Bad result of a partial shed, help please!

[tbtusk]

I just came back from vacation yesturday. All my snakes had been left alone for that time, and 6 of the 9 shed. Everything was fine for all but one guy. My normal flare shed, and it didn't turn out too well. He must have started the shed a while before I got back, and he couldn't get it all off like the rest of the snakes. I'm not sure exactly what caused this damage, but whatever it was, I still need to know what to do to help him. I soaked him yesturday and got most of the remaining skin off, but here's what's left:

http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p39/tbtusk/IMG_0093.jpg
http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p39/tbtusk/IMG_0095.jpg
http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p39/tbtusk/IMG_0091.jpg
http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p39/tbtusk/IMG_0087.jpg


I'm getting pretty worried about this, just because it really doesn't look that good, and I know that the remaining skin will be encouraging to bacteria growth. As you can see, some scales have been pulled off, and that patch f skin really doesn't look too healthy.

Should I head to a vet? What could they do to help? Me and my mom were thinking about using some sort of antibacterial cream. Has anyone done this? Is there anything in particular we should use? I've also heard from my mouse supplier that there is some sort of liquid antibacterial agent you can put in the water when soaking a snake to get the shed off. Does anyone know what this is? I'm just wondering what my next course of action should be. I will soak him again soon to see if I can get some more of the remaining skin off, but I doubt much will come.

From now on, moist hides for everyone when I go on vacation!!
Thanks in advance to everyone!

[Nanci]

I'd do this to remove the remaining shed: http://tinyurl.com/29hqmz

Then I'd dab triple antibiotic on the pryed up scale. I _might_ even consider snipping it off with a fingernail scissors if the connection is small and dried out, but you don't want him bleeding all over, but you don't want it catching on things, either.

[tbtusk]

Okay, I will add the wash cloth to the container this time, and see what we get! Thanks, and hes going in right now.

[JoannaD]

At this point I think using antibiotic ointment on the "open" areas is a good idea. I am wondering if you should even try to get the rest of the shed off but maybe just keep it moist with an antibiotic ointment like bacitracin or triple antibiotic ointment available at the pharmacy. It should come off with the next shed.

I had a girl that lost a scale with a shed that did not seem to be bad. The area around the lost scale looked like what you are showing but it was only a very tiny area. I used bacitracin and she did fine.

Good luck with him.

[wade]

Turner,
If you have read the link that Nancy gave you, you know all you need to know. This is not the end of the world and there will be no permanent damage. All snakes go through this on occasion. Give him a soak and it will be fine.

Since it does not involve the eyes, I think you could do more damage by working it too much. If it doesn't come off easily, leave it for the next shed.

[Nanci]

At this point I think using antibiotic ointment on the "open" areas is a good idea. I am wondering if you should even try to get the rest of the shed off .

But you don't want bacteria growing under it- and that's a big snake, who knows how long he'll go till he sheds again...

[JoannaD]

But you don't want bacteria growing under it- and that's a big snake, who knows how long he'll go till he sheds again...

I understand what you are saying but I would hate to have more scales pulled off. I think if antibiotic ointment is used the snake will be fine. He might also shed more quickly because there is a problem.

[Nanci]

But just soaking and seeing if it will rub off by crawling through a washcloth shouldn't pull scales off.

[tbtusk]

Well I soaked him again, and very little more came off. There's not much skin left, but thats not really what I'm worried about. Quite a few scales have come off. More than the 2 or 3 you can see. I'd guess, that across his whole body hes lost maybe 8. What I'm worried about is the state of the scales around the remaining shed, that I have posted pictures of. Some of the ones near the problem area look almost shrivled, and not very healthy. I might take a picture in better light of that area, just to see if I can give you guys a better veiw.

I wouldn't have posted if I thought this was just a bad shed (not that its too much more). I can fix that. This just seems like a little more than that to me, but maybe that's just because I haven't had a snake with a bad shed before.:shrugs:

The open areas of skin are healing up nicely, and i'm keeping a close eye on him. I think I will use a small amount of bacitracin or triple antibiotic cream on the areas with lost scales, and the bad area around the remaining shed. Besides that, I guess I'll just give him another soak and see if the last of the shed will come off.

Thanks to everyone.

[tbtusk]

Well he just had his post-brum shed, and all seems well. The scabs have come off, for the most part, with the shed. The shed was partial again, which worries me a little, considering he had a moist hide in there for the last two weeks, but I immediately took him out and ran him through a wet wash cloth. The skin came off normally. I'll be watching the raw areas, but I think this is a good sign, at least I hope so!

[Nanci]

Good news! I've got one snake that it's really hard to get a perfect shed on. For a couple times, he would go in his moist hide, but now he doesn't want to. So his shed comes off in shreds, despite me misting him, but he always gets the whole thing off...Still, it's good to know if you have one like that, so you can check.

[tbtusk]

that's interesting. I've had this guy for a year now, and he had good sheds all the way up till now, but who knows. Good to know that happens.