New Enclosure and Shedding Probs - Please Help :)

[Scaler]

Hey there fellow Herpers

So my blessed little Jungle has had some difficulties shedding her last 2 times. Her eyes have just clouded up again and i would like to sanity check in with those who have had similar difficulties to see if i am doing everything i can from my end to help her.

The first 'Bad Shed' was after we moved her into her new, you-beaut large enclosure, (approx 4' wide, 5' tall, 1.5' deep). She has a ceramic heat lamp in the top corner and a branch perch that reaches under it and sits at a comfy 30 degrees, ranging down to room temp of around 20-25 (at this time of year) in her cool end. She moves in and out of her hot spot periodically so i am quite happy with her temps.
Any way the first time she shed in there it left some small patches across her back. They came off eventually but then she shed again and the same thing happened. By this stage i had moved her big water dish to the warm side to create some humidity and changed her substrate to "Kitty's Crumble" which is supposed to increase humidity also. I am stuggling to keep the humidity up in there though, and she still had some patches left just below her head. (Pics attached). The majority has since come off, but for two patches, around 1cm each.

Now she is coming into shed again (each has been approx 5-6 weeks apart - usual for her) and i want to ensure i am doing everything i can to keep some humidity in there for her, however after reading a few 'bad shed' threads on here this morning i am now paranoid if i make it TOO humid she can develop 'blister disease' :shock:

For the last 24 hours i have been spraying her substrate and rocks with water to try to raise the humidity level. But i'd really appreciate some advise now that i have sufficiently spooked myself.

Can anyone please advise on the following:
1. Considering the region where Jungles hail from, what is an ideal humidity? Should i invest in one of those humidity gauges?
2. She is tempermental, I am concerned about stressing her too much, as she doesnt like being touched near her head and can get bitey (as jungles do) so if i need to get the scales off her myself, i am not confident that i know how to hold her by her head to try and get them off. Any pointers here for someone who has never had to do this before?
3. What is the harm of leaving these small patches if they haven't come off with the shed? (and i mean small, as above they were around 1cm in diameter but were quite stuck)
4. When suggestions are made to 'bath' the snake, how deep is the water, what temps should be used, how long should i leave her in there, and do i need to do anything post the bath to encourage the scales to come off?

i appreciate any help, sorry for the length of the post but thought i'd put as much info as possible to help the helpers
i am looking for help on both sides here - after a bad shed, and what do i need to adjust in her new home to avoid this happening again?

 

[JAS101]

pics of the enclosure would be handy , i would get a humidity gauge just to see where its at .

 

[wokka]

How does "Kitty's Crumble" increase humidity? I assume that is cat litter which is made to absorb moisture and so if anything it would absorb moisture from the air thereby reducing humidity.

An easy way to remove retained shed is to put the animal in a damp cloth bag and leave it to crawl around inside the bag. The bag is a gentle abrasive as well as moistening the skin.

 

[Elapidae1]

I have done what Wokka has suggested with the bag and it has been succsesfull. However Dave from Pilbara Pythons posted in another thread today that this has caused death from making it hard for the snake to breath through the bag. I feel it's probably rare but worth keeping in mind. Another method is to put a damp flannel in your hand and allow the snake to slide through your grip.

 

[akuji]

I have had this issue a couple of times I gave my girl nice soak at 27 degrees and ran her through a ham bag in my hand an won the battle try putting another water bowl in the enclosure.

Billy

 

[Scaler]

Thanks for the replies all,

Some replies of my own:

pics of the enclosure would be handy , i would get a humidity gauge just to see where its at .

No worries - attached for you:

How does "Kitty's Crumble" increase humidity? I assume that is cat litter which is made to absorb moisture and so if anything it would absorb moisture from the air thereby reducing humidity.

Sorry should'nt have used the product name. "Kitty's Crumble" is coconut husk.

I have had this issue a couple of times I gave my girl nice soak at 27 degrees and ran her through a ham bag in my hand an won the battle try putting another water bowl in the enclosure.

Can you please elaborate on the ham bag? Do you mean you just use the bag like a glove for when you feed her through your hands or you actually put her in the bag and let the texture do the work?

Does anyone know any answers to the questions i've asked specifically by any chance?

1. Considering the region where Jungles hail from, what is an ideal humidity? Should i invest in one of those humidity gauges?
2. She is tempermental, I am concerned about stressing her too much, as she doesnt like being touched near her head and can get bitey (as jungles do) so if i need to get the scales off her myself, i am not confident that i know how to hold her by her head to try and get them off. Any pointers here for someone who has never had to do this before?
3. What is the harm of leaving these small patches if they haven't come off with the shed? (and i mean small, as above they were around 1cm in diameter but were quite stuck)
4. When suggestions are made to 'bath' the snake, how deep is the water, what temps should be used, how long should i leave her in there, and do i need to do anything post the bath to encourage the scales to come off?

Thanks again for your help so far

 

[CarpetPythons.com.au]

Bad sheds are caused by poor hydration levels.

 

[Scaler]

Bad sheds are caused by poor hydration levels.

... So what do you recommend?

 

[D3pro]

Spray your animals after they finish the milky stage of the shed. One spray every 2 days.

