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Gravel Shed Issues

beballs

beballs

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Im posting this in regarss to my friends gravel ball python. She had this littke baby shipped to her before its first shed...and i believe after its first meal. Since after its first shed the baby has had progressively worsened dry shed problems. She says shes tried different sized bowls, tryed spraying his bin more, along with soaks, and a wet bag. Nothing has helped this baby shed. They even tried a bottle of shed ease and had to use the whole just just to get shed off.

I took liberty making this because she really has no idea what else to do, she plans on takong him to the vet. Yet i was wondering if anyone else has had issues like this, where an animal has optimal care as far as heat and humidity goes, but still the shed remains to be difficult.

Attached is a picture of the poor little one after a soak.
uploadfromtaptalk1454414899902.jpg

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beballs said:
Im posting this in regards to my friends gravel ball python. She had this little baby shipped to her before its first shed...and i believe after its first meal. Since after its first shed the baby has had progressively worsened dry shed problems. She says shes tried different sized bowls, tried spraying his bin more, along with soaks, and a wet bag. Nothing has helped this baby shed. They even tried a bottle of shed ease and had to use the whole thing just to get shed off.

I took liberty making this because she really has no idea what else to do, she plans on takong him to the vet. Yet i was wondering if anyone else has had issues like this, where an animal has optimal care as far as heat and humidity goes, but still the shed remains to be difficult.

Attached is a picture of the poor little one after a soak.
View attachment 765937

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Click to expand...



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Is it possible she's keeping it too humid? Soaking strips the oils they have that facilitates shedding. Might be that one bad shed was a fluke and her intervention is exacerbating the problem.

How many sheds has it had, and is it eating well, no mites, etc.? What substrate is it on? Has she tried leaving the hatchling alone with pieces of stuck shed until the next cycle? If the baby is otherwise healthy, and if the stuck shed isn't harming it, I'd try just stepping back and seeing if it's body chemistry doesn't even out on its own.

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The snake is dehydrated. Misting and soaking won't really help. It needs fluids in it's body.
 
Every stuck shed problem I've ever had has been solved after a 30 minute FULL BODY soak in warm- not hot- not cold, but WARM water. The snake should be completed submerged in water for at least 30 minutes, regardless of what everyone says it has always worked for me.

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After the soak, gently rub the skin off. If it's not coming off very easily, soak it more

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beballs said:
Im posting this in regarss to my friends gravel ball python. She had this littke baby shipped to her before its first shed...and i believe after its first meal.
Click to expand...
The timeline here seems off, normally babies hatch out, shed 7-10 days later, and take a meal after that.

Also, why accept a gravel so young? Most sellers want their babies to be solidly eating before they get shipped.

I agree that this poor baby is dehydrated and it likely was kept in too dry conditions before shipping. It needs to be rehydrated from the inside; soaking can only do so much.

If it's eating then try switching to f/t feeders and offer those wet, to get as much water into this snake as possible. I'd also run it like I do my baby BRB's, at 90% or higher humidity on an inch of cypress mulch in the hatchling tub, to keep it from drying out more.
 
I was wrong in my information. They recieved the animal without it shedding...and without its first meal. Ill tell them to try feeding its mice wet. Ive also told them to come here and respond. I dont know why the breeder sent it to them so yound...:( yet i feel the same way for this poor thing. Hopefully she will come here and give more details.

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beballs said:
I was wrong in my information. They recieved the animal without it shedding...and without its first meal. Ill tell them to try feeding its mice wet.
Click to expand...
Its first few meals should be live, never mind wet. Get that poor baby eating to start with and keep it humid.

Has your friend ever raised a neonate before?
 
Well they have gotten him on a good schedule. Feeding him every week. Although she told me that he will occasionally skip a meal. Theyve had him for awhile now. She was busy today and couldnt make an account, but did tell me to say this (copy and paste) "We were not informed that it was fresh out of the egg until we saw the snake. We had a partner win it at auction on facebook who also wasn't made aware. When we got it, it had yet to shed. It's first shed was awful. It's second shed was worse, so we tried soaking it. It's third, we left. It's fourth we left. And the next thing we knew, it had three (yes, we counted) layers of stuck shed. We tried soaking again, spraying regularly, watching humidity, bagging it, and using shed ease. Now, it's in shed again and we are trying to leave it alone for the most part. We still intend on taking it to the vet, but we're just trying to hopefully find some more ideas?"

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What kind of setup do they have him in - tank w/ lights, rack/tub w/ under-tank heat, enclosure with RHP, etc? What are they using for substrate? How are they monitoring humidity in the enclosure?
 
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