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how to soak a snake for a shed

rayray said:
I was just wondering how to soak a snake for a shed :wavey: :noevil: Thank you....
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What works great for me is to line a rubbermaid/sterilite with paper towels, and then thoroughly wet them down with a spray bottle. Then I put the snake in there and put the container over the under tank heater, or back in the rack, etc. Works like a charm. They seem to like this better than soaking in water alone...when I used to do that they did all they could to cling to the inside top of the container so they wouldn't be in the water!
 
Leave the snake alone. You can offer a moist hide, but DO NOT BATHE your snake.

North American colubrids do not need a high humidity level and mine have always shed just fine without any extra moisture.
 
Joejr14 said:
Leave the snake alone. You can offer a moist hide, but DO NOT BATHE your snake.

North American colubrids do not need a high humidity level and mine have always shed just fine without any extra moisture.
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i always wonder how to make a moist hide, do you put that moss in the hide or u get a container and make a hole in it and and put the moss in it, because some people dont use the cave like hides.
 
for my hide im using a long peaice of driftwood that goes the length of the cage i gots pics of it in my photo album on yahoo...or if u just look at the post on hey i got my first.
 
Traci1 said:
What works great for me is to line a rubbermaid/sterilite with paper towels, and then thoroughly wet them down with a spray bottle. Then I put the snake in there and put the container over the under tank heater, or back in the rack, etc. Works like a charm. They seem to like this better than soaking in water alone...when I used to do that they did all they could to cling to the inside top of the container so they wouldn't be in the water!
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Ooops, I should add that I only do this if they are having trouble shedding for some reason. (like this time of year it's really dry here) I don't do it all the time.
 
for my moist hide i just use an inverted plastic dog water bowl witha little door way cut out. i just insert a new piece of moist paper towel every day of the shed week.
 
i just keep a water bowl in the viv that is big enough for the snake to bath in if he wants, but is easy to get out of.
 
Joejr14 said:
Leave the snake alone. You can offer a moist hide, but DO NOT BATHE your snake.

North American colubrids do not need a high humidity level and mine have always shed just fine without any extra moisture.
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That is a pretty broad statement. I see you live in Florida where the humidity is very high compared to say New Mexico or a home in the North East with a dry heating system. I would like to know why you wouldn't bath a snake that is having a bad shed? My snakes often soak in their water dishes and it doesn't seem to harm them in any way. If your going to make a statement like "DO NOT BATHE" I'd like to read some reasons why, please?

One thing about bad sheds, it is a sign that something is wrong. It could be as simple as low humidity or as bad as an illness. It needs to be looked into. Providing a water dish large enough for the snake to soak in is a very good idea imo.
 
They DO sometimes like to soak - when they decide they want to! But they almost ALWAYS HATE IT when you decide to soak them! Seems to really freak them out and I would guess from watching them that it is pretty stressful. So a moist hide, or if needed, a "soak" in damp moss or paper towels as somebody else described is generally less stressful than the real bath. But if somebody has a corn that just seems to love a bath, and doesn't seem the least stressed by it, then why not(as long as temps are carefully monitored)? I just haven't seen one that seems to like it myself.
 
Mine doesn't seem to mind it at all so long as the water is about 1-2" deep. Any deeper and he'll freak out if I let him go. Mind you I only did this once when he was only a month or two old, and it was for a bad shed (tail tip)... so I can't speak from experience.

Deep enough for them to swim I think is a whole other matter.
 
kathylove said:
They DO sometimes like to soak - when they decide they want to! But they almost ALWAYS HATE IT when you decide to soak them! Seems to really freak them out and I would guess from watching them that it is pretty stressful. So a moist hide, or if needed, a "soak" in damp moss or paper towels as somebody else described is generally less stressful than the real bath. But if somebody has a corn that just seems to love a bath, and doesn't seem the least stressed by it, then why not(as long as temps are carefully monitored)? I just haven't seen one that seems to like it myself.
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Thank you, that was exactly my point. :)
 
Hi, been a while since i have been on, hope ya'll are well.

my baby is having a rough time shedding, he is done except for the top of his head, nose area and one eye, Its been 5 days and its not loosing up. It was suggested that i rub a little pure vegtable oil on that area, is this okay? And do i need to be careful to not get any in the eye area? I am monitoring his temps and humidity , i have two and they both read diffrent in the exact same spot, it differs about 4-5 degress in the temp and 15-20% in humidity. Which ones should i go by? How am i sposed to know whats right? Thanks ahead of time
 
kathylove said:
I just haven't seen one that seems to like it myself.
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Isn't there always one that has to break from tradition? Spot's Mama has a big fella (Spot, duh....) who loves to play in the water. He wants a big tub/trough to play in and literally slithers in and curls up with his nose out. This fella is over 5 ft. long, so no one will be "making" him do much of anything like "take" a bath! Legoless, on the other hand has no desire to play in the water, but prefers a humid area of substrate (Repti-bark I believe).
 
I just wet a piece of doubled up paper towel and make a tent out of it. My amel used to love to hang out under it. With the sterilite containers, I usually just need to mist the viv a bit a few days before shed, and they do fine.
 
When my snake shed last week, all we did was to mist the cage each day from the time she went 'blue'. She then shed in a couple of large pieces. She did have a little bit up by her head that hadn't come off, about 20 mins later I went in and she was completely submerged in her water bowl. She stayed in there for about 20 mins and then when I looked all the skin was off. Maybe we don't give these little creature the credit they deserve. She obviously knew what she had to do to get that last bit of skin off!
Also, she spends most of her time in her cold hide, but every time she is fed goes straight back into her warm hide for about 24 hours to help digestion. She is fascinating to watch and, I am convinced, quite clever. :crazy02:
 
Something simple and effective and used once twice a day when my snakes are in blue and i've not had a problem using this method, introducing the cheap and effective (£0.39 for uk people) bottle.
mistingbottle.jpg
 
my snow is over a year old and 41 inches long and i have seen her soak in the water bowl 1 time and that was just a curious phase of hers as she did not stay in it. i keep her viv moistened every night around 11:30 just before i go to bed and she has shed every month since ive had her except this past Feb.she went almost 5 weeks with no food wouldnt do nothing but play with it. I got worried that she might be sick but last week she ate 2 out of three. she shed this past wed and on fri she took 4 mice . when you notice the eyes getting cloudy you might think about a more wetter spot in the viv for your snake to hide.
 
Well thanks for all your advice and information. I did find the other eye cap today and i also got the rest of his shed off his tail and he is doing good.
 
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