bhp shed probs...

[nocturnal_pulse]

heya all...
i purchased a yearling bhp about 6 months ago and she is fantastic....the only downside is that every shed she has had has been patchy, rough and has needed to be assisted with bathing etc.
i thought it may have been her water bowl...so i bought a kitty litter tray type thing and placed it closer to the heat to create more humidity...
basking spot is around 34-37 degrees...
tank is around 5ft wide...2ft high...2 ft deep....
i also have a bunch of other snakes that don't suffer from this problem, all their shed are clean...
my question is, does anyone else have the odd one out of a bunch that has shed probs if so how was it rectified....
cheers
Brad..

 

[Ewan]

Sometimes, particularlily during winter, snakes can have bad sheds. I can't really explain why some do and some don't. I have a juvie jungle that had 2 clean sheds, then 2 bad sheds and yesterday had a clean shed again. All I can recommend is to lightly mist the bad shedder every couple of days while it is the shed cycle, or move the water bowl to the warm side to raise humidity.

Which substrate do you use for your snakes? Also do you keep any other BHPs?

Regards.
Ewan.

 

[Chrisreptile]

Try adding a few more/other rough objects, logs and rocks etc?

 

[nocturnal_pulse]

hey ewan she is my only bhp...and i use thick paper towel as a substrate..as i found that when using the wood kitty litter type pellets made her breathing a little wheezy due to dust particles....
but i will give the misting a go...

hey chris...she has a brick paver and a jagged garden rock and a branch with like a heap of pointy bits on it...i did all this after the first bad shed....
cheers...

 

[Ewan]

I feel that having a suitable object to aid shedding is only part of the solution. Other considerations are feeding and hydration. You could also try feeding wet rodents, replacing water daily so it is fresh to drink and switch to plain news paper as other substrates can deplete the air of moisture. Good luck.

 

[Ewan]

Just to build on that, stress could also be a contributing factor.

 

[COOP]

Same problem here. My BHP is 6 months old and last two sheds have been terrible, shedding underneath but not on top just past its head and all the way to her tail. Hope it gets better

 

[pythons73]

I had a simarlar situation with my BHP,ive moved the water closer to the heatsource once i notice he about to shed,since then its been good...

 

[adz83]

iv had my bhp for about 5 months and both times hes shed its been patchy n iv had to help him get it all off......none of my other snakes hav any problems shedding

seems this may be commonish in bhps??