Shedding Taking Awhile?

[MangoPie]

Hey there! It's been awhile since I last used this forum.

Anyway, my three-year-old Bredli has been in the last stage of shedding for awhile and I'm wondering at what point I should start to be concerned. He's never had much of a problem with shedding in the past and he seems healthy (alert, normal tongue flicks, etc.)

He came out of blue about a week ago and hasn't shed yet. It has been awhile since his last shed so I'm wondering if the whole process has been slowed down because of that. He is also in a newer enclosure that he hasn't shed in yet (but he's been living in it fine for the past few months). He has a lot of rough structures to rub against to start his shed as well.

Would you guys suggest just waiting a bit longer, taking him to the vet, giving him a soak even? I've been misting his enclosure just a little to help with humidity but it hasn't seemed to inspire him to start his shed yet.

 

[CF Constrictor]

Hi MangoPie
You could try bathing him in warm water about 28c and see if that helps. Mine usualy shed about a week after the cloudy eyes clear up. Good luck.

 

[Susannah]

What do you mean it it taking a while? It is normal (given they have no thumbs) for it to take a while. It may be weeks for the process. But usually the shed itself will take an hour or so to come off. For my snake, it's usually something like:
Week one - he doesn't poop after eating. Starts to hide more.
Week two- barely moves. Refuses food.
Week three - skin looking dry. Barely moves. Might see a few crackles on his tummy. Sometimes he goes a little blushed. Refuses food.
Week four - he's like an old man...cataracts (cloudy eyes), jumpy (startles), doesn't want to leave his bed. Not happy. Skin looking itchy and whiteish. Refuses food.
Then he'll strip it off in 30-60mins (if you're lucky enough to catch him!), poop, and all will be well with the world again. He'll eat again now.

If it's not come off in one piece, give him a day or so, then help with a nice warm bath and a clean flannel cloth.

 

[MangoPie]

What do you mean it it taking a while? It is normal (given they have no thumbs) for it to take a while. It may be weeks for the process. But usually the shed itself will take an hour or so to come off. For my snake, it's usually something like:
Week one - he doesn't poop after eating. Starts to hide more.
Week two- barely moves. Refuses food.
Week three - skin looking dry. Barely moves. Might see a few crackles on his tummy. Sometimes he goes a little blushed. Refuses food.
Week four - he's like an old man...cataracts (cloudy eyes), jumpy (startles), doesn't want to leave his bed. Not happy. Skin looking itchy and whiteish. Refuses food.
Then he'll strip it off in 30-60mins (if you're lucky enough to catch him!), poop, and all will be well with the world again. He'll eat again now.

If it's not come off in one piece, give him a day or so, then help with a nice warm bath and a clean flannel cloth.

Hey there!
I wasn't aware the whole process could take up to 4 weeks wow. I've been following the guide on this forum and my guy has stuck to doing it in about two weeks consistently, so this is a little out of the blue for me.

Hopefully he starts his shed soon! Once he gets going he gets it off all at once too, he's always had pretty healthy sheds. Thanks!

 

[stylusmobilus]

So this happened to me the shed before last with my GTP. He was almost a month out of whack. Usually his belly starts to go red before he sheds, this happened but it held for ages. No issue in the end, he shed well. As all that was well ended well I didn’t stress any further on it. Sometimes Slipknot likes to push the stress a bit.