shedding and stress

[ann0306]

Sorry to keep asking all these newbie questions, but you guys all seem to know so much! My new dumeril is in her first shed (for me) and it's bad! She started the day before yesterday and all that's off is her head. She's shed the eyecaps, but the shed has only gone off about 4 inches of her body. She doesn't seem overly stressed about it and I don't want to make it worse. She hates water, so I'm wary of soaking her. Do I let her try to work this out herself, soak her anyway or what? What's the bigger stress? Thanks so much in advance for your help!

[ann0306]

Oh, the humidity in her cage is about 50%. Her temps go from 90 to 70. She's about a year old, a little under 24 inches and is in a 20L Visionarium. She's eating f/t rat pups well once a week and defecating regularly.

[Kent K25]

First off, what kind of guage are you getting that 50% humidity reading off of? I thought my humidity was great when I first got my boa, but then i was told to get a better thermometer/hygrometer and found that my humidity was actually low.

Secondly, since you boa began shedding a few days ago, it wouldnt be a bad idea now to give her a good soak, she has shown that she isn't going to be able to shed on her own. Just make sure the water isn't so deep that she has to swim in it. I've never had to soak my boa before, so I'm sure there are more fine toothed details that someone will come along and point out.

[ann0306]

Yeah, my guage is not a high tech one- I'm