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Bad/Incomplete Shed: What To Do

Bisbal069 said:
I see you took your snake outside. Is that a safe thing to do? Can the snake pick up mites and possibly parasites?
Click to expand...

It is perfectly safe as long as no insecticides were sprayed in the area. Some people will give their snakes a "bath" after going outside, I personally do not and I have not had an issue.
 
Hi Nanci, I haven't been on the site for awhile, but revisited because my 8 year old snake has had two bad sheds in a row. To make it worse, she was wheezing after her bad shed. I was ready to take her to the vet for a respiratory infection. Upon revisiting the forum I noticed others have had that problem. Well today after I tried some of the treatments mentioned here, a big piece of skin sloughed off her snout. Poor gal was breathing into a pocket of old skin. I don't breed her, but she double clutched this year, and I moved, so she has had a busy last couple of months. Thanks to you and this site for all the information. She looks so pretty in her new skin. Now I have to figure out why the bad sheds.
 
She probably just needs a little more humidity. You can provide a moist hide for her when she is blue, or, if she is in a glass viv you can put a piece of plastic wrap loosely over the top of the viv, and then mist lightly every couple days while she is in blue. If she is in a rack you can just mist every two or three days. I would also provide a large water bowl to increase humidity.
 
Thanks for your response. I do have a question because she has been in a moist hide. She recently laid her second clutch of eggs. I had a feeling she was, so I put in her lay hide with moss and made sure the moss was moist. After she lay her eggs, I kept the hide in there with the moss to faciliate her shed. Her viv was in a room where there is an open A/C vent (but not drastically cold). I did move her back to a a room where I have the A/C vent closed. Could it have been the ambient temperature of the room? Or could it be an underlying problem? She has never had a bad shed except we recently moved. I didn't have A/C before, now I do. Good for the family, but maybe not her. Otherwise all temps on both sides of Viv have been good.
 
So my hatchling Nixie has been out of blue for 5 days now. No shed, I've scoured the tank pretty completely everyday for the past 3 days. I've also been following Nanci's advice with the tub/washcloth/lukewarm water routine for 30 min a day for the past 3 days. parts of her look flaky like one of Nanci's pictures. The only time she rubs on things is when she's in the tub, in her tank she just stays in her hide all the time. Should I just keep going with this routine? Or is there something else I can do?
 
my last one that shed took 6 days after I noted that he was blue. I guess some take longer than others. i did the soak thing and he shed that same night.
 
Oh dear I should have look for this befor asking about my male shedding issues he is okay now but I feel stupid now. :(
 
well I wake up this morning to find a shed in his viv! it had eyecaps but no tail :( so I gave him a 20min "bath" like Nanci's first post said to do, ran him through a wet washcloth and no dice. gave him another 10min in the bath and after running through my hands for another 5min the tail managed to start sloughing off. so I believe I got all the old skin. Thanks for this guide Nanci! He looks so brilliant now!
 
Ya know with winter being the humidity is so bad no matter what I do to keep the humidity in it never stays. So Forcedexile I did what you when my first cornsnake had his shed back in November and it work really well. He did not like it but at lease the shed came off. :)
 
yeah he's been trying to find humid places all day too...curling up next the wet towel i have on top of his viv, soaking in his waterbowl. so i put a humid hide in place of the log I had in there. maybe that'll help him get anything i couldn't see with my naked eye. from what i see on the old skin, he got everything off up to his vent before he started having trouble. so i made sure anything past the vent came off when i gave him the bath. he looks fine now but like i said he's seeking out humid areas of the tank too.

I'm just glad I was able to tell when he went blue. 2 days ago I noticed his eyes had a cloudy blueish tint to them and i was about to post something about it on here but then he shed :D
 
I just did this today with my ball python... except the jerk just sat in one spot for 20 minutes! So I just rubbed the skin off in the direction it naturally would have, now he's all shiny and clean!
 
My corn snake he still has not shed yet and his eyes are back to normal his eyes have been back to normal for 3 days now. I'm wondering when he will shed? this will be his second shed with me.
 
Holly, sometimes mine will sit under their logs for 3-4 days after their eyes clear up, I usually will get them out when they start looking really funny and then put them away again ASAP. I think just getting them moving is motivation haha, I almost always get a shed from them as soon as they are put away.
 
well I had another incomplete shed only 21 days after his last shed. did another 20 min bath and the remaining skin came off by itself this time instead of me having to try rubbing it off gently. and he pooped right after he got the stuck skin off! lol. i'm a little concerned that I had to handle him today, feeding day, but we'll see if he still takes his pinkie anyway.

on a side note, after this shed I was looking at him and it looks as though he's getting a salmon tint to his entire body. so maybe he's a salmon snow? obviously pics would be needed to show you guys. i'll see if i can get some.
 
Snows vary the range of possible "tints"; greenish, or pinkish, or yellowish. Go to http://www.jmgreptile.com/cimages/SalmonSnow003.jpg or http://www.cornsnake.net/photo-gallery/category/91-snow-salmon.html These kind of set the standard for what a "salmon snow" should look like.

Not sure what you are keeping your corn snake in (it IS a lot of pages to read ;) ) but if it's in a screened top aquarium style cage you can cover 2/3rds of the top to help hold in humidity, as they let all the humidity escape thru the top. Especially this time of year :)
 
I would try putting plastic wrap loosely over the entire screen lid when you notice the snake is blue, and mist once every day or two, lightly.
 
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