turn out fine.

He is in a 20 gallon glass tank with screen lid
Substrate is carefresh
Has a cool side of 76o F
Hot side of 90o F
2 hides, one on each side + he borrows everywhere
Water dish large enough to soak in

I know glass tanks and wire lids are not good for humidity but I was under the impression that Cali kings were a low humidity species. I haven't been keeping track of the humidity in the cage for that reason. Any suggestions on how to make sure he sheds fine next time around?

[Katt]

Keep the substrate moist as well. Spray him before he sheds, and make sure he has good body weight. I find that thin snakes shed badly.

[Vengeance]

I've only had him for 3 weeks, he has been eating like a horse. In the 3 weeks I've had him he has eaten every 3 - 4 days. I'm feeding him fuzzy mice.

I'll try and keep the substrate a little more damp for next shed, hopefully it will go better.

[vanderkm]

Like Katt says - body condition and overall health contribute as much to healthy sheds and environment, in my opinion. A poor diet and borderline dehydration from inadequate nutrition may be a big part of your problem with this guy. Our cal kings shed with no added humidity in a house were it averages about 30%.

You might want to position the water dish at the corner of the cage so you can be sure he is finding it to drink from. Some of them don't seem to realize where it is if it is in the middle of the tank. Our cal kings don't usually soak but they do seem to like to play in their water!

The only thing I would be concerned about is the temp gradient - if you are at 90 on the hot end in a 20 gallon tank, it may not really be room temp at the other end. Tanks seem to retain heat overall and not develop a gradient especially when they don't have a lot of length (under 30 inches) so it may be that it is hotter overall air temp than you have measured.

A rubbermaid tub with a hole in the top and damp vermiculite or moss makes a good damp hide box when they get near shedding time.

Sounds like he is a youngster, so worth checking his tail tip as well as his eyecaps after a bad shed. If they retain the skin on the tail tip, it can cut off circulation and cause them to lose a bit of tail.

hope he continues to do well for you - maybe you can post some photos - cal kings are great!

mary v.

[Vengeance]

Well he seems very active, a very agressive eater, and seems to be doing ok. Hydration doesn't seem to be a problem, I know for sure he knows where the water is because while sheding last night he was swiming around in the water. Here is a picture of him....

http://www.ssnakess.com/photopost/data/500/3606DSCF0151-med.JPG

and a feeding pic from tonight....

http://www.ssnakess.com/photopost/data/500/3606DSCF0038-med.JPG

I'm pretty positive that my tempatures are correct, I have an heat gun and everyone I've talked too says it is pretty accurate. If I temp gun the hot side depending on where I gun, it is between 85 - 90. On the cool side when I temp gun it is about 76. So assuming my temp gun is correct there should be a decent gradiant.

First thing I checked when I came home was eye caps, tail and vent. All were fine, I was even able to find the piece of shed from his head and verify that both eye caps came off so I was happy about that. I put him in a rubbermaid with a damp towel for a few hours and that cleaned off the rest of him. Could be that he was underfed where I got him from, they said his feeding schedule was every 7 days but you can never know for sure with some places. I haven't had a chance to weigh him yet because he is very skittish and allways on the move when handling. I've trying to let him calm down and handle him as little as possible. But only time will tell on that one. Thanks for the advice, hopefully his next shed when he has put on some weight and gotten more used to his new enviornment it will go better. Please if I'm missing something let me know, I'm allways open to suggestions on how to make things better for my snakes.

[vanderkm]

Sounds like you have everything well under control and his set up looks great. He is super cute - love cal kings.

mary v.

[Will]

If you have a water dish, and he's swimming in it, there's not a lot else you can do to aid him any more. A humid hide might help, but if he's soaking already, it's not really going to add anything to the equation. I find that one of mine sheds in 2 or 3 pieces no matter what I do. Just keep checking to make sure everything has come off when he's finished I guess.

He looks great by the way. That tank looks great...

[BoidKeeper]

What a great looking snake!
Cheers,
Trevor

[Vengeance]

Thanks for all the nice complments.

Guess I'll just have to wait till next shed and hope everything goes well.