 

[CarpetPythons.com.au]

Too many people leave water bowls with stale water in their snakes cages. Snakes don't drink dirty old water. We mist ours a few time a week. They drink the droplets from the sides of their tubs. We have not had any issues with shedding in years. It's important to also know that air-conditioners also change the moisture content of air.

 

[Scaler]

D3pro, what sized enclosure do you have? One spray every two days in mine wont do anything to the humidity levels.

Thanks for the response, CP.com.au - the air-conditioner is an interesting comment. i have only started turning it on in the last week so it wouldnt have been the cause of the last bad shed but certainly something i will need to be mindful of in the future.
Currently i change the water bowls once a week so it sounds like i could pick that up a bit. Both my pythons do drink happily from their water dishes (what a sight! i nearly fell of my chair the first time i saw them do it - i thought it was an urban myth from the comments i had read on here!) But i am happy to give them fresher water - particularly as we are coming into summer
It sounds like you keep your pythons in plastic tubs - do you have any enclosures on a larger scale?

And 'BUMP' to my original questions - there is a wealth of knowledge on this forum, can anyone spare a few minutes to answer even one or two of these?

1. Considering the region where Jungles hail from, what is an ideal humidity? Should i invest in one of those humidity gauges?
2. She is tempermental, I am concerned about stressing her too much, as she doesnt like being touched near her head and can get bitey (as jungles do) so if i need to get the scales off her myself, i am not confident that i know how to hold her by her head to try and get them off. Any pointers here for someone who has never had to do this before?
3. What is the harm of leaving these small patches if they haven't come off with the shed? (and i mean small, as above they were around 1cm in diameter but were quite stuck)
4. When suggestions are made to 'bath' the snake, how deep is the water, what temps should be used, how long should i leave her in there, and do i need to do anything post the bath to encourage the scales to come off?

 

[cockney red]

Too many people leave water bowls with stale water in their snakes cages. Snakes don't drink dirty old water. We mist ours a few time a week. They drink the droplets from the sides of their tubs. We have not had any issues with shedding in years. It's important to also know that air-conditioners also change the moisture content of air.

Never had an issue with shedding, as CP says, a snake will not drink stale water left in a bowl for a week, fresh water every other day and you wont have shedding issues.

 

[akuji]

Thanks for the replies all,

Some replies of my own:

No worries - attached for you:
View attachment 179643View attachment 179644


Sorry should'nt have used the product name. "Kitty's Crumble" is coconut husk.


Can you please elaborate on the ham bag? Do you mean you just use the bag like a glove for when you feed her through your hands or you actually put her in the bag and let the texture do the work?

Does anyone know any answers to the questions i've asked specifically by any chance?


Thanks again for your help so far

Hi Scaler after the soak hold the Ham bag and let the snake crawl through like a glove... I own
2 jungles and see no obvious stress in having to handle them regularly or soaking.. any questions feel free to PM

 

[Pythoninfinite]

The enclosure is probably too big to allow easy micro management of the parameters such as temps, humidity etc. Enclosures which are taller than they are wide are more difficult to manage from top to bottom - they tend to extremes at either end. If the snake is spending a lot of time in the upper levels, it may be warmer and drier there than is optimum, causing the animal to dehydrate. A horizontal thermal gradient is far easier to manage, and generally more satisfactory for the snake - they will utilise the space better, and probably encounter their water bowl more often.

Arboreal or semi arboreal snakes such as carpets are often loath to come down to ground level if it's a long way down, and it's too cool for their comfort there. They don't hink rationally about 'needing a drink', and so spend almost all their time up the top where they literally dry out.

Humidity gauges are useless, they only tell you what you should already know.

Jamie

 

[Scaler]

The enclosure is probably too big to allow easy micro management of the parameters such as temps, humidity etc. Enclosures which are taller than they are wide are more difficult to manage from top to bottom - they tend to extremes at either end. If the snake is spending a lot of time in the upper levels, it may be warmer and drier there than is optimum, causing the animal to dehydrate. A horizontal thermal gradient is far easier to manage, and generally more satisfactory for the snake - they will utilise the space better, and probably encounter their water bowl more often.

Arboreal or semi arboreal snakes such as carpets are often loath to come down to ground level if it's a long way down, and it's too cool for their comfort there. They don't hink rationally about 'needing a drink', and so spend almost all their time up the top where they literally dry out.

Humidity gauges are useless, they only tell you what you should already know.

Jamie

Thanks Jamie, this is a really interesting post - I am more than happy with the temps i've kept for her as she happily uses her whole enclosure - she basks in her hot spot, moves to in or on top of her hide on the other side of the upper level, and happily shifts down the branch to the lower part, where she likes to sit, coiled, waiting for food.

Sounds like i can definitely pick up the water changes - thanks for the feedback on that guys i will make sure to do so.

I've just bought a humidity gauge today and popped it in her enclosure. it is showing 55% so looks like the spraying we have been doing is helping also.
Her eyes are just coming back from cloudy so fingers crossed this shed goes much more smoothly!

 

[Scaler]

Dammit she shed last night and the same spot across her neck hasn't come off again. Looks like I'm going to need to give her a bath.