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First shed--help!

Eponine

Eponine

New member
So I've had eponine for about a month now, and yesterday she was super crabby and rattling her tail at me (which she has never done, she is really friendly and good at being handled) and her color was so grey and her eyes were cloudy, so I'm guessing all of this means a shed is coming! My two questions are: I was supposed to feed her yesterday but I didn't because I read that's not good... Should I wait till she's shed? What if she doesn't shed for a week? She's almost 3 months old... I just don't know whether to feed her. Number 2: what should I do to aid the shed! I don't know the humidity (and I don't have a hygrometer and I am literally completely broke) but I live in Calgary which is always really dry. I put a barely damp cloth over her cage... Anything else I should do? Also should I keep the temp the same? I've heard some people raise it a few degrees. So stressed out! Any help would be great.
 
1. calm down, lol shell be fine and so will you! ;)
first of all, good on you for not feeding her, wait until she's done shedding and feed her once she's done and your holding the shed! lol shell be just fine with missing a meal or 2 if need be.
2. just leave the humidity alone for the first shed, that'll tell you if your humidity's to low, or if its just right, both my snakes have perfect sheds and I don't do anything special. at all. lol
and keep your temps the same, I have heard of raising the temps when the snake is sick but never for a shed..

hope this helps! the first shed always sooo exciting!
I miss that feeling, charish it! ;)
 
For the future, GET A HYGROMETER! They are very important :) also, if you can scrape up some extra dough (after getting the hygrometer), buy some sphagnum moss and build a make-shift shed box out of the damp moss and a plastic container (like a magerine cup or something, with a whole in the lid - file down sharp edges). It works really well! That way if you cannot maintain a steady humidity - being in Calgary where it is dry - then at least your corn has a moist escape. You also do not need much moss AT ALL. I would cut off a chunk thinking "oh this'll be good", and then it was WAY too much, it expanded like 5-10x the size I cut. You can buy little squares of it for about $5 at a pet store, and it should last you a looooong time.
 
I live in virginia and it is already getting cold down here lol and our winters are dry. Summer time we run a dehumitifer in our apartment and my little one still shed fine last week. I might put her on like eco earth or coco bedding to help hold some humity you could always try that, I have also heard of using paper towles in a shed box when you know she is going to shed.
 
Living in Arizona, where normal humidity is 15-20%, I've honestly never had a problem with my snakes shedding. I've not had to do anything to modify the humidity at all. The only snake that got a sphagnum moss box was my abbott girl when she laid a bunch of slugs.

Although if you think they really need more, you can also put a larger water dish in the viv, and slighty closer to the warm side. that'll help too, as well as a shedding box, or damp towel over 1/2 the tank top.

Also, what are you using to heat the viv? Heat lamps will dry out the tank more.
 
If low humidity is affecting you (stuff like getting sick a lot, bloody noses, dry skin, sore throat, hard to breathe), it will also have an effect on your snake. If you're surviving in your home, your snake will too.

You don't really need a humidity gauge or a humid hide, and you probably don't need to do anything special. Just be sure the water dish is full and the snake will take care of itself. The vivarium is a small enclosed area, and the water dish raises the humidity well above where it needs to be. Assuming you're not using a heat lamp...

Like Justine said, see how the first shed goes. It'll be fine. You'll check on her in four or five days and she'll be roaming around, and there will be an empty snake suit waiting for you. If you take it out soon enough, or if it got all balled up, it'll still be moist (gag).
 
yeah, I would honestly just wait it our and see, my house sits anywhere from 30-45% humidity, and I used a moist hide before when my corn was young and he ended up getting slight scale rot, cause well he liked the high humidity but his skin did not!

so I don't use them anymore. at all.
if you ask me corns are from the US and Canada's humidity can't be far off from theirs, so why risk hurting my snake when he can shed just fine on his own..

I just want to actually warn against the moist hide, they can be risky, unless you have a gravid female or a snake that needs the higher humidity, ie. ball pythons. then done bothen with it!
 
I offered my corn a moist hide last time she shed and she refused to use it! I filled her snake cave with moss and it went from being her favourite hide to least favourite, she moved straight back in as soon as I removed the moist moss.

So not all corns need or want one. :)
 
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