shedding problems

[ackie]

hi everyone, i hav had my brown tree snake for about 1.5 years and he always seems to hav a bad shed. most of the time i will hav to manually remove the whole skin. But even with the last few times he was going to shed i kept the humidity extremely high (i reckon about 110%) and sprayed him atleast 2 times everyday and still he did not shed very good.
He has rough branches and tight squeezes in his tank which he can rub against to aid shedding. So for some reason this snake just wont shed.
Any ideas or advice will be appreciated.
thanks
Brendan

Hey man,
BTS live in some of the most humid places on earth, in dripping caves and stuff, and all of my BTS have trouble shedding, I will be trying a product called 'shed-aid' as soon as I can find it, maybe you should try that?

[bigguy]

ackie, I have about 12 BTS and none have problems shedding. It sounds like yours is having trouble producing enough oil to slough. Maybe it has a problem producing sufficent oil in which case there is nothing you can do or maybe its just a husbandry problem which can be fixed.

If you have tried increasing humidity and it didnt work, then maybe you might have the cage to hot. Try lowering the temperature a few degrees and see what happens. You may be baking the oil out of its skin.

[sxereturn]

Yeah I have 2 BTS, they both shed poorly during the Brisbane heat wave.

[ackie]

thanks for replys ppl...bob, i hav tried everything from humidity and experimenting with heat and nothing seems to change this problem. Mabey i should get sum of that shed-ease stuff coz i hav nothin to lose.
By the way wat form of bts do u hav bob...mine is from cape york.
Also, do u breed urs?
thanks everyone

[bigguy]

Ackie,

Shed ease is only added to the water that you soak your snake with the dry shed in. It is to help the old skin to loosen so you can peel it off, but I have found its no different than if you use just water.

If I was you I would definately lower the temp in the cage a few degrees. That is the most common cause of dry shed.

I do breed them, but not this year. I have Sydney, Airlie beach, Banded intergrades from the West of the Athertons and banded Darwins

[ackie]

thanks mate

[kevyn]

Your snake may not be adequately hydrated, even with the high humidity. You may want to try putting you snake on a regular soaking regiment. Maybe as often as once a week for 5-8hrs. . I work with Temple Vipers and have the enclosures very humid (around 80%), but they still need to be soaked over night once a week inorder to mantian proper hydration.