Confused about shed

[carnivorouszoo]

Well her shed is patchy again. Eyes, head and about an inch and a half down her length came off whole but crumbled when I picked it up? She looks and acts very healthy. Eats great, no mush feelings, but the rest of her shed is coming off in bits and patches. Yes they are bigger than the bits that were coming off when we got her. Does it take a couple sheds to get back to a healthy shed after being in poor conditions for a while? The humidity in her setup fluctuates from 40 to 55 percent day to day depending on if we use the drier or not. For some reason when we use it humidity in the house goes up. Thanks for any thoughts on this.

[wade]

A bad shed does not necessarily indicate bad health or even bad conditions. Usually a bad shed is caused by low humidity. It can usually be resolved by giving the snake a good soak in the bathtub.

Watch closely for the next shed cycle, when the snake goes blue mist the cage each morning. Build a humid hide and put it in the cage at shed time. I’m sure that will solve the problem.

[Nanci]

Do you know how to get the rest of the shed off easily? If not, do a search for Bad/Incomplete Shed, or if you can't find that, I will post it for you. If you need it. Pics and everything.

One thing I have started doing is when the snake goes blue, for the ones that don't have a moist hide (some don't like those, those that do want to stay in them all the time!) is I put a piece of plastic wrap on top of the screen, covering nearly all of it. Then I mist every couple three days, and if the snake had a bad shed last time, I may even mist the plastic wrap on the inside.

[wade]

Thanks for adding that Nanci!

[carnivorouszoo]

Do you know how to get the rest of the shed off easily? If not, do a search for Bad/Incomplete Shed, or if you can't find that, I will post it for you. If you need it. Pics and everything.

One thing I have started doing is when the snake goes blue, for the ones that don't have a moist hide (some don't like those, those that do want to stay in them all the time!) is I put a piece of plastic wrap on top of the screen, covering nearly all of it. Then I mist every couple three days, and if the snake had a bad shed last time, I may even mist the plastic wrap on the inside.

I know what to do to help get off a bad shed, I just wanted to wait a little bit to see how it went so I would know if it was any better than what I saw of her last shed and it was! The head, eye caps and some neck" came off together really good, then it started looking really patchy. This morning I found the rest of her shed. It looks ripped up but is attached an she doesn't look like any is left on her but a little later I will have her slide through a damp cloth to be sure.

Thanks!