Shedding Issue

[Lawra]

My woma hatchie went milky 5 days ago, and 3 days ago his eye caps came off but he's not shed yet. What did I do wrong?

I gave him a swim yesterday arvo and again just now and while his body is scrunchy, his head hasn't come off even though he's rubbing his head on absolutely everything.

He's shed once in my care and I have only had him about 2 months. He's my first so I don't want to interfere too much with something that should come easily if I'm giving him a good home.

 

[Lawra]

Sorry I take that back he just started

 

[Norm]

Wow that was a quick turn around!

 

[Lawra]

Haha as soon a I hit post I looked up and he had his mouth wide open like yawning and the skin was peeled back.

Mixture btwn yay he's started and oh no missed photo op!

 

[Tobe404]

Glad he finally sorted himself out for you.

My female MD hasn't shed in 3 months. Was starting to get to me a little. But I put it down to being Winter and her going off food so not growing as quick as normal. Felt her skin before and it was all wrinkly so I'd say she's not far off. Eyes went blue about a week ago.

Do you give his encllosure a good spray once or twice a day once you notice the signs of a shed? I always make sure I do for my Snakes just to aid the shed process.

 

[Lawra]

Oh I hadn't thought about misting before. I will give it a go next time around.

I live in nth qld so it's usually fairly humid so easy for him to shed. At the moment it's fairly dry so maybe that was the problem?

 

[Tobe404]

Could of been. But if the shed came off in one piece I'd just keep doing what you're doing. Sounds pretty right to me.

 

[Lawra]

Unfortunately I just got home and it hadn't come off in one piece. I gave him another bath to gently help the last 50mm off.

What did I do wrong?

 

[RedFox]

Unfortunately I just got home and it hadn't come off in one piece. I gave him another bath to gently help the last 50mm off.

What did I do wrong?

One of my womas had a bad shed 2 weeks ago. First time since I got him (last december). I found I had let the substrate get really dry and the humidity had dropped quite a bit over the winter even though I live in FNQ as well. I used the damp pillow case method and let him slither around in that for about 10-15mins then I gently rubbed the skin off using the pillow case.

I also put in a new lot of substrate (coir peat) that was slightly damp so if I missed any it would soften and he could rub it off.

Worked a treat.

 

[Lawra]

Thank you

He's only been on paper towel so far but I'm looking into coir peat for his new tank. Do you think that's the best substrate? I was hoping to have him on reddish sand because it seemed a more natural environment but was advised against it.

 

[RedFox]

I really like it. And it looks pretty good. I made a rock wall in a similar colour so they complement each other. A lot easier to clean than sand and doesn't get everywhere, masks smells, can help with humidity and is really cheap.

I have also used kritters krumble, which I loved, but is pretty much the same thing already expanded and wrapped in pretty packaging for ten times the price.

I'll take a picture tomorrow of what it looks like in my enclosure, so you can get a proper idea of how 'natural' it looks.

Both my womas love digging in it which is really interesting to watch.

 

[Lawra]

Awesome! Yeah I read womas like to dig with their head which is what put me on the sand trail (pun unintended) but coir peat sounds like the way to go

I'm in the process of making a rock wall, in other words I looked at the DIY threads and have set about making a mess with the mountain of foam I acquired. It has been fun

 

[Lawra]

Oh in regards to smell. Do you find your snakes smell? Mine doesn't and neither does his enclosure. Is that weird?

I change the paper towel and give his cage a quick once over whenever he poops I don't use any cleaning products.

His tank is in my room so I hope he doesn't start to smell as he gets older. He is a boy though

 

[Steveycrack]

Neither of my coastals smell, and their enclosures are both spot cleaned and totally cleaned every month. Keep doing that and you shouldn't have any problems with smells.

 

[Pythoninfinite]

Lawra, I think you'll find that the occular scales (eye caps) didn't come off as you suggest (unless you found them separately in the enclosure, but this would be very unusual) - they probably just cleared up, as they do about 3-5 days before shedding takes place. It is wise to leave the snake to its own devices during the entire shedding process, from the onset of the opaque phase until it sheds, without any interference. You risk damaging the developing skin during this time, when snakes generally remain fairly inactive for that very reason.

An imperfect shed is not a sign of poor husbandry in most cases, it is just something that happens if the skin tears during the ecdysis process. There seems to be a huge amount of anxiety in the new-to-reptile-keeping community about shedding and humidity, but in by far the majority of cases, humidity is a non-issue, and ambient humidity is just fine for all the popular pet snake species. Even for GTPs, the need for constantly high humidity is greatly exaggerated. The only things I mist, ever, in my small collection are my GTPs, and even then only about once a week, or maybe prior to shedding. Hatchy GTPs are always kept fairly humid because they have extremely thin, fine skin.

Jamie

 

[Lawra]

Thanks Jamie

 

[Hamalicious]

I got home today to find my Black head had a terrible shed, I'm also in Qld, I think the dry conditions are whats causing the problems.

 

[andynic07]

I got home today to find my Black head had a terrible shed, I'm also in Qld, I think the dry conditions are whats causing the problems.

Do you cool you bhp during winter?

 

[Hamalicious]

Do you cool you bhp during winter?

I still give them a basking spot but their ambient temps drop during winter. Her sheds are usually fine, she's only had a few bad ones in her life. All have been when the weather gets dry.

 

[andynic07]

Yeah I was just wondering if heating at normal temperatures during the colder months could have brought about the bad shed but if you don't heat as much during winter it should be fine.