Shedding and Bath Time

[PhilK]

Hey everyone. My mac had a shed today that left him with a tail tip and a little bit on one of his sides. So I ran a tepid bath, threw a towel in there, and put him in.. I got the tail and the side skin off, but he seemed to really dislike the water. He just curled up on the part of the towel that was sticking out of the water, and when I put him in there the first time he made a bolt for a second, before sitting with his snout out and gradually moving to the towel...

In his enclosure he never soaks in his water bowl... Does he just not like water, as an individual? Or is there a better explanation?

[Jill]

Hi PhilK,

This is a great question and I can't wait to see what gets posted.

My 14mth maccie, Tallulah, normally sheds with no problems but this time a strip of old skin has come off her neck and the new skin underneath is looking dry and wrinkled. I was expecting her to shed a couple of days ago so I'm going to give her a bath tonight and I'm not really looking forward to it. She is not going to be a happy snakey.

[Ozzie Python]

when i put my childreni back into the viv i used to let his head come off my hand and i would guide him towards his water bowl quite often he would have a drink and stick his head in. i quite often catch him at night now with his head under for a few seconds.

i haven't needed to bath him after a shed yet, but im confident he will do it with minimal stress now.

i spose snakes are like dogs too, i have one dog who won't get out of the water and another who will run away when you pull the hose out. some love it some hate it.

[mungus]

All my snake love the water [ no, they have no mites ]
Some will soak 1hr a day , one lives in it. [ DP python ]
Have to take the bowl out sometimes so that he does'nt shrival up on me.

[ashs_dreams]

My coastals were petrified of water. I would try and bath them if they had rat blood on them or if they went through their poo or something and it would make it so impossible! Now, i can get them to go in and have a little swim or just sit in there for ages.

I actually put them in the tub (thats not too cold by running hot water first) when its got a very small amount of water and kind of warmish water too, and leave the tap on a bit then put them in slowly. Better if you have them go in themselves to investigate or something. As the tub slowly fills up they will still be in there and they wont be afraid of being put in there anymore.

Try it. May take time (to keep them in while the tub is filling) but it worked for me.

[Jill]

Thanks for the tips Ashs Dreams, I'll try that with Tallulah tonight!

[Chris1]

Loki my bredli has a bath every second night, just 2 inches of warm water in the bath tub, if i make it deeper he likes something solid to hond onto,..(like my hand or foot) and cruises around while hanging onto me.
he likes the shower to be running (its an over the bath shower) while hes in there.

[Jill]

Hi PhilK,

I've just given my maccie her first bath and she seemed to enjoy it. She doesn't seem to ever soak in her water bowl though it's big enough. I put a towel in one end and a few inches of warm water in the bath. At first she stayed very still with just her head out of the water and then started swimming around. She soaked for about a quarter hour and then climbed up the towel so I have popped her into her enclosure and hopefully she will shed tonight. Her skin certainly looks a lot better. I'm going to give her occasional baths in the future I think, as she certainly wasn't stressed.

Cheers, Gill