Dryness of Aspen and getting fat?

It's been hot and humid around here the past few weeks (I'm dying!) with my vivarium's hygrometer reading no lower than 60% at any time (Usually around 80% - it's been crazy). I don't know if I can trust that, however, because Cerberus has been having trouble shedding. And he's shedding fast. He's shed twice in as many weeks (I've had him around a month now, I dunno how old he was when I got him, but he was only little, so a few weeks, I guess). However, he's having trouble getting shed off the top of his head and his previous shed went so badly he got almost none of it off on his own.

I can't see anything on his eyes, but I don't really know what to look for. The reptile guy at the pet store said that aspen was a really dry substrate and recommended something called Eco Earth to me. You put it in water for 30 min and it expands, soaking it up. Afterwards, you wring it out and use it as substrate. I'm prepping it now in the hopes that it helps - any other advice you guys can give?

Also, I haven't weighed him at all, but I think he's getting fat - his tail is slimmer than the rest of him (He narrows considerably a couple inches up from the tip of his tail). I've been feeding him every five days - should I dial it back?

If it's already 60%+ humidity, why would you worry about the dryness of aspen? Using a moist substrate is going to invite scale rot if your humidity is already high. Don't listen to the pet store guy. I keep 60+ snakes on aspen, and they're all fine. It's the preferred substrate of most people here.

If he's having trouble shedding, you should provide him with a humid hide. You can fill that with moist Eco-Earth, or moist paper towels. If he has shed left on him, you should leave him in a small, ventilated container filled with moist paper towels overnight (in a warm place, ~85*).

There's no way a hatchling only a few months old is getting fat. All snakes (especially female corns) narrow considerably from vent to tail tip. Go look at a bunch of corn photos. A five-day schedule is fine while he's on pinks. When he graduates to fuzzies, you can back off to six-days. Good luck.

All right, thanks Roy - I knew they narrowed some, but it didn't used to be like this. Perhaps Cerberus is female (I've never really cared enough to find out - just been saying 'him' and 'he' for some reason).

I'll keep the aspen and try putting the eco earth in the hide. It's usually much dryer around here - this is an unusual stretch of weather we're having. I'm just worried about his sheds because none have gone well. :/

I had a baby that always had bad sheds until she grew up a bit. Has since shed perfectly fine every time, with no real change in environment. Just do what you can now, and hopefully s/he'll grow out of it.