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Torn Shed While Still On Snake ~ Will it cause problems with his shed?

kcaven

kcaven

LOCA for corn snakes !!!
So I am very panicked right now.. My 7 year old son was holding MoJo he put him down to watch him slither on the floor and he started going into a crack at the bottom of my stairs to get into my staircase. My husband grabbed his back end before he completely slipped into the hole. He is fine and unharmed. BUT my concern is this, he was cleared and in pre-shed...he was probably going to shed tomorrow is my guess. Well, the whole pulling back motion tore his skin that he was about to shed off. His new skin is fine from what I can see.

Is this going to cause an incomplete shed now?? Im very worried. How can it all come off in one piece now?? What should I do?
 
Whoops! Somehow this thread accidentally got posted in the husbandry section...could one of the moderators please move it to the Health section. Sorry about that.
 
Probably not, but I would put him in a container with moist paper towels or sphagnum moss. He will most likely work it off himself. If not, let him slither through your hands while holding a wet wash cloth. Good luck.
 
How can I tell??

I just checked him because he ate on Sunday and yesterday was his non-handling day so I leave him be. I just found almost a complete shed. It looks like it mostly came off in one piece. I dont see a head on the shed but I dont see it left on his head?? Im not really sure what to look for either. How do I know if it came off his head? It looks like he was able to shed from about where he tore his shed from getting pulled from the hole. He does have some shed on his body right about in that area. That look eeasy enough to get off with a wet washcloth, Im not too worried about that part. That area is about an inch and a half from his head. I see the tail on the shed but no head?? How can I tell if his head didnt shed off??:confused:
 
I've never seen a snake not shed his head- that's where they start from, but I guess it could happen. After he's done digesting, you can put him in his feeding container with a washcloth in shallow, room temp water. If he has shed stuck, that will get it off. I leave the snake in for about 20-30 minutes. If you don't see any shed skin, then he must have shed it and you just didn't find it.
 
Thanks Nancy! I think he shed it but the only thing that may make me think otherwise is just the place where it originally tore when he was pulled from the hole. It was right below his head. It is possible that it perforated the shed all the way around his body disconnecting it from the head. It looks like he wiggled right out of the bottom half of his shed just fine. There is a top portion that is rolled up and kind of mangled from him rubbing I guess. Maybe the head is in there and its just not recongnizable. Im not too worried. I will do the wet washcloth method this evening when I get home from work.
 
One time when my texas ratsnake was shedding the shed was so moist the head piece rolled up so that it looked like the head piece was missing. After looking at him I searched the tank over and over. I checked the shed again and having an idea I unrolled the top part and out came the shed from his head.
 
Oh by the way I am not trying to make you out as if you do not know what you are doing. Sometimes we miss things when in panic mode and I actually hope this is the case. Would be much better that having him still have shed on his head.
 
Oh NO! I didnt think that at all..I am still very new at the whole corn snake thing. Ive only had him for a little over a month. I did do some SERIOUS reserach before I got him...read EVERYTHING I could get my hands on BUt that never prepares you for when the "somethings" actually do go wrong. I am a very nervous person naturally. I worry about EVERYTHING! LOL So your (and everyones) help and advice and reassurance is much appreciated!

Actually I did pull a "rolled" section of shed out from his viv. There were two pieces..the long 90% of his body (with tail) and a small rolled portion..so that may be his head?? I dont see any sign of a shed left on his head so I not going to stress about it. I do however, see a few small pieces of shed on his neck area...I tried the wet washcloth method and it got some ofit off but not every single piece. He was very JUMPY for some reason when I was trying to peel it off but still a very good well behaved sna
 
Ok so its been a few days since MoJo shed. He did have a bunch of shed left around where it got torn from pulling him out from the hole. I did the washcloth technique and that got most of it off. I dont think there is any left on his head like I was originally worried about. There are however a few small patches of shed left on his neck area that just wont budge.

What will/could happen if I dont get every single piece off?
 
He could get a fungal infection underneath the remaining pieces. Just repeat his washcloth soak/removal.
 
Ill try again tomorrow....

Oh my... Its just in a very strange place...right on the side of his neck right below his head so its in a place they he is very jumpy when I try to get it off. I will try again tomorrow...:headbang:
 
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