Shed question

mango · 08-19-03, 12:05 PM

Approximately how long is a shed cycle? When jega got here a week ago today she was all crusty looking like she had dried coffee on her so I've been keeping her humidity up since then, however her eyes aren't milky. The extra humidity can't hurt her can it? She has a humid hide which she uses but I've also been keeping the tank at 70-80% humidity with a wet towel over the mesh top. Help! lol

Big Mike · 08-19-03, 01:03 PM

A shed cycle can be a few days or a few weeks. I find that once I notice the dulling of the skin it will be a week or more before I see the cloudy eyes and then it's a few more days at most.

The crustyness could be from a previous bad shed. In which case the higher humidity is helpfull. Although if she is usung the humid hide, I don't think that keeping the entire enclosure really humid is a good idea. Too much humidity can lead to things like respritory infection and scale rot.

I'd keep the humid hide and try to keep the humidity around 60%. After the next shed you can take out the humid hide and keep the humidity around 50-70%.

mango · 08-19-03, 01:18 PM

ok. i'll look for the cloudy eyes for the next couple of days. and I'll do what you said about the humidity...it shouldn't be hard. The wet towel on top works well

sapphire_moon · 08-19-03, 02:31 PM

do you keep the entire towel wet? Or just the part that is over the mesh part???? I have been thinking about doing the wet towel thing to help Damballah in his next shed....but I don't want a wet towel hanging over the sides and collecting cat hair!

mango · 08-19-03, 08:57 PM

no i fold it so it fits perfectly over the mesh part and to keep it at 60 it covers almost half of it.

sapphire_moon · 08-19-03, 09:20 PM

ahhhhhhhh I see.......I don't like that much weight on the mesh part though.....my cat likes to jump up there and irritate the poor things......

Kappa · 08-21-03, 05:21 AM

Keeping humidity between 50-60 is usually enough as long as they have a dish in which they can fully submerge.

mango · 08-21-03, 07:49 AM

I don't think my cat has noticed the snake yet lol. He's definitely noticed the live mouse we keep for scenting. My girl is picky, she turned her nose up at a rat last night but slid down an adult mouse like it was nothing. lol. She's irritated now that she's fed so I'm hoping for that shed to come on off in a week or so. Her overall tank humidity is staying around 50-60 and she also stays in her humid hide a lot so maybe she's get busy and shed.