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Broken shed, Hates water, not eating & hiding :.(

J

Jynxie

New member
My little lady's shed in in three parts this time and last time.. The first time I thought I'd check it wasn't a one off before worrying but now it's happened again..:nope: I read up a bit and it said her skin may not be getting enough moisture, and to soak her if anys left on.
She NEVER sits in her water bowl.. Not due to size, she simply hates water.
A while after I first got her I put her in the bath for a swim and she went mental-Absolutely hated it. I did it again just now worrying she needed the moisture, and she didn't freak as much IN the bath but once I picked her back out she was clearly distressed and very wriggily and I couldnt calm her so put her back. :(
She also hasn't had her last two feeds, but the guys in the pet shop said it was normal when feeding small rats which shes up to (shes about 3/3.5 ft now). So she hasn't ate for about around 6 weeks now..
Finally she isnt roaming round at all. Normally she'll sleep alot but have a wander round her viv every 2 days I suppose. But not for weeks now.

Please help .. I dont want to take her the the vet and pay a huge bill just to be told its normal or winter or at her age etc.


Thanks in advance!!

J Xx
 
My corns hate water, and since Wisconsin winters can get really dry we've had our share of bad sheds too.

What I do is put a washcloth or dishtowel in the bottom of a large, flat-bottomed tupperware container, then I soak it with luke-warm water (it should be about 80-85 degrees F for your snake to be comfy which will feel cool to you), put them in and put the lid on so they can't escape.

Leave her there for about 20 min and then check to see if the leftover shed is off, if not check the temps and pop her back in.

She's still not going to like it, but it's a little less stressful for them than swimming, and it's for her own good. My kids don't like going tot he doctor, but I still make them do it when they're sick. :)

Once you get all the skin off, leave her to calm down for a day or two before offering food again so that you don't risk a regurge from the experience.

HTH!
 
Oh, one last thing...

In the future, to prevent the incomplete shed, just mist her tank with a spray bottle once or twice a day when you see her going into blue. That will help keep the skin moist for a good shed.
 
have you just switched her to rats? some snakes get "used" to being fed mice and prefer the taste or scent of mice compared to rats.. so try mice again... also.. its winter time... so metabolism will be cut back anyway... alot of snakes dont soak unless they have to... so thats not bad... its all in what they are used to.

~kin
 
Up here in frozen Saskatchewan it really really dry most days what i do is mist at least once every other day when its getting close to shedding time (my fishtanks keep the house pretty humid). THe wet towel or wet paper towel trick works great too.
 
I'm wondering if she went mental in the bath because the water was too hot. It should be room temperature and feel lukewarm/tepid to you. What feels warm to you is boiling to the snake.

RE the not eating and hiding all the time - don't worry, this is probably because she was 'blue' i.e. getting ready to shed. Most are very secretive in this stage and often refuse food. So no need to worry about a vet visit yet. The best time to offer food is straight after a shed, when they seem to get their appetites back with a vengeance!

Great advice from StormRose on how to help with the bad shed - here is a link to the above with pictures: http://www.cornsnakes.com/forums/showthread.php?t=56170&highlight=shed
 
warning: i'm new to snakes

but I did see this video from a reptile expert in South Carolina, She said if your snake is having shedding difficulties, to soak a pillow case in lukewarm water and put the snake in it and let it find its way out. the shed should come off on its own.
 
My immediate thought is that a shed is only a major problem if bits remain on the snake. Breaking into bits as it comes off is OK - as long as it does all come off (check for eye scales and tail tips). Three parts really doesn't sound bad to me. It can catch on things and rip apart as the snake moves around.

Some Corns hate bathing and mine never sit in their water. I'd give up on the idea. If you're worried, just put a humid hide in with her next time she goes blue.

Hiding is normal for a snake that's about to shed. However, now that she has, that and the not eating might indicate some sort of stress. What are the temps like at the cool and warm ends?

I'd agree that if you've just switched to rats, try going back to mice. My adults eat large mice, which seems to be the generally accepted food for Corns. Are rats all you can get locally?
 
Tracee's right.
I thought my snakes hated water, but in fact the water was too hot.
I got an infrared temp gun, and put one of my corns on the shallow end of the bathtub.
Then I started filling the tub with water, adjusting the temp to get 82-84f, measured with the temp gun.
I tried it over and over with different snakes. If you start them on the shallow end, and slowly add water, and have it the right temp, none of my snakes freaked out.

Humid hides are great, my snakes all use them. Just cut a hole in the side of a tupperware, and throw a moist clean handtowel in there, and they will camp out in there until it dries out. Never had a snake not use a humid hide.

If you have a viv with no furniture, your snake may want to hide all the time, and they like objects and obstacles to hide in/around. It gives them security.
I've found that you can actually use a bare tank if you do a few things to give them peace of mind.
Provide 2 hides, a water bowl, some object they can wrap around, and something flat they can get under. Make sure the substrate is deep enough to burrow in.
Tape a grocery bag on the outside of 3 sides of the enclosure. A nice background works too. They don't like to be able to see out on all sides.
Tubs that are opaque are fine, no need to do this.
If you don't want to do this, put their viv in the corner of a room, so 2 sides of it are against the wall or very close to a solid color wall.
When they're out and about they will tend to stay on the long wall side.
Your snake is nocturnal, they need to sleep during the day, so it shouldn't be bright during the day. Don't put them near a window that the sun shines in. No bright lights.
They will avoid bright lights.
If this all fails, you may just have an anti-social snake. They're out there.

Some snakes like rats, some don't.
No biggie, just keep her on mice. If you 're not going to hibernate, it's important to keep the snake eating during the winter months.
If you want to switch her over to rats, do it during the summertime, when a snake has the strongest appetite.
 
Just be careful with your bath tub. I use a container.... Remember we clean our tubs with some pretty harsh chemicals.
 
Yes I can get mice locally, I will put her back on them, she did have rats for her last two feeds though... She doesnt even approach and check the feed out now though.
I dont think the water was too hot, it was cold but not ice cold, I'll have to buy some temperature measures soon, are they dear? Wheres the best place to get cheap but reliable?

Thanks again everyone!

J Xx
 
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