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new bullsnake with retained shed - can you help?
Hi everyone,
I'm new to this forum and am hoping to get some advice on dealing with my newest snake, an approximately 2-year-old bullsnake.
So I know it's not a good idea to get snakes from craigslist, but I'm glad I adopted this guy. He has only been with me a few days, wolfed down a mouse already and seems to be healthy as far as I've seen except for some retained shed. I live in the high desert in Albuquerque, NM, so it's very dry here. The previous owner had him in a (dirty) glass 20 gallon with a screen top, so it's not surprising he would have had trouble shedding. He's now in a big sterilite tub, humidity inside it approximately 50% because my snake room is humidified to an extent. His last shed, according to the previous owner, was last week. The first half of him is fine but he has patches on his tail and on his back on his second half. It's very dry skin - not like a thin papery layer. Sorry for all the detail!
So I made a humid hide with damp coco fiber bedding. He was very into that and going in and out of it. But I was worried it was probably too late for that to deal with the retained shed, so I held him in a couple inches of lukewarm water in the tub for 15 minutes, which he hated, and got some of it off, then put him in a wet pillowcase but was worried he'd suffocate, so I just opened the top of the pillowcase, and he hung out halfway in it (on the warm side of the enclosure) all night of his own accord. Still a significant amount of the retained shed left. I removed the pillowcase - there's still quite a bit of humidity in the tank (more than the normal 50%). What do you guys suggest:
Another warm bath / baths daily until it goes away?
Vet?
Shedding aid from pet store (most people seem to think it's bogus?)?
I'll be super grateful for any and all feedback and suggestions! Thank you!
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