I was really suprised

[Bel03]

One of my brothers has a 3yr old scrub python, he has had him for the last yr, he is pushing the 8ft mark now. The previous owner rarely handled this snake, & in the beginning it was very 'aggressive', it literally hated my brother even looking at it! I went around there yesterday to see my niece for her bday, & was lucky enough to arrive just as 'goose' was about to shed.......what suprised me was that my brother had him out of the enclosure & he wasnt biting! Craig then showed me what he has been doing the last few mnths.......as soon as goose starts to shed, he takes him out of his enclosure & puts him in a warm bath, goose then literally uses my brothers hands to help push his shed off, whenever Craig takes his hands away, goose 'hunts' them down, & pushes himself through them again to pull back his shed. When it was all over, he then climbed straight up Craig's arm with this look of great satisfaction.........it really does seem to have bonded them. Now, i know that snakes find shedding stressful, & i would never have even thought of ever helping a snake shed, but after seeing how much this seems to have worked for my brother, i thought i would share it for any one else who may wish to give it a try for any snakes you have that may be not so friendly.......of course i dont believe goose now 'loves' my brother at all, but it has definately made him realise that Craig isnt there to hurt him.

 

[Just_Plain_Nuts]

i have to help one of my snakes shed every time. I too have to soak her and help her peel the skin back and she too seems quite appreciative and helpful of this

 

[jakedasnake]

does the snake need help to shed?

 

[Bel03]

No, my brothers snake has always had good sheds, he started helping 'accidently' awhile ago, as he had missed the shedding signs & when he had goose in the bath he started using Craig's hands as the 'rough surface', so from there he started putting him in the bath whenever he is about to shed, & yeah, although shedding is a stressful time for them, goose seems to really 'appreciate' the help, & my brother is loving the fact that he is no longer being bitten!

 

[Reptilefreak95]

I do that wih my male darwin, he has some really bad sheds and after I started helping him shed, he seems to really be less stressed after and is really laid back about it, when the times i havn't helped him, he is an absolute pain (literally) i reckon it does help with bonding, and saving them that stress really helps the trust side of things too.