Incomplete shed

Surge · 11-27-04, 11:53 AM

One of my balls failed to shed completely, just the head piece (and thankfully the eye caps) came off. I realise this is because of my poor husbandry, i obviously didn't get the humidity high enough

I have bathed the snake twice now and most has come of without intervention from me minus the bathing itself. But one piece around the neck of the snake has remained, and the snake was due feeding 2 days ago. I realise i cannot feed with this piece still around the neck, but im wondering what else i can do besides soaking the snake, the baths have already stressed the snake out enough, and after this i just hope she will feed and the whole ordeal will not have stressed her too much. Any suggestions are appreciated.

Thanks

BoidKeeper · 11-27-04, 12:21 PM

This trick never fails. Get a plastic container, like a rubbermaid and put a few air holes in it. Take a thick bath dowl and wet it with warm water. Not too warm. Wring it out and line the insided of the container with the towel. Put the snake in the middle and wrape the snake up in the towel. Put the lid on and put the whole thing back into the snakes cage. Leave it over night. The next morning you'll find a clean snake and a dirty towel. This is a lot less stressfull then have the snake swim in water or be picked at. It's dark, tight and warm all the thing a ball loves. The snake can slither through the towel and while doing so the skin will come off.
Let me know who it works out,
Trevor

Clownfishie · 11-27-04, 12:25 PM

Surge,

Give the snake another soak for a few minutes... while she's soaking, find yourself a terrycloth towel (you want something with some texture to it, not just a dish towel) and then dampen it with some warm water (not hot). It doesn't have to be sopping wet, but definitely damp. Once she's soaked enough to loosen the skin a bit, take her out and let her run through the towel in your hands a few times -- the skin should come off no problem. I've yet to have this method fail on me with stubborn sheds.

When there's more than a piece or two of shed left on the snake, I use the method that Trevor mentioned above -- works like a charm every time

Hope that helps

Jen

mykee · 11-28-04, 01:38 PM

If any of my balls have bad sheds, I just use a moisturizing lotion or mineral oil, and rub it all over, and use my picky little fingers and pick it all off myself. Not the most scientific method I know, but it's never failed.

BoidKeeper · 11-28-04, 02:13 PM

Probably the most invasive way I've heard of so far.lol
You rub down your snakes with creams and oils then you pick at them. mykee just because something never fails doesn't mean it's the best way to get the job done. My Tracker gets me to work every time but I'd rather drive there in a hybrid.
Cheers,
Trevor

mykee · 11-28-04, 03:30 PM

Trevor, it takes me less than 2 minutes to get the job done, as opposed to hours with other methods. Who's the invasive one?

marisa · 11-28-04, 05:05 PM

I just grab a warmish wet washcloth and let the snake run through my hands over and over again. Usually works in a couple of minutes, if it doesn't I stop and do it again the next day.

Marisa

BoidKeeper · 11-28-04, 06:08 PM

Snake crawls through a damp cloth on its own. No handling, no touching, no swiming, nothing unatural against it's skin. How less invasive can you get?
Trevor

marisa · 11-28-04, 06:16 PM

My snakes never seem to run through the wet cloth "hard" enough to work unless I leave them in the tub with the cloth for quite some time.

Holding the cloth and running them through it seems to work in a couple minutes for me and it doesn't seem any more invasive than when I pick them up to clean cages. That's what I do anyways.

Marisa

Surge · 11-28-04, 06:25 PM

Thanks for all your replies,
I left her in with some damp towels for 4 hours, checked and quite a large chunk had gone, had a bit of a pick and left her for another hour and picked again. So now all is gone from the belly and there is just a tiny bit 4 or 5 cm long near the back of her head, im sure ive stressed her enough with the whole ordeal, so i figured atleast eating will be possible now, and i can get that last piece of skin off in a couple of days when things have settled down.

Was really caught by surprise that she hadnt shed properly, im certain i raised the humidity, and shes shed successfuly multiple times before.
I just hope now i havent stressed her too much and that she will continue to be a great feeder, the only one ive yet had to refuse on me!

Many thanks!

marisa · 11-28-04, 06:30 PM

Sometimes bad sheds just happen. A couple weeks ago I went to feed two baby balls I have....one I started dangle a rat for, she grabbed it and started eating.

I realized while I watched her that she had JUST started shedding when I offered the rat, and instead of finishing took the food!

I had to help her out of the shed later as she seemed to forget all about it.

Marisa

mykee · 11-28-04, 08:53 PM

I'm with Marisa on this one. When I speak of invasive, I'm talking about putting your ball in an environment, adding something to their environment, or moving them to an environment that is foreign, causing stress. How is it NOT stressful for a BP to be put in a tub for a few hours in a towel to remove a shed?! Common sense would tell me that running a BP through your hands moistened with a "shed-eeze" or reptile moisturizing lotion for 3 minutes to remove a shed if FAR less stressful. 3 minutes of stress (if that, I hold my BP's all the time) VS. a different environment in a damp towel (that by the way will be much cooler to the touch 7.3 seconds after you wring it out). Just becuase "everybody recommends this method" isn't a reason to jump on the bandwagon. Most of us have the knowledge and experience to know that there' more than one way to skin a cat (47 actaully).

hhw · 11-28-04, 09:04 PM

My method is living somewhere humid :P

BoidKeeper · 11-28-04, 09:13 PM

Quote:

(47 actaully).

You're too much. Knowing that you have that kind of knowledge, I'll make this my last argument for which method I believe to be the less invasive.
I think my method like a moist hide box is all. It's dark, warm and damp. Aren't those the things that balls look for in a hide?
I think it also has to do with you views on handling. Unlike you I don't touch my breeder balls. Jack is my only pet ball.
Cheers,
Trevor

hhw · 11-28-04, 09:39 PM

Looks like Mykee is arguing quick pain over slow pain, whereas Trevor is arguing no pain over pain. In each of your own arguments, the answer is obvious, but the problem here is you're not arguing the same thing. Both seem to work just fine, and unless one of you feel like chopping the heads off of 100 ball pythons or so and slicing up the brains to analyze the chemical indicators of stress, it's probably not worth proving out which method is better :P