Spotted incomplete shed

[Hindy]

I fed my hatchie spotted lastnight for the second feed with me.
This morning he is shedding his skin (great!), But it isnt a complete shed? Like the is a part shedding like 3 cms from his head and there is a nother a little further down?
Is this to be expected for a hatchie? This is my first ever snake..
Thanks guys

 

[solar 17]

IMO whats on the outside is on the inside l believe your hatchie to be a "tiny" bit dehydrated no big deal if you respond to it just moisten his/her food items personally l feed fresh killed and still do this and end up with great sheds/sloughs......solar 17

 

[Hindy]

False alarm, he just shed his whole body

 

[caliherp]

False alarm, he just shed his whole body

In one piece? If not it may have been because of feeding it so close to shed time.

 

[Gruni]

It could have to do with humidity levels being low in your enclosure. The easy fix at the moment is to give your little one a 'bath' some people will tell you to just use some warm water in a container where the water is deep enough to cover the snake. I use a method given to me by a long standing herper and make a cup of camomile tea and then cool it with extra water and then bath the snake for about 20mins. Then moisten a face cloth with the tea mix and squeeze out the excess and let your hatchy slither through your grasp in the cloth and the retained shed should slide off easily. The oils in the camomile help soften the skin and has other beneficial properties, it certainly does no harm and it sems to work a treat.

 

[caliherp]

It could have to do with humidity levels being low in your enclosure. The easy fix at the moment is to give your little one a 'bath' some people will tell you to just use some warm water in a container where the water is deepenough to cover the snake. I use a method given to me by a long standing herper and make a cup of camomile tea and then cool it with extra water and then bath the snake for about 20mins. Then moisten a face cloth with the tea mix and squeeze out the excess and let your hatchy slither through your grasp in the cloth and the retained shed should slide off easily. The oils in the camomile help soften the skin and has other beneficial properties, it certainly does no harm and it sems to work a treat.

I never heard of that. Ill have to give it a try next time. I use the warm water in a tub method, then I sandwich it between a damp towel and let it slither out.

 

[Gruni]

Yeah Cali, I have seen it done with a 10ft Coastal in a big tub, you just use more teabags. Funnily enough the coastal was a kranky piece of work but after a soak in the tea when grabbed with a wet towel she settled right down and seemed to 'enjoy' the slither to get the skin off.

 

[Hindy]

In one piece? If not it may have been because of feeding it so close to shed time.

Yes in one peice, but he does have a little bit left towards the end of his body

 

[cathy1986]

how long do you soak for?? my friends hatchie albino darwin has had a shocker of a shed and only shed from neck down

Cathy

 

[Gruni]

20-30 mins or so is usually enough Cathy.

 

[cathy1986]

all sorted all came off in the end

Cathy

 

[Gruni]

all sorted all came off in the end

Cathy

You can also use the teabag as a type of loufer to help rub the skin off...

Did your friend soak his albino or did it sort itself out?

 

[Ramsayi]

All that is needed is water.
Plenty of ways to get bad sheds off from placing the animal in a damp pillow case to putting the animal in a tub with a wet paper towel.

 

[Albino93]

Also, ive heard using dishwashing liquid in water, then soaking the snake. Ive never needed to soak my snakes, except on the odd occasion when they didnt shed their tail tip.
But yeah all thats really needed is just plain old water in a tub.

 

[Ramsayi]

Yeah people say add a bit of detergent,camomile tea or other additives.What they all have in common though is water and plain water gets the job done.

 

[fourexes]

detergents can also be slightly caustic :?

water has worked for me. Better applied before shed than you shouldn't need it after.

 

[Gruni]

I did it with the camomile when Skittles retained her tail tip because I had some at home and I didn't see the harm, I would be curious to hear someones opinion who has had a snake that has shed badly in the past who actually gives it a go and sees if it makes any noticable difference rather than just people saying 'You don't need it' who have never tried it.

My friend who put me onto it has kept snakes for nearly 40 years and has been using it as a method for the better part of 30 of those and has huge experience with all manner of snakes and has had some shockers in the mix so I am happy to take his advice on this one as it's no skin off my nose and no harm for the snake.