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Can someone please give me advice?

angeladams

angeladams

AngelAdams
Hi there guys....
My 5 month old hatchling has a problem with her shedding. She has managed to get part of her head skin off including brilles, and then from half her head down, the rest of the shed is still there.
I have put her in an ice cream container with damp kitchen paper, but this hasn't helped so far.
Should i give her a bath? If so, is it a luke warm or cool one? This is the first time she has had a problem with shedding. She is not looking or acting very happy now.
Your advice is greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance. :)
 
Hi, I would give her a bath just slightly the warm side of cold and then if you grasp her fairly firmly with a piece of dampish kitchen paper and put on slight pressure as you stroke downward it should peel, it takes courage more than skill as I was terrified of hurting my baby when it happened to me, I will send you a PM with my phone number so I can talk you through it if you need some reassurance but good luck it will be OK
 
Thanks Cindy. I am plucking up the courage right now to do it!!! Yes, i'm afraid of hurting her, but i will give it a go now......
 
You will now need to review your husbandry conditions and see what can be adjusted before the next shed in order to prevent a reoccurrence. Just out of curiosity, are you using a heat lamp?
 
Hi Cav. The weird thing is that husbandry conditions had not changed at all, since the last shed. She is still in a small hatchling container, 2ftx1.5ftx1.5ft. I am moving her into her new viv on Friday which will be 5ftx2ftx2ft. (with plenty of hides for her). She hasn't got a heat lamp at the mo. just a heat pad underneath, but will have one in her new viv setup, (with associated under tank heat pad)......
Does this sound o.k. to you?? :shrugs:
 
Hey when you are stroking down, and the shed is coming off, but making tiny little velcro like sounds, is that an indication that you need to moisten the corn more. The first time my snake had a problem shedding i had to assist and this occured my first two strokes, so i went and washed my hands and left them soaking then picked him up again and tried again. That time the shed became so saturdated it just slid off without a sound or a problem. Did that sound mean i was damaging the scales underneath?
 
I had that sound for a sec, when first attempting to do it. (And that was after bathing her). I then soaked her in water for a few minutes more, and it started to come off easy. I dont think that sound indicates damage to the scales...... More an idication of how dry they are....?????
I'm sure someone will correct me if i am wrong. :)
 
What type of substrate are you using? Has your home's heater started for this year? How big is your water dish? Something is dropping your humidity levels to extremely low levels. Lamps tend to dry the air much more than under tank systems.
 
Glad to hear that you got the skin off. I have first hand experience in this problem, and I lost a 6 month old becuase of it. If the shed (dead skin) stays on the snake for too long, it will suck the moisture out of the snake and cause it to get something simular to the flu. This causes the snake to get really dehidrated and week.
 
As cav said .. what is the substrate ? My thoughts exactly, that could be cause of drying conditions..
 
I am so sorry PCAR to hear of your loss due to shedding problems and i am so relieved that it is off now.
Cav, in answer to your questions, we have gas central heating in every room in the house apart from the lounge. The lounge has a gas fire, which we have not yet used. So would the drop in temp make a difference for her??
Her water dish is big enough for her to bath in. And the substrate is Aspen.
Nothing has changed in her environment since the last shed apart from the drop in temperature in the room by 5-10 degrees.
What do you think gave her a problem this time? :shrugs:
 
Do you have a humidity gauge in the viv for measurements?

My only thoughts would be conditions being to dry durning her shed period.. dunno
 
a drop in temp would cause a drop in humidity. Humidity is caused by moisture being heated up in the air. When the temp drops, the moisture is still there, but no longer being heated. This could cause drying problems.
 
The reason I asked about the heater is that colder weather is naturally drier to begin with, but indoor heating exacerbates the dryness of the air. Everything sounds appropriate. Do you happen to know what the average relative humidity is for your town?
 
i have just looked up the weather report and the humidity for our town varies from 60 right up to 90 in one 24 hour period. The humidity seems to go sky high through the early hours of a day, then levels out between 60 and 70 during other times.
 
Hi Rachel, where did you find that information about your towns humidity, Mayzee is due to shed in the next 3-4 days I am wondering if her (usually 1 piece)shed maybe odd because of the really wet spell we have in mid to late August (she last shed 8th August) I will let you know.
 
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