Shed advice?

[jaleely]

Okay, I'm asking for it this time =P

So, Bitey is doing GREAT. I actually caught him drinking last night, and will post that later. He was sooo cute!

Ribs...Ribs is looking better, however it's hard for me to tell if she has retained eye caps, or if one of eyes is actually just damaged. She has skin/scar tissue covering a nostril, on that same side. Not shed, actual dark solid skin. Poor thing has one working nostril!

Anyway, her shed....the first one came off in peices...which some of you may remember she had been in shed ...in peices...for at least two weeks while she was at the pound. I was finally able to get her moistened and help her out of it. Since then, I have noticed little shed scales. No biggie, she had been through a lot! I just figured they were leftovers from the shredded shed.

Yesterday, however, i noticed her whole body is shedding scales, one at a time. Got a chance to really look at her tonight, and her new "shed" is coming off each scale at a time. I guess that describes it better.

She's been moist, and fed, and doing well. I just wonder if this has something to do with all the trauma she's been through, and/or just her still trying to get rid of retained sheds.
I took my finger and rubbed at it a bit in one spot, and where all the little scale flakes came off she had a nice, fresh looking skin/scale patch underneath.

I'm probably worrying too much. She's just been through so much!
SO, am i worrying, or..?
I took the coconut husk out and put her on a damp towel. She doesn't seem to move around, or try to rub or anything, so I figured the rough towel might help her out.

What do you guys think?

[stephanbakir]

Give her something to rub up against, and up the humidity. Be sure to let it drop at least once a day to avoid scale rot.

[jaleely]

Excellent. I looked up scale rot. I don't think she has it. There is no discoloration, though one website did say that white flaking can occur...but since this is EVERYwhere on her, and when i rubbed it off the scales underneith were clean and nice looking, i'm guessing this is just a weird/maybe stress related shed.

And i've had things in there for her to rub on, and she just won't do it. I actually feel like the snake is so used to having bad sheds, that she gave up.

I have been keeping it pretty humid in there...though it has a mesh lid. I will let it drop a little. Thanks!

[stephanbakir]

I wasn't saying she had scale rot. I'm just saying that she needs the humidity, but leaving it too high for too long can cause it.

[jaleely]

No, I know! I mean I knew what you meant but I wanted to look it up because I hadn't thought about it before :) and I had been keeping her pretty moist, so it was good to think about the other side of things. I appreciate it!

[jaleely]

Lol sorry ...I really meant "excellent" like "ah ha!" Not sarcastic lol

[bighillreptiles]

as long as they are not sitting in or on something wet 24/7 and a good supply of watter she should be fine .when in deep blue i mist mine in the morning and again at bed time when i go check on everyone .i use little blue clips on the tubs where there are snakes in shed helps find them faster

[lady_bug87]

you can maybe try giving her a nice long soak in some warm water that may help, I have heard some keepers use mineral oil in the water but I cannot back this up I've never used it.

good luck though

when my BP is in blue I make sure he has a nice humid hide I usually put dampened spagnum moss in his hot hide and mist him more frequently and he sheds all in one piece

[jaleely]

She's just doing it so weirdly. I've got her in a damp pillowcase now (thanks for that idea, from lasttime, whomever that was!)
She just completed a shed less than two weeks ago, I think. I just thought it was awfully soon...and kind of weird to be flaking. Not just coming off in peices...but actually each scale flaking off.

She has been through a LOT though. Out of all my rescues, she's the only one who's actually had to be really treated differently and taken care of. Everyone else was pretty healthy already. Even Bitey, whom I got at the same time, was more hydrated, active, and shed easier.

I'm just being a worried snake mama! :) I don't want to inadvertently be the cause for ANY of her suffering.