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Irisis Is Shedding!

B

Boidmom

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So my baby girl is shedding for the first time since I've had her...I was gone for a week of chemotherapy and came home looking forward to playing with my girl, she is a female double het albino/green burmese...it's been a long time since I've had snakes, but her eyes are milky and her skin looks opaque...I fed her a rat crawler but she only ate one, usually she eats three twice a week and I thought she would be super hungry, also I am trying to put her on juvie rats (with hair) but she won't take them. Do you think that she won't take them because of the hair or because she is in shed, and can I still handle her? I usually handle her often, carry her around with me everywhere, when I took her out and fed her she curled up under my shirt like she usually does to warm up and stayed there instead of moving around like usual...how long should shed last and is there anything I can do to help her through it? I know she can't see right now and any movement near her cage seems to startle her but as soon as she knows it's me she relaxes...a quick refresher course anybody?
 
Some snakes eat when they are in shed, more don't. There is nothing wrong with feeding during a shed, but too large a meal can cause a problem with ecydis (the skin may not pass over the bulge). I would guess that not taking the furred rats had as much to do with the stage of the shed as anything else, but I can't guarantee it - sometimes snakes balk at new types of prey, including larger, furred versions of what they are used to.
The shedding cycle generally takes 7-10 days. Some snakes stay opaque longer than others, and some never show the blued eyes or cloudy skin. Ecydis should take place a few days after the eyes clear.
Generally, it is recommended that handling be minimized during a shed. The snake's vision is impaired (as you mentioned), and some are more inclined to bite/strike as a result. I have heard & seen it said that the oils from our hands can negatively impact the sloughing, but I have never seen it to be a problem with my animals.
Did I cover everything?
 
I would also add that you should keep an eye on humidity. A burmese is a snake from an oppressively muggy part of the world. Dry areas of the US, like yours can cause shed problems in burms. At this time of the year the relative humidity in Myanmar (formerly Burma) is usually above 90%. Here in Colorado I regulate this by having an oversize water dish in the cage and cypress mulch substrate to retain humidity. Sometimes I have to mist and if things get really bad a wet snake bag or pillow case helps remove dry, broken sheds, eye caps, and unshed tails.
 
I knew there was something I was leaving out, lol. Thanks for filling in!
 
since your on the topic

My chondro had a bad last shed.
I soaked and tried to take off what i could but couldn't get all of it.
He went opaque a couple of days ago,even before that i kept up the humidity,and i have really kept it up and kept him misted.
He is now sloughing..if it is not a full shed ..should i immediately soak him..or should i wait and see if he gets the rest off himself.
Is there a time frame involved to help my odds ?

thankx in advance :)
 
Personally, when possible, I prefer to remove the skin as soon as possible. The reason is simply because the longer you wait, the harder it is to remove. I can't really give you a time frame for best & easiest results, because external factors provide too many variables. I would think that a chondro kept under the correct conditions should not have much problem with ecdysis
 
hhmoore said:
I would think that a chondro kept under the correct conditions should not have much problem with ecdysis
Click to expand...



Thanks for the reply :)

You know ,i thought that exact same thing when i got the first bad shed.
Go figure. :shrug01:

He just shed from neck down in one continuous ecdysis,but there is still shed on his head ,so i will be putting him in a dampend pillow case for a few hours.
thanks again.
 
Is that where the old skin was? If so, it is not surprising that there was an problem. The adhered skin seems to have prevent separation of the layers.
Was it on the top of the head, under the jaw, or elsewhere.
Is it a bitey thing? Or can you just work on the retained skin manually (well, you can do that even if it is a bitey thing, lol, it just takes a little more time & effort)
 
Now when i noticed him starting i went and misted him,and he lunged,so maybe thats why it broke.
I just went and looked at him and noticed a full skull cap ,just hanging.
I feed him,thinking that it might fall when he worked his jaw.It didn't.
So i gave him another and when he had grabbed it i carefully pulled the bit of shed off with the forceps.Got it.
Full top line cap with eye caps.Tomarrow when the lights on i"ll take a closer look at the bottom jaw,but i think he may have let it all go this time. :thumbsup:

The problem i was having is that the cage,( G. Maxwell style) was in a corner with two outside walls,so i was having trouble with too much temp fluctuation.
At least thats what i believe may have been the problem.
But this is only his 2nd shed for me so hopefully its been rectified.

Thanks again for the input Harald. :)
 
Thank you so much for replying...I have kept the humidity really high, was worried about it being too high but it sounds like there is no such thing lol. Her eyes have turned clear but no signs of sloughing yet. She didn't eat enough to have a bulge, so I guess there are no worries there. I didn't know about not handling them, but I always wash my hands before and after, she seems relaxed, just hanging out out in the open. Have offered bathing the entire time I've had her, but every time I've placed her in the bath she's crawled right out, maybe she thinks she'll melt lol. Wonder why she doesn't like baths? Thanks again everybody :)
 
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