shedding trouble

[drache]

I checked him again and there was more shed coming off his neck
so now I think the head hasn't shed yet
he took two pinkies
and back into the bag
he's been in there forever, it seems

[adamanteus]

The wet bag won't do any harm Rhea. More important to get that old skin off him, especially the brille. Stick with it, it will work, but keep him warm!

[drache]

the female shed as well and I haven't found the head part of that shed yet, so I put her in the bag with him
the other male is getting ready to shed
there are pieces of shed all over the tank and floating in the water
nothing looks like head, although there are some stringy wet pieces

[drache]

I'm giving up
by this morning the damn bag was dry and there weren't any new pieces of shed
I'm just gonna see whether Sean from the rescue can look at them
I want to know whether they need to be in the wet bag, not just assume that they do, because I haven't found the shed
he'll know what he's looking at and I'm sure he's got better eyesight than me

[Cazador]

As I was reading your last couple posts, I was thinking that it might be time to see the vet. It's not the shedding issue... that's just the symptom of the problem. Hopefully, the rescue guy will be just as helpful.

Just a thought, Rhea, but you might consider waiting till your other male finishes shedding and take them all three at once.

[drache]

Originally Posted by Cazador

As I was reading your last couple posts, I was thinking that it might be time to see the vet. It's not the shedding issue... that's just the symptom of the problem. Hopefully, the rescue guy will be just as helpful.

Just a thought, Rhea, but you might consider waiting till your other male finishes shedding and take them all three at once.

I'd just taken them and the vet said that the sheds might be weird until they shed out the remnants of parasite damage

Sean said that if they were doing otherwise okay, I needn't freak out
to give it another shed cycle
and meanwhile to make sure they have access to a damp hide

they're doing pretty well otherwise . . .

[crayguns]

I had a common boa constrictor for about 27 years. During winters he would often have trouble shedding. I'd soak him in the bath tub for a while. If the eyecaps didn't come the first time, I'd let his eyecap stay till next shed. If it didn't come off then after the tub soak, I'd put him on the counter and use the roughness of a wash cloth, or my finger print to tease the eyecap off. If this didn't work, I took the tiny tweezers from my Swiss army knife and then removed the eyecaps.
The aforementioned operations were done V E R Y C A R E F U L L Y and S L O W L Y. Of course Desmond and I seemed to be on the same page. He seemed to understand I was on his side. A very patient and understanding snake.
Of course doing this with a foot long snake is quite different than with a 7 footer. I hope though this will be of some help.

[adamanteus]

It sounds as though you're quite an experienced keeper, crayguns. The use of tweezers is certainly effective, but I would advise caution for some of our less experienced keepers. One small slip could spell disaster.

One method I have used numerous times in the past is to roll sticky tape, sticky side out, around a finger tip, then press this gently against the brille (eye-cap). This will normally solve the problem.

[drache]

well
thanks for the advice
at this point he's shedding again and we'll see how that goes
tomorrow
which, as they say
should be a better day

[drache]

okay
so the little guy is going through another bad shed
this time not as bad as last time
but still
i haven't found any head shed
I have been wet-bagging him
and the shed has come off in pieces again
do the spectacles feel hard when they're wet?
I've always only felt them when the shed was done and they were dry and hard
if they're soft when wet, I might have missed them
I'm still wet-baggiing him now
I just can't imagine two layers of old shed on his head wouldn't somehow be visually apparent