GTP Problem

[caseyfinnigan]

My girlfriend's gtp won't shed on his own! It just flakes and sticks to him. She has to shed him herself. Will this pass? Any tips? He's under a year old I think.

-It's not stress because we barely open the cage except to mist and feed.
-It's not the humidity, we keep that pretty high.
-It's not the heat source, it keeps him warm but not hot (pad not light)
-He's not dehydrated, we see him drink and drown the mice ourselves so he gets extra water when he eats.
-The tank has airholes and he has dowels to climb on.
-He has surfaces to rub against.

I'm probably forgetting some of the other common "fixes" that get thrown out. HELP :(

[siz]

There is a product called "Shed-ease", which I believe is by Zilla or ZooMed, I've personally never used it but I know a couple people who it has worked for..hope that helps a bit.

[Faequine]

Ive had the same happen with greg. but hes a lizard so i think thats normal for him.

[Smilts]

I know you said high but how high is the humidity and especially during shed?

[siz]

Good point Coy. Casey, humidity should be raised during shed cycle.

[citysnakes]

-He's not dehydrated, we see him drink and drown the mice ourselves so he gets extra water when he eats.


please dont tell me you actually drown live mice to feed to your snake...



and your low humidity level is the reason why your GTP has bad flakey sheds.

[Chu'Wuti]

A couple of people have already mentioned that the humidity should be increased during the shed cycle. However, when you say he has dowels and has surfaces to rub against, are these rough surfaces?

You don't actually mention what humidity you maintain, but here's info from Green Tree Python Care Sheet (http://www.sprucenubblefarm.com/animals/greentreepythoncaresheet.php)

Mist your animal every day to bring the humidity level to 100%, it should dry back out to about 40% before spraying the next day

and from Green Tree Python (http://lllreptile.com/info/library/animal-care-sheets/snakes/-/green-tree-python/)

Enough water should be sprayed that the enclosure walls, substrate, perches, and the snake itself have droplets on them. The cage contents should never become soggy, and if that becomes the case, consider spraying less often. Optimally, the substrate should be nearly dry before it is sprayed again.


The skin shedding process is a simple and effective way to gauge whether you have the humidity levels properly adjusted. If your python sheds effortlessly, and the skin comes off in a single piece, then you are doing well. However, if the snake’s skin seems to be flaking off in tiny pieces over the course of several days, you will need to increase humidity levels with more frequent misting and/or a larger water dish. (bold added for emphasis)

Inadequate humidity is almost always (I'm guessing 99.9%) the cause of improper shedding.

[Kmef07]

I mist my snake almost 3 times a day right now. I keep the cage at around 95% constant on one side and about 70-85% on the other. i have a Brazilian rainbow boa and that should have more humidity than your snake but defiantly keep that humidity up if i let mine drop the shed isn't good at all.

[Brandon Osborne]

I mist my snake almost 3 times a day right now. I keep the cage at around 95% constant on one side and about 70-85% on the other. i have a Brazilian rainbow boa and that should have more humidity than your snake but defiantly keep that humidity up if i let mine drop the shed isn't good at all.

Constant 95% humidity is only going to cause problems. Chondros can develop RI, skin problems, among other things when exposed to constant high humidity. Humidity is a relative factor and the only accurate ways to measure it correctly are too expensive for the average keeper. If you are spraying 3 times per day, either you are using the wrong enclosure, or your animals are being kept too wet.

Good luck.

[Kmef07]

ok no......the breeders i know recommend at least above 90% humidity for them until they are 1.5-2 years old. they thrive in it in their own homes. and the reason in the humidity gradient is the fact that one end of the cage has more airflow and is more open on the top and is hotter than the other side. the cooler side makes the humidity higher and i have a water bowl with lots of surface area at one side. I assume you don't know much about Brazilain Rainbow Boas, because they are proven to be resistant......not immune but resistant.......to many of the problems associated with a very wet enviroment. don't get me wrong there is always a dry spot the my snake can go to in one hide, but my snake never goes there so it is probably happy in the moist conditions. and since that post i only mist a little at night and in the morning. Also the fact that im using an aquarium and a wood box over it to keep the humidity in means that i need to spray more. and humidity gauges don't need to be expensive to work it's not that hard to measure. and they will be within a percent or two most of the time. and i wasn't telling him to keep his gtp at the same humidity as me i was just explaining that sometimes getting the right humidty takes a lot of misting. in winter my house is at about 20%-25% humidity and sometimes even lower so that too drains the humidty out of the cage.

in conclusion, before you try and bash me on something you know nothing about or didn't read all the way into, try not posting it and making yourself look like an idiot.

Thanks,
kyle

[citysnakes]

actually kmef07, Im going to have to agree with Brandon O and im pretty sure ive mentioned the same thing in a previous thread.

[Kmef07]

Well then i hate to break it to you guys. i've had my rainbow in the same conditions being over 90% for the whole time i've had it going on 3 months now. i would consider that more than enough time to have developed something. and there is a breeder in louisville, kentucky that his speciality is rainbows and he says to keep it above 90% until they are at least 2. im sorry but that is a deciding factor to me. also countless caresheets recommend it. and like i said previously they are a species that is proven to be resistant to problems brought on by wet/damp conditions. no one really know why but they can even survive on wet substrate 100% of the time. it's not even what i think it is a fact. when there is a dry spot in my tank my brb doesnt hang out there it hangs out where it is most humid. i mean i dont know how else to prove it or how else to tell you. look it up i guess and talk to some breeders that breed exclusivly brb's. now im not saying that the brb's can't survive in a lower humidity but they are better off in higher humidity.

[chondroguy1998]

It's a GTP with a shed problem right? Well then Kmef07, I hate to break it to you but you are wrong! Brandon happens to be one of the more knowledgeble chondro keepers and breeders. No matter what anyone says, a Chondro is not like any other snake, and Brandon is 100% right. A chondro kept at a constant high humidity will develope skin and or RI issues. If the skin is flaking off during shedding then it sounds like you need to up the mistings when the animal is opaque, but a constant high humidity level is not the answer. I allow my cages to dry at least once a day.
Scott

[gonesnakee]

Poor sheds are typically related to low humidity but they can also b due to parasites as well (mites). Mark

[Kmef07]

Nope not a GTP I have a brazilian Rainbow Boa as stated clearly in my post. but anyways I am right Brazilians need a constant high humidity of at least 85-90% while they are young and My shed was not flaking it was breaking into 3-5 sections. since i've had my snake longer though i was creating a problem i was trying to keep my humidity high by misting all the time and keeping the substrate wet all the time. that was a problem i found that i could keep my humidity high but keeping one spot in the tank wet for part of the day and adding an additional water bowl and then i found that it solved my shed problem and my problem that i had for about two weeks where the skin was looking weird. the key to brazilians seems to be the higher the humidity the better but the actual substrate doesn't have to be wet all the time.

My poor shed was caused not by low humidity but too wet of an enviroment. the shed skin was actually always really soggy right after shed and this past shed since i realized my mistake was actually the right feel. not dry but not wet. and it was a perfect shed.

brazilian rainbow boas can withstand a lot of moisture for a long time i.e. me misting the cage and keeping it constantly wet for about 4-5 months but eventually it started to have skin problems but i caught it and now everything is ok.

[citysnakes]

kmef07, you keep saying over and over that BRBs can withstand so much moisture yet you admit that it was too much moisture that caused your BRB to contract some type of skin problem. just because they may be able to withstand some type of stressor within the environment doesnt mean that you should constantly expose them to it until the point where it becomes problematic.

you believe that they can handle a very wet enclosure for an extended period of time. thats great man, we get your point. obviously your overly wet enclosure was not a humid one, regardless of what your hygrometer reads, proven by skin problems and incomplete sheds.

hopefully you learned that wetness is totally different than humidity and that a constant, excess of each or both of these two variables will eventually cause health issues with any snake.

[Kmef07]

yes that was the point i was making julian. and like i said the humidity was not the problem with the incomplete sheds it was the skin being too wet which made the shed almost soggy that is why it ripped. and yes i stated numerous times i was wrong and that there is a difference between wet and humidity. the problem i have with what was said was that it can be too humid and he thought i was talking about a GTP not a brazilian. i was stating that the brazilians can actually flourish in 100% humidity but can't in complete wetness. I admitted i was wrong because they can survive it for a while in complete wetness but that doesn't mean it is good for it. but the higher the humidity the better.

[citysnakes]

but you still arent getting it though. an environment with a constant 100% humidity, for example, may eventually cause health issues with any snake including your BRB.

[Kmef07]

I don't know but i do know that most care sheets and most breeders that deal exclusively with BRB's do recommend 90-100% humidity all the time until they are 2 years old. and then to back off the humidity to 80-90% im just going off what i have read and seen with some pretty good breeders. and even to clear my snakes skin problem up i didn't lower the humidity i just reduced the amount of wetness on the substrate. so it was the wetness not the humidity that caused my snake to have a couple skin problems.

[st3v3n]

brb do need high humidity

[gonesnakee]

Captain Obvious strikes! LOL Mark

[Chu'Wuti]

I just did a quick search on this out of curiosity and because it appears that "high" needs better definition, as 100% seems pretty extreme.

What I found in the 8 different online care sheets I read is that for adult specimens, the humidity apparently should be about 70-80% (some 70-75, some 75-80), while most sources I looked at said 95% for juveniles. No one stated that the humidity should be maintained at 100% even for neonates.

Perhaps most importantly, New England Reptile Distributors, designer Ball Pythons, Reticulated Pythons, and much more! (http://www.newenglandreptile.com/CareBRB.html)

says:

First off, let's establish "humidity" as the amount of moisture in the air. To provide your snake with a humidity level of 70% you have a couple of options (bold added for emphasis)

One of the options the same source suggests is this:
Make a "humidity box" for your snake. This consists of packing a plastic container with damp sphagnum moss (think well-wrung-out wash cloth to gauge moisture), cutting a hole in the top or side & placing it in your boa's enclosure so that it may access the box as it pleases.

And You want the enclosure to be humid, not WET and soggy. (emphasis in original)

From Brazilian Rainbow Boa (http://lllreptile.com/info/library/animal-care-sheets/snakes/-/brazilian-rainbow-boa/)
The substrate should remain slightly damp during most of the day, but should be nearly dry before being sprayed again.
If your snake is shedding properly, and there is a barely noticeable layer of condensation between the substrate and enclosure glass then you are probably within healthy limits. The bedding should never be soggy, and if this happens, replace it immediately to reduce the chance for medical complications.

From what I read, I couldn't agree with a claim that BRBs "flourish in 100% humidity," nor could I agree that "most" care guides recommend humidity above 80% except for neonates. However, it does appear to be true that a neonate should have 95% humidity, which is generally accomplished by keeping them in a plastic shoebox.

Correct information is important. This is why I always try to check sources and to ask questions of the more experienced snake-keepers here.

[citysnakes]

Captain Obvious strikes! LOL Mark

hahaha!:laugh:

[Kmef07]

Captain Obvious strikes! LOL Mark

haha lol that is funny.

ok chu your right i will also say that 75-80% humidity is good for adults sorry i was not thinking i saw 80-90% but yes you are very right about the substrate not being soggy as i found out the hard way but the care sheets i believe do say 95+ for neonates and i interpret the "+" to be 100% because over 95 there isn't much more before 100.

And i will say for the 100th time that i am not experienced and i was mistaken when i thought that the substrate had to be always wet but then i found out that wasn't very good but the humidity does have to be very high for the species. i just want to stop argueing about this lol. hopefully before julian gets annoyed with me too much.

[Chu'Wuti]

i just want to stop argueing about this lol. hopefully before julian gets annoyed with me too much.

ROFLMAO!

OK!

We all have to gain experience somehow sometime. And at least you try to learn from others. What really gets the guys going is the people who bought a snake [last month/insert time], didn't try to find anything out about taking care of it, and then jump on here asking questions about why it's really sick (and it's usually too late, as it's often actually dying before they ask). arrrghgghgh

[Kmef07]

ya that is annoying im happy that my snake is healthy!!

[Chu'Wuti]

Me, too! And I'm glad you can take a little teasing, too! ;)

[Kmef07]

always lived by the thought that if you can dish it you damn well better be able to take it back 10x harder because payback is a bitch lol.

[Chu'Wuti]

Great guide to live by! You're obviously smart--even if you are a male! ;)

[Kmef07]

haha also grew up believing that males are rational thinking and that females are not capable of rational thought. lol

[Chu'Wuti]

Yep, and the proof is in the pudding . . . war is rational??? Hah!

We females know too well what testosterone poisoning does to your "rationality"!

[citysnakes]

i guess rational is a subjective term...

[gonesnakee]

i guess rational is a subjective term...

Specially when dealing with Women ;)
Actually as I get older its been getting easier to comprehend them.
The hardest part is trying to think without using logic & reason, but rather your emotions instead :rolleyes: :p LOL Mark

[Kmef07]

Haha that is funny mark.

[Chu'Wuti]

ahhhh . . . but it turns out that it's males who think with their emotions more than females! LOL (It's amazing the things I've learned in college . . . ) You just have to understand the difference between female logic and male "logic."

i guess rational is a subjective term... LOL! It sure is--everything is subjective! Even though some people claim to be "objective," they are subjects who have to observe the world and all phenomena from the position of their own subjectivity, as they cannot step outside of themselves to be truly "objective." ;)