Multiple sheds in a few weeks time

[NomadicLass]

We seem to have a shedding issue with our little amel, Lisa, and are hoping for some guidance. We got her about 6 weeks ago, and she came to us after an incomplete shed. We soaked that shed off her, and she looked great.

About 10 days ago we pulled Lisa from her viv and noticed she was shedding again - just her head had shed so we put her back in the viv to complete her shedding. Fast forward two days and only a tiny bit more of her skin had shed. We soaked her and successfully rubbed off the shed.

Yesterday we noticed that we are now repeating the cycle from 10 days ago, as she is shedding yet again. She has shed her head and about one inch down her body. Should we give her more time to get this shed off herself? At what point should we help it along? Does anyone know what has caused her to shed twice in 10 days? Is it something to be concerned about? :shrugs:

BTW...the humidity in her viv is just over 50%, I have a moist towel over part of the viv to keep the humidity up, and we created moist hides during these periods (she refused to use them both times)

Thanks for any insight and help you can give!

[Jcapicy]

try increasing the humidity to around 65/70% and keep providing the shed box for her(might be worth warming the moist towel to around 80 degrees as well and replacing/cleaning it once a day to prevent bacterial growth.

also, she could have had an injury or something irritating her skin that is being repaired.

[NomadicLass]

Thanks, Jcapicy. The humidity in her viv jumped up to about 80% during the night (I had replaced the (then) dry towel on top of the viv with a moist one), and I'm letting it get down to 65-70%. Right now her moist hide consists of sphagnum moss. I'll go and replace the moss with fresh - I've also tried damp paper towels, but she doesn't seem to care for those either.

I've always been under the impression that snakes tend to shed quite quickly once they start - is it normal for some to take seveal days? At what point should we help it along (soaking)? I'm a bit concerned that we rushed to help her during the last one, thus prompting this shed.

As far as injuries/irritations...her skin and scales have looked really nice. The very tip of her tail is missing, but that is healed. I don't think that would have prompted this last shed.

[TWGarland]

Hi, i'll try and help

A shed cycle takes several days all in all. First theres a dulling of the colours, then the blue stage, then everything clears up, then it sheds. The older the corn, the longer the shed cycle takes to complete. My adult corn can take anything up to two weeks from when i first notice his colours starting to dull, but a hatchling takes less. When corn was a hatchling the quickest it every shed was every three weeks, but every corn is different.

Once a corn starts shedding the actual removal should be over pretty quick and ideally, in one piece. Sometimes super high humidity isn't a good thing either. The humid hides are a brilliant idea, thats what i use, i'm sure your snake visits them when your not there!

The irritations Jcapicy mentioned can increase the shedding frequency, but these are usually external parasites. The snake sheds more to try and decrease its parasite load. Mites and ticks. Ticks im sure you'd notice, mites are more difficult, check around the eyes and under the chin, gently hold the head and have a close look at the chin. Your looking for very small black speckles, you can also check for drowned ones in the water bowl.

I'd bet its just a bad shed though. There are some really good tips for getting retained sheds off, you can use the search function to find them.

One last thing, the important thing to check for is the eye caps and tail tip, got to make sure they've been shedded properly.

All the best

Tom