vet or no vet

snakemojo115 · #1 (**permalink**) 08-12-2010, 06:25 AM

Hello everyone I was just wondering what you all think about this,I have a female anery columbian boa that I bought back at christmas,she has been doing fine until about a month ago.I had her cage set up with all cypress mulch and a month ago I decided to go back to using newspaper because its just so much more simple well she went into shed and it was a mess even though I mist her cage twice daily and temps were good,and you have got to believe me when I say I dont skimp on the care of my snakes,but anyway I soaked her multible times and used shed aid on her peeled off what I could and said I would give her one more shot at it hoping that what I didnt get off would come off with the next shed.so I put the cypress back in and also mixed in a little shredded coconut fiber,humidity is around 70% plus ,next shed came the head and eye caps came off and that was it ,so I soaked her peeled off midbody all the way to tail tip the rest doesnt want to come off,so should I take her to the vet to get the rest off so we can get a clean start or just keep soaking? by the way all of my snakes have there own custom built cages with helix therms.I just hope theres not some underlined problem with her that I cant see,all my other snakes shed perfect.thanks

Sakara · #2 (**permalink**) 08-12-2010, 06:32 AM

you can soak her and peel it off yourself. use a washcloth or something and let her crawl through it while you apply gentle pressure. that should help peel up some areas that are being stubborn

I've done it a few times before when needed.

beelane · #3 (**permalink**) 08-12-2010, 06:35 AM

Some snakes have a lot more trouble than others shedding. Whenever mine can't seem to get those last few pieces off, I just soak them in warm water for about an hour (sometimes 30 mins, depends on how bad it is) and it usually comes off in my hands. Use a soft cloth if it won't. You have to be really careful but I'm always successful with it. The vet won't be able to do much more than you can! Good luck!

snakemojo115 · #4 (**permalink**) 08-12-2010, 06:51 AM

I guess I will just keep soaking and try to get the rest off and hopefully next time will be much better,I hope.I would freak if something happened to this boa,she has a calm attitude and is probably my favorite snake,but anyway thanks sakara and beelane for the input.

HERPHAPPY · #5 (**permalink**) 08-13-2010, 01:31 AM

I have occasionally had to help a snake shed, and wouldn't dream of taking one to the vet for that...as others said above, a damp cloth or soaking helps, just be gentle about it. But keep a special watch on this snake as sometimes there is an underlying cause for the bad shed, and you may yet need the vet for something a bit more technical here...I hope not tho!

snakemojo115 · #6 (**permalink**) 08-13-2010, 04:11 PM

thanks for the info herphappy,Ive been soaking her everyday since the bad shed,and between her rubbing in her cage and me manually peeling and soaking her its just about all off. I was mainly worried about any part that didnt come off until the next shed causing a skin infection or something,Ive never had any skin problems with any of my other snakes.

louise · #7 (**permalink**) 08-13-2010, 04:12 PM

just make sure you get it off the tip of the snakes tail.

louise · #8 (**permalink**) 08-13-2010, 04:16 PM

i also found that loofahs work really good when giving them a bath to get off stuck sheds.

not the soap, i just found a pic on google in case you did not know what a loofah was.

nitram · #9 (**permalink**) 08-13-2010, 04:54 PM

bad sheds arent only related with husbandry, ive had perfect sheds when i used aquarium style enclosures (screen tops) and humidity would stay at about 30-40 constantly. i find that keeping the snake hydrated with access to fresh water at all times is more important than the ambient humidity. of course this is just with my experience, ive since made some enclosure adjustments now they have 50-60 relative ambient humidity.
also stress plays a good role in this.
if your husbandry is tip top and you've accurate measuring devices (good hygrometer, thermometer, temp gun, etc) and you always provide water, id say the snake was stressed out. maybe overhandling? or handling while in shed?

HERPHAPPY · #10 (**permalink**) 08-13-2010, 05:04 PM

Other issues like internal parasites affect shedding too, just something to think about if this is not a one-time difficulty.

snakemojo115 · #11 (**permalink**) 08-13-2010, 05:14 PM

I never thought about using the loofhahs louise thats a great idea my wife has plenty of them around,I think maybe with the excessive soaking trying to remove the stuck shed maybe stressing her out a bit I think I will leave her alone a while and see what happens. the head,eyecaps and from midbody all the way to tailtip is all off,and she has a catpan for soaking and a water dish in her cage,humidity is 65-70% heat is 92 hotside 82 cool side.

louise · #12 (**permalink**) 08-13-2010, 06:04 PM

really the hot side should be around 88. try to get the hot side down. those few degrees can make a big difference. then again i keep the cool side about 85. i drop all the temps at night about 5 degrees.

louise · #13 (**permalink**) 08-13-2010, 06:05 PM

nitram, i actually liked my tanks better then i do my cages. i stuck with the cages though cause i always heard they are better.

nitram · #14 (**permalink**) 08-13-2010, 06:40 PM

i liked the tanks too.... before i stopped using them, i got an fogger and split the tube into 3 sections with a 4way pvc piece. had a tube going into each tank (i had 3 snakes then, in 3 tanks) with a hygrometer that stopped the fogger when the humidity reached 60, it would lower to about 48 and start up again.
people say that since theyre more exposed, young snakes are stressed by having all clear sides like aquariums do, but mine were very explorative. always perched. looked nice (especially with the fog in there).. i liked it. but my rack and boaphiles makes keeping more snakes a lot easier.

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