Dysecdysis....Or, inability to shed

[crotalusadamanteus]

This little one was spotted immediately upon birth, and even before first breath, she was chosen as a hold back. So I'm sitting there in awe of her, waiting to see if mom is done yet so I can remove her for the safety of the new arrivals.

10 minutes go by and one last squeeze reveals nothing, mom starts poking around, and wagging her tail through the babies as if to stir them up and get them going. (that's purty neat BTW) So I figure she's done, and got the large tub ready for her to soak in while the babies disperse naturally, and I get things cleaned up. So reaching in to get a hold of Mom, and she decides she ain't going there, and bolts right into the middle of the pile, sending babies flying, and thrashing them into the wall of the cage. :sad:

I finally get a hold of mom, move her to the tub and go to look at the babies. Right there, smashed into the corner of the wall and substrate was the little one I had been admiring as a keeper. Smashed, separated from the yolk sac, and bleeding quite a bit. Another one, a Sunglow looking the same close by. So I separate these ones and the other two in the mess right away.

Fast forwarding, Sunglow kicks in fine, and this little one just barely hangs in there. One month goes by, no first shed, refuses to eat anything, starting to look and feel leathery like. Obvious signs of dehydration in the skin, and starting to look a bit thin now too.

Now I start to keep her with humidity levels on the dangerous side for a Boa, hoping it will help her with the Dysecdysis, and I start to soak her in distilled water placed on shelf of rack to acclimate it, a couple times a week, and Subcutaneous fluid injections every other day to help with any internal dehydration that may be going on.

Fast forward another month, and still no first shed, or first meal, and I've tried it all. So now I go ahead and break out the feeding needle and mix a little slurry of A/D diet from the vets office, adding some Nutribac df for some digestive track help, and hopefully stimulate a feed response. Next day, she hazes over, and i give her another soak. Day after that, another soak, still hazy looking. Continue the same for another 3 days as she starts to clear up, and this morning I am rewarded with 2 pieces of shed. Complete, but broke in half.

But the problems ain't over just yet unfortunately. She obviously still has a skin condition going on, because though her shed was a whole one, there are some obvious patches that just don't look, or feel right.

And it's not rubbing off either. I soaked her for a couple hours this morning, and made her slither through a towel for a while, and not one little piece came off. I'll just have to wait till next shed cycle, keeping up with the fluids and soaks, and tube feeding if necessary and see what happens.

Figures it's the one i want to keep that makes me work for it, eh. LOL Lets just hope she makes it. Ever seen anything so crazy looking?

Thanks for looking! Any ideas welcome.
Rick

 

[Mooing Tricycle]

Man what a beauty she is!!! I truly hope this one ends up doing alright, sounds like youve got her going in the right direction!

Im crossing my fingers for you and her rick!

 

[hhmoore]

I've had a few of things over the years that retained a shed (or two...or three).
It looks like that is what you've got happening there - the lighter areas look like both layers came off, and the darker areas still have the "first" shed glued in place. If you think she can handle it - give her an extended soak, then work at one of the edges with your thumbnail (you could also rub upward along her lipline...I usually work at the corner of the mouth - it tends to be an easier start than further forward, and it also gets the skin on the lower jaw started. This is a good way to get the head started, as opposed to trying to peel backward "against the grain" of the scales.)
Peeling a shed that is that stuck can be frustrating & tedious, because it is often difficult to get a strip going - you frequently end up just picking off a few scale groups at a time.

 

[crotalusadamanteus]

You think mineral oil would aide or hinder? Good or bad idea? Or Glycerin oil? I have both, and I've been contemplating because both could make for a messy tub real quick, and keep the water from penetrating.

I usually have pretty good luck rubbing them with a towel, but this stuff is stuck pretty good.

 

[hhmoore]

I'm not sure, Rick, I've never used either for that purpose. A long time ago, when mineral oil was offered up as a means of dealing with mites, I tried it...what a mess. Everything I used it on shed scales for weeks (that was the only time I did that, lol). It was individual scales, though, and it didn't seem to have any effect on their shed cycle.

The absolute worse case I had to deal with (dysecdysis, not mites) was on a WC C. vegrandis I received. I spent days peeling that thing...every time I thought I was done, I realized there was another layer. I scraped 4 separate sheds off that I was sure about....and he shed himself within a week of me finishing.

 

[crotalusadamanteus]

I'll just stick to my original plan. I don't need a mess, or a bunch of loose scales. LOL

Thanks for the input. She's gonna soak long tomorrow.
Rick

 

[crotalusadamanteus]

Time for another update. She got one more gut load of AD diet last week, and the past several days has hazed over, and cleared, and should be shedding any day now. We'll see how that goes.

Last night was feeding night, so for the sake of trying, I offered a F/T pink, and she said "Ew! Get it away from me!" SO I tossed in a live fuzzy and left it overnight. I was going to check on her and remove it this morning, and just as I opened the tub, "Squeek, squeek, sqeeeeeek"

Maybe she finally figured it out. Now for that shed. I'll let you know in a bit how she does. it's a bit of a head stretcher, but not too big.


Rick

 

[Mooing Tricycle]

^_^ thats a great sign! Congrats!

 

[hhmoore]

Good to see, Rick...maybe it'll stretch her enough to break that old skin loose, lol

 

[crotalusadamanteus]

Well, she got it down. And looked like she was ready for another. But I ain't gonna push my luck. First solid meal needs to stay down. LOL

I'm stoked. I only have one more holdout now. And that's the runt Sunglow of Auroras litter. Now lets hope that shed is a good one, and I can see what this girl actually looks like.

Thanks for the nice replies!
Rick

 

[Golden Gate Geckos]

In many cases, Dysecdysis is secondary to a disfunction of the parathyroid gland, which also controls calcium metabolism. It isn't always a result of low humidity.

 

[crotalusadamanteus]

Well, she didn't get to absorb her yolk due to the mad thrasher, and she bled quite a bit from the whole ordeal. So I suspect a deficiency of sorts may have a play in this. Once I started tubing food into her, you could see an improvement in her alertness, and activity level.

Right now, she has a huge belly, so she's just laying there, not lifting more then her head at the moment. LOL

Thanks for the post. Interesting to know.
Rick

 

[crotalusadamanteus]

Well, I woke up this morning to this...

Pretty nice sight eh. When you look close, you can see the old skin patches stuck to it....

But we're not out of the hole just yet. Although it appears like a perfect shed, she still has one spot that gave problems, and looks like it staid on her...

We got one layer off, but the coloration says some is still there, and she needs another shed to be good. But she looked good enough for pictures. I'll post them in the Boa forum.


Thanks for looking, and opining.
Rick

 

[TheFragginDragon]

SWEEET! Excellent news Rick!

 

[Golden Gate Geckos]

WHEW!!!