Worried. Dehydrated? Shedding? Burn?

I fed Dex 2 days ago, waiting for the usual 42 hours before handling. I got home and went to check on him and he was under the paper towels on the bottom of the tank. There were feces, but also some scales. He was very jumpy when I went to pick him up, and when I did he felt like a piece of dried wood. There were loose scales all over him, and around his head.
Question #1- Is he starting to shed or may he be dehydrated? I could tell he's been in his water bowl, and his tongue was flicking when I got him out.
Question #2- Now this may be a dumb one, but can feces have white powder with it? I honestly have never seen snake poopie before in my life so I have nooooo clue. If that sounds incredibly dumb, sorry. -blushes-

First - the white powder, is probably urine!

Second, this sounds like a 'bad shed' - some of the skin has come off, but not all of it. This indicates that the humidity isn't quite high enough inside the vivarium. To stop a repeat, you can 'mist' inside the vivarium or create a moist hide (search the forums for a how-to), or very simply, mover the water bowl further over to the warm side of the viv.

It might be worth a temperature check, too.

Ok. Now you need to help your snake complete the shed. Don't worry, he's only jumpy because it's so uncomfortable. It sounds like most of Dex's body and head is affected, so you'll need to bathe him.

Find a clean "sweater box" style plastic container that he can't escape from (or the top can be weighted down). Fill it with enough water that the snake can completely submerge, but not so much that it's difficult for him to get his head out of the water, obviously. IMPORTANT: the water must be tepid. What feels warm to you is BOILING to the snake.

Leave for 15-20 minutes and then try letting him run through your hands. If the skin does not come away easily, leave him a bit longer. Some people prefer to use a paper towel to get the skin off, but I prefer to use my hands as I can feel where the dead skin is as well.

When you think you've got it all, check again! It's most important that both eye caps and the very tip of the tail are not left on.

Good luck

Shew, I really hope that's all it is. I definitely will do that right now. Thank you so very much! I can't say it enough. I have the biggest heart in the world for animals, and when I think one might be hurting it just about kills me.
Plus, I'm like a new mommy so everything that happens I think is a terminal illness. =P

YAYYYYY!!!!! You were soooo right! He's clinging to me now that I got that skin off. Snakey thanks? Baha! Shew. Relieved. I got everything off at the cost of 2 poops. He's beautiful with his new skin. And!! His splinter came out!!!

Next time when he is getting ready to shed you can mist the tank to keep the humidity up and help him to shed better.

Another option is to use a humid hide. This is a tupperware container with a hole in the top and damp moss or paper towels inside. Keeping the materials moist during the shedding process allows your snake to choose the higher humidity and soften his skin for an easy shed. I use humid hides with all of my corns and havent had an incomplete shed in years.

Mmkay. Will do! I made a humid hide, but it didn't work very well, obviously.
I made a new one, though. Hopefully that works better next time!

My snake also shed--I think the humid hide helpped, but it was the longest time between going clear and shedding that I've ever had. I was so excited to see the huge shed all over this morning!

I only have had to use a humid hide for my BP. Redesigned his enclosure, has shed perfect every time since without the humid hide. My corns, CA King and Milk have always done fine with sheds. Funny thing, in the last week 5 of my 6 snakes shed.

Hope you enjoy your new snake.

Not sure if anyone mentioned this already, but another easy way to boost the humidity in there is to move the water bowl to the warm side of the enclosure. Just make sure to check the water bowl regularly as the water will evaporate fast on the warm side...

Should I have one on the warm and one on the cool? Or will it matter?

:cheers:

sacrifice.theory said:

Should I have one on the warm and one on the cool? Or will it matter?

:cheers:

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Are you asking about moist hides or water bowls?

You really only need one water bowl in there unless you're going away for a few days and want to be extra sure that the snake has a water source in case it knocks one of the bowls over or something. I suggest just moving the water bowl closer to the heat pad/device which will cause more water to be released into the surrounding air.

I was talking about the water bowls. Sorry for the confusion! And alright, I sure will. =]
Thanks for the great info!

sacrifice.theory said:

I was talking about the water bowls. Sorry for the confusion! And alright, I sure will. =]
Thanks for the great info!

Click to expand...

You don't need to do this AND create a moist/humid hide. Too much humidity isn't good either!

Sounds like you're doing just fine with your new baby, and I'm really pleased to have been able to help