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Shed Concerns

W

Widabeck

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Hi there. New to the group. I have a hatchling, Capone, who is going through his first shed with me and I'm a little anxious about the whole thing. I've done lots of reading but get really conflicting results. He's about 18" and I've had him about a month now. I fed him after the first week and he ate quickly without hesitation. The following week he refused to eat, and last week he refused to eat. The last week or so he was very inactive and I was afraid he was sick. Although now I see he's going through a shed. His skin looks really wrinkly when he bends and I read this could be dehydration but he's always got water in his bowl. His humidty level has been low (30-40%) but I live in WI and it's so dry in the winter. I mist his cage every day, and I ready some great tips yesterday to keep the humidity levels up in his enclosure and they have been about 70% all day. His warm side is mid 90's and his cool side is mid to high 70's. He also has an UTH and a basking lamp. I haven't seen his eyes get cloudy but he's flaking skin and he seems to be rubbing his face on a lot of stuff to get this skin off.

I guess my biggest concern is that he's dehydrated. Obviously a shed means they are growing, and a shed would explain the lethargic behavior. From what I read the wrinkly skin is a big issue. but other people say it's totally fine and I only need to worry if it wrinkled vertically along his body, which it isn't. And he didn't look like that two days ago and.

Any suggestions from people with more BP experience than me?

If I can figure out how, I will try to post a picture of him currently so you can see his skin.
 

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He has a stuck shed which means he tried to get it of but it's just stuck there.
Now it's your turn to get the shed off.

Plastic tub with lid
1 to 1 1/2 inches of 88 degree water in the tub
Add a hand towel
Add snake lock lid or place something on the lid if it's not a locking lid tub.
Let snake soak 30 minutes and replenish the water with more 88 degree water and soak again for 30 minutes.
By this time the shed should either be all off or should slide off with minimal help.

You'll need to address the humidity issue, they need 40-60 percent full time and 60 to 70 percent during shed periods.
 
Thank you for the suggestion. Can you answer this for me quick??? I did exactly what you said and as soon as I put him in the water he FREAKED out. He's not loving it AT ALL. I've never soaked him before, so is that normal?? His reaction makes me super anxious.
 
Make sure the water is very shallow, and it's neither too hot or too cold. You don't want him swimming, just lying there in a little water.
 
UPDATE!!!!
I followed snakeRkewl's directions and my beautiful boy looks amazing!! After letting him soak for an hour, I held him on my lap in a towel and as he was cruising around, he started to remove his shed. I had to help a little. He looks so pretty right now and I want to take pics but I'm going to let him rest for a bit and when it's "lights out" tonight and he starts coming out, I'll do it then. I'm one proud mama! CONCERN: While he was rubbing around in the towel he got some of the shed on his head off, but it looks like it's missing a scale or two in one spot. It looks raw. Will this heal? Do I need to watch for anything? Is this normal, or is it because of his bad shed, which is my fault due to lack of humidity?

He has refused food the last two weeks, and I would have tried again yesterday but I know you shouldn't feed during a shed. Since he's done, when should I try to feed him? Does he need a few days yet?

CONCERN: While he was rubbing around in the towel
 
I would let him sit for a day before feeding after what he's been through.
Congrats on removing the shed, he'll do much better without that ole stuck shed on him.
The spot on the head may just be from the stuck shed, let it be and it should heal on it's own.
If you're worried about it then try to take some pics and show us what the spot looks like.
 
I'm not super worried about the spot since I agree, it's most likely from the stuck shed. I just didn't know if there was risk for infection or something else that I should be watching out for. But here is a picture just to show. It's been a couple of hours and already it's less red, and now just looks white. it's in the middle of his snout. You should be able to clearly see it.

And I threw in one of him post shed just for fun.
 

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It's a rub spot on his head. He was trying to squeeze out of something. You can dab it with triple antibiotic cream, without the added pain relief, and it will get better with each following shed. Triple antibiotic cream or petroleum jelly also doubles as a great aide for those little pieces of stuck shed too.
 
I think you ar being over concerned. You are doing a great job and don't worry. snakes r kewl has the right answers.
 
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