Boa shedding query

[angelic]

Hello Newbie here!!

I'm taking on a Boa Constrictor Imperator, she's about 5 ft at the moment, and not very well. She's up for adoption because she was rescued from some idiot who didn't know what he was doing at all. She's in a terrible state, and I really don't know how its happened, which is what I'm hoping someone can help with.

She's got about 5 layers of unshed skin, which is really really dry and almost hanging off her. Her eyecaps obviously haven't shed for a long time, they are practically black, poor thing. I'm not taking her on until she's shed the skin, but I would really like to know how this could have happened in the first place, has anyone come across this kind of thing before?

Is she likely to have any recurrent health problems because of this?

Thanks

Angelic

[unknownclown]

the only thing I can think of is bad humidity...

[tightsqueeze]

mostlikley NO humidity and very very poor husbandry soak it in a warm pail of water for about 30 minutes and see if the sheds loosen up and try CARFULLY to take some off a little bit at a time ....

jay

[nicola_boulton]

that really sad 2 see an butiful animal 2 be treated with no resect. yo ucan get a specail sray that will help it 2 shed, i use it on my herps. Hope this helps

[LdyDrgn]

Recurring health problems.... only if all the shed isn't removed. Say for instance the eyecaps never shed. This would cause a nasty eye infection. If the skin never shed around some point of her body, it would cut off circulation. many boas will lose their tail tips because owners do not check the shed skin or the snake after shedding.

I would say get her NOW and work with her to remove the stuck shed. Get a rubber tub with lid, poke some holes in it around the top and place it on a heat pad set to low. Pour in tepid water (about inch, just enough to cover her) with some vitamin E oil, or some other natural oil (olive, grapeseed, coconut, wheat germ or jojoba). Whatever you can get your hands on. Do NOT use a manufactured oil like mineral oil. It has a tendency to be dehydrating, not moisturizing. Let her soak for an hour every night until the shed comes off. You can grab a washcloth and gently rub it down her body while she is in the tub. Do this after her hour is up. Keep in mind her next few sheds are probably going to be horrendous. As soon as she goes blue, mist her well. When she comes out of blue, let her soak every night until she sheds. Once her body is in a healthier state, she will begin to shed in one piece.

I had to deal with a rescue that had stuck shed, too, but only about 2 layers worth, not 5. I rubbed her down with some olive oil and then let her stay in her cage overnight. The next night it was much easier to help her get the rest of the skin off.

Good luck with her.

[djnzlab]

Hi,
Bless you for taking this on,
now the really bad news is this boa could have lots of problems
I would treat his or her cage for mites at least for a couple months.
The reason the boa has had bad shed's was proabably the cage was to dry. Lights on screens tend to do this
the bad sheds can cause problems and the eyes caps can be tricky to remove.
here's a care sheet on a forum in the states you can download to your pc. To get all the basic info you need.
the previous owner proabably fed live which can cause a parasite load in the boa so a stool to a good reptile vet to be sure you don't have a snake full of worms..
best wishes I rescued a couple snakes had to give it up.
its expensive and any time you bring a snake in your home you know little about it could wipe out your collection due to IBD, this can be spread by mites thats why I would as a precaution treat the new snakes cage for a couple months.
wash you hands between cages work on the new snakes cage last that helps reduce the risk of spreading diseases..
http://www.redtailboas.com/general_c...eral_care.html
good luck
doug
I noticed by your picture gif some type of corn snake, the boa's are tropical rain forest animals that require warmer temps and min 60 % amount of humidty to prevent dehydation and help with shed.
do some reading about boa cage requirements ,,glass tanks are the most common boa cage but are proably the worst for temp stability and humidty.

[angelic]

Thanks for the quick replies, don't worry, I've got another Imperator and a Brazilian Rainbow who are both in perfect health, I know what the correct conditions are for Boas.

That was the reason I was so taken aback by this one's condition, I just don't understand how anyone could be so utterly clueless as to let the animal get into that state. I mean the condition she's in, this is not something that has happened over night!

I'm going to ring the shop that are looking after her in a few days to see what her condition is. The guy who's looking after her is very experienced, so she's in good hands. I'm just concerned about continued health probelms, thanks for the heads up on the potential mites problem, I am going to quarantine her in a separate room anyway, better to be safe than sorry!

Thanks for the advice on helping her shed, I've never had any real problems with shedding (I've got the 2 boas, a Macklotts Python and 2 corns) - its just never been an issue. If she hasn't shed properly by the time I take her on, I'll try her with some vitamin E oil, (very good advice, thanks). At the moment I have the feeling that anything even touching her skin would irritate too much though. Difficult.

But, bless her, even in the terrible state she's in, her personality seemed lovely, really friendly.

Thanks

Angelic

[angelic]

BTW Thats a really good caresheet, thanks

[iguanaman001]

I don't know a lot about boas and their shedding but I have experience with smaller snakes. The suggestion to rub her down with olive oil is a good sugestion as is the suggestion to soak her in warm water for half an hour or so. I found that using a bit of antiseptictic rub is also good to absorb the pain that would be associated with removal of the old skin.
I am curious as to how you can tell that there are five layers of old skin. Any suggestions? It is not like you could visibly peel back five layers of skin.
I think anyone who does this kind of thing to an animal should experience................................... (I won't go into detail how I would deal with the previous owner for fear it could get me overly excited and anxious.)

[angelic]

There are a couple of small patches where the top couple of layers have started to shed, about the size of a penny. You can tell there are about 5 layers of unshed skin because these patches are 2 layers deep, and the skin underneath is exactly the same, you can feel several layers 'crunching' - the snake is in a really bad way...The guy that's looking after her said he would rub her down in these areas, but he's too worried about the state of her skin underneath, it may be too delicate to cope, so he wants to try to get her to shed it naturally.

I agree totally about what should be done slowly and painfully to the previous 'owner'. I put that in apostrophes because I don't think that you really qualify as an owner if you let you animals get into that state.

Angelic

[LdyDrgn]

None of us own these animals. We are merely keepers. How well some keep them.... well, you have seen for yourself as have I. Some may argue "hey I paid for that snake, I own it!" No... you have paid for the priveledge of keeping it.