Shedding Problem..

[Marshall_P]

I have a grey (charcoal) colored corn, the shedding problem I'm having is that around 3 weeks ago or so, the eyes went clear, then they cleared up & I was waiting the usual 3-5 days for him to shed, but he hasn't yet, now the eyecaps are visibly loose & his skin is wrinkled... anyway, the methods I've tried as far as raising humidity are putting him in a warm towel & putting him in a small container under a heat lamp to raise humidity, soaking him daily in the tub in lukewarm water, and even running him under lukewarm water coming out of the kitchen sink, if I'm missing something can someone please give me some sound advice,, so far though his appetite is still there, now however the skin around the mouth is tight enough that his mouth is slightly agate. I"m wondering if there's anything else I can do to put some moisture in his skin, the vivarium is a 50 gal. tank, with 2 other corns in there with him, the other two don't have shed problems like this ever, one's 4' long, 3' long, & the grey one is like 18" long, thanx for any advice given, Marshall P..

[bmm]

Holy cow! That's some tight skin and at this point a serious problem.

I would either be giving him soaks twice a day or placing him in a wet pillowcase for an hour at a time. I would not be placing him in a container under a light, this will not allow him to escape the heat. If you can you can try running him through your hands with a wet washcloth. But at the same time this skin problem could be caused by another underlying problem and you don't want to stress him too much.

It sounds like he is severly dehydrated internally as well! Not just his skin! Maybe injecting each prey item with water will help?

You know I must say I am guessing here....I have never heard of a corns skin so tight and not coming off. Any of you corn experts want to add a suggestion????? I would like to know as well what he should do.

bmm

[Neumann]

Marshall_P,

I don't want to be an alarmist and I'm probably far too inexperienced to be giving advice but here goes. All you experienced herpers should correct me if I'm way off base.

Have you considered the possibility that he may have mouth rot or something else uncomfortable concerning his mouth that's causing him not to start pressing his face against furniture to loosen the skin? Maybe it's even caused by stress from living with two other cage mates? Have they all been together long? Have you changed furniture in the viv or anything else environmental that my be causing some stress?

Just a thought...


Cheers,
Jason

[paulh]

Sounds to me as if, for one reason or another, that corn slept through his proper shedding time. It happens.

I'd put him in a plastic shoebox with just enough water to cover his whole body. Water should be coolish, approximately 80-85 F. Keep him in the water for an hour, and dunk his head under every five minutes or so to keep the skin on the head wet. This is a nice job to multitask while watching TV. :) And if he soaks more than an hour, no problem.

Try to find a loose flap of old skin somewhere around the lips and start taking it off there. Sometimes you can catch a loose flap with a fingernail, even if the flap isn't visible. The hardest part is the eyecaps. If the old eyecaps tear free from the skin and stay on, it's not a real big deal. Just leave them for the next shed. Once the head is free of old skin, let him crawl through your hands while you retain hold of the skin. Often the old skin tears during the process, but there's usually a flap of skin to get hold of to start the process again. Sometimes letting him crawl through a rough rag, like a washcloth, is more effective than just through your hands. Good luck.

[CornCrazy]

Be really careful letting old eyecaps stay on...I've seen MANY damaged eyes because of that problem! It's much better to go ahead and make sure they come off too.

[Marshall_P]

Thank you for your replies, I've tried some of this already, but will try it again, i've even tried putting him in a small container with a rag at the bottom of it, hopefully with persistance he'll be ok, again, I appreciate the concern of everyone, thanx, Marshall P..

[Marshall_P]

here's a pic of the shedding problem in case someone might be able to help me by seeing it, thanx, Marsh..

[CornCrazy]

That snake needs to see a vet! He looks to be in pretty bad shape. He appears dehydrated. Is he eating or drinking? Any healthy snake would be able to get the skin off unless the humidity is WAY too low.

A healthy snake's skin may not come off completely if the humidity is too low, but it would at least make an attempt at getting the skin off, which would tear the skin to shreads.

[Marshall_P]

yeah. but if that's the case (humidity being too low), why don't the other 2 corns have the same problems? I mean, they shed no prob., I agree that he needs help, but he's not seeming to be de-hydrated, he eats ok, & also drinks regularly... Marshall P..

[CornCrazy]

Oh...I forgot you had him with 2 other snakes. That is even more alarming because I am leaning more toward something being wrong with him since he can't shed. He doesn't look normal....especially the first part of him...his head and upper body. It also concerns me because if he is sick, your other snakes may get whatever he has. I would definitely get him away from the other two snakes. You need to quaranteen him away from anyone else and get him to the vet!

[Marshall_P]

I thought I'd update y'all on his situation, well, I finally got him to shed a bit, but only from the snout to about an inch behind the eyes, but at least we have the eyecaps off, also, he shed from the cloacea to the end of his tail, the inbetween we're working on by soaking, he's taking a lot of my time this weekend, but he's worth the effort, just love that little guy, anyway, in case I forget to mention it, this is two layers of skin we're talking about because last week he went through the cloudy eye phase again, so that's probably why it's being difficult for him to shed now in the first place, with having 2 layers to deal with, and his appetite is coming back too, so I think he's going to be ok, that's all for now, see ya, Marshall P....

p.s., thanx again for everyone's concern,!!

[snoopysnake]

There is a product called Shed Ease made by ESU Reptile. You put 2 teaspoons of it in 8 oz of lukewarm water and allow your reptile to soak in it for 20 minutes. This will help loosen the skin.

My corn snake Shermy's only had one bad shed in 2 years (and that was because he squirmed while I was giving him an antibiotic shot and thus did not slither out of his skin the natural way - he had a piecemeal shed that time and lots of stray pieces remaining. He would not stay in a bath so I gently ladled it all over him with my hand and making sure the skin was nice and moist, very gently massaged away the remaining bits of skin.

Shed Ease is available online from Petsmart and other places.

[Marshall_P]

Thank you for the info on the shed -ease, I believe I"ll try that, Marsh..

[Marshall_P]

Well, Scratch my last update, the poor guy took a turn for the worse tonight, It doesn't appear he'll live much longer, he's not doing good at all, I can't get the rest of the skin off, & tonight he doesn't have any energy at all, I thought his appetite was coming back but it hasn't! Well, It's surely not from lack of trying, anyway, thanx for all that were concerned, Marshall P..

[niki]

sorry to here about your snake unfortunately 2 of my hatchlings went the same way a few weeks ago hope the little fella pulls through

[Marshall_P]

Thanx, I appreciate that! Sorry to hear about yours as well! Marsh..

[Ice9]

keep us posted .. let us know how he gets on. Things like this really suck :(

[niki]

hey Marsh howz the snake just looked at the photo on the previous page he looks really ill

[Marshall_P]

Well, after trying everything I know how, he finally passed last night, kind of bothered me after all that trying, but at least he's not suffering anymore right? I went down to my herp supplier last night and got a different one, this one's for my son, I think it's a "Baird's rat snake", pretty cool markings on it, but nothing can replace that other little guy, oh well, this one'll be pretty cool though, thanx again for all of ya concerned., Marshall P..

[CornCrazy]

I am terribly sorry to hear your sad news.

[niki]

sorry to hear about your snake i know how attached you become to them especially when thir sick and they need alot of attention
hope you have better look with this one

[Marshall_P]

Again, thanx a lot for a concerned, & this new "Bairds" rat snake is pretty cool, very calm indeed! Marsh..

[Ice9]

Best of luck with him/her. Was sorry to read about your corn