• Hello!

    Either you have not registered on this site yet, or you are registered but have not logged in. In either case, you will not be able to use the full functionality of this site until you have registered, and then logged in after your registration has been approved.

    Registration is FREE, so please register so you can participate instead of remaining a lurker....

    Please be certain that the location field is correctly filled out when you register. All registrations that appear to be bogus will be rejected. Which means that if your location field does NOT match the actual location of your registration IP address, then your registration will be rejected.

    Sorry about the strictness of this requirement, but it is necessary to block spammers and scammers at the door as much as possible.

...Shedding continued...

JaLan

JaLan

Nu-2-Snakes
Hi Everyone.

Our first post. Have been lurking a while... We have recently purchased three small corns. Lucy(okeetee) recenly shed full one piece. Buddy(snow) is having trouble. Here in Colorado, the humidity is very low and dropping rapidly for winter. In house humidity is about 25%. Lola(okeetee) is about to shed.

Ok. So I have read all the opinions about shedding and how to help and if you should even try to help. I guess I fall under the 'let them be' group. They are snakes after all, and there are plenty of native corns in CO who shed just fine. If he needs it he will soak in the water dish... Well, Buddy has shed his front third and rear third. The middle of his body is still stringy and wrinkly. He is eating fine other than one week during his front shed. He ate a big pinkie today so I am hoping he really stretches...It has been about a month since he shed his front. One thing I have not heard anyone mention is ... so what if he doesnt shed ALL of his old skin....???? Why is this a problem???

Thanks for any thoughts.

JL
 
There lots of topic on this subject. Even still active topics.

*All* the skin must shed. Though most importantly the eye caps and the tip of the tail. But all must come off. Try soaking your snake in water that feels slightly cold to you. Then get a damp towel and let your snake crawl through it. Apply a bit of pressure and the rest of the skin should come off.

Next shed try to make the viv more humid. You can either place another water bowl on the warm side of the viv, or provide a humidity box. Try a forum search on tips on how to make one.
 
Welcome!

You can also place him in a small container filled with damp shredded newspaper (and air holes) in his cage overnight. His unshed skin should come right off.

I wouldn't compare his cage conditions to the natural one's of Colorado though. Everything about a cage is artificial- the cage material itself, substrate, heat, airflow etc. Wooden cages and wood chips, like fir bark, will dry out the environment quite a bit too. That said, given the exact same conditions, some snakes are just better at shedding, while others tend to have problems. When they do, you just have address their individual needs.


Good luck!
 
JaLan said:
so what if he doesnt shed ALL of his old skin....???? Why is this a problem???

Thanks for any thoughts.

JL
Click to expand...
No one answered this.... come on guys, are we this hopeless without CAV?
Skin that has not been shed creates pockets where bacterial and fungal growth are possible (kind of like runner's foot on your body). I don't think it will happen all the time, but patches of stuck skin can end up destroying the flesh that is covered and lead to health problems/death. You definitely MUST make sure ALL of the skin comes off because a large enough patch of stuck skin can kill your snake.

edit:
Also, don't compare wild snakes to yours. it was already mentioned earlier, but I would like to add that you would probably be devastated if your collection suffered the same mortality rate as wild snakes. That is my main reason for dissmissing anyone who says that they do it because it's "more like nature."
 
The other thing that Unshed skin can do is cause the skin under the unshed to dry out. This can then cause the snake to become dehyrated and fall ill. I lost a hatchling to this about 3 years ago. If your snake is having problems shedding, you either need to 1) give the snake a humid hide (a bowl with a whole cut into it and wet paper towel or spaughnum moss in it) 2) Wet paper towels and hold the snake in the towels, as the snake moves through the towels the skin should come off.

A good way to keep moisture in the viv is to cover part of it with plastic wrap, cardboard, or body towels. This will slow down the evaporation rate in the tank and allow more humidity to accumulate. Mist the viv every couple of days and have some kind of heat source to help with the start of evaporation.
 
Everyone has made some good points! Additionally if the skin in the middle remains it could create a ring (stricture), one of my snake shed in this fashion and did require assisstance to remove the middle section- I found that skin not all that stretchy. Although not the case with you, if the shed isn't complete and skin remains on the tail the snake could lose the tip of the tail- as you can see by the various replies it's important that a snake shed completely! Good Luck!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top