Shed question

[Gollum]

Well, I left fort a week ( fed him juste before leaving ) came back and he the cage is full of little peaces of skin .... he didnt get rid of the skin on his head and neck yet , is that normal ? shouldnt he shed juste one nice peaces of skin ... by the way hes about 5months old.

[snakehunter]

no it is not normal, you need to get that off asap. heres what to do:

get a towel, human size, soak it in warm water and ring it out, so it is really damp.

fold the towel so it fits into a rubber maid, place in rubbermaid

put your snake in one of the folds of the towel, close lid, and leave over night.

in the morning you should have a clean snake

good luck

[Vengeance]

Might want to also consider checking what the hummidity in his cage is so you won't have to worry about having this problem again.

[sapphire_moon]

Or, put water in a rubber maid and let him swim around for about 5-10 minutes. Then take him out and put him in a towel and hold the towel around him firmly (not hurting him) and let him pull himself out.
You might want to try the rubbermaid/towel thing but it tramatized (sp?) my snakes when I put them in a rubbermaid for a shed like that, they went off feed for almost 2 months.

Don't that let you get put off by the rubbermaid/towel thing though. I't worked GREAT when I did it. And they even left me a little "gift" in there as well............also most bp's skin don't come off in one piece because their head and "neck" are smaller than the rest of their body, so it rips when it goes over the biggest part of their body......

Goodluck and get that skin off of him asap!

[mykee]

It's very normal if your humidity level isn't high enough in the enclosure, 60-70% is optimal for a shed with water to soak in.

[Gollum]

Thanxs a lot , well it hasnt been long since i have him .... as far as humidity goes i have 2 small aerations ( about 5cm diamater that is 2inches i think ) and sliding doors ... i figured it'd keep some humidity . Would putting the water bowl on the hot part be enough or do you have other suggestions for humidifying ?
Why is it so important to get of real quick ?
Thx I'll do that tonight .

[bailey]

I've never had a bad shed but I would think that the longer the old shed is on your snake the harder it will become to get it off. I have a regular 20gal tank for my girl and I use orchid bark as substrate. It holds humidity really well and I only have to mist her when she goes into shed. Also you can make mulch bowls (which my snake uses as a litter box). You take a dark rubbermaid or gladware bowl with lid and make a hole. Put cypress or orchid bark in there and keep it moist. That also will help keep your humidity up. I don't know if these ideas will apply to your setup but I hope I've helped a little.
Denise

[MouseKilla]

The humidity level is the key to a good shed, someone already mentioned it should be at least 60% (I aim for 80% starting on the day I notice they've gone blue). For some people the climate in their area may be such that just putting a large water bowl near the hotspot but most people will have to do more to keep it up. The enclosure is also another huge variable, some are much harder than others to keep humid, aquariums are notoriously difficult. The best bet is not to guess or even emulate others necessarily but to get a hygrometer and know the humidity level you're dealing with, then do whatever you need to in order to keep that level high enough.

In the mean time getting the retained shed off is important because it can cause problems, particularily on the eyes and tail tip.

[Gollum]

thx mousekilla i'll get one , i'v been saying this for a while..
well its pretty humid around here usually so i shouldnt have too many problems. Btw my enclosure is melamine.

[Gollum]

Oh by the way i have another question. Here it goes :
Could someone tell me the size and mouse/rat i should feed for different size ball. I know you should see i nice bump after he swallowed but if i order some f/t i need to know before hand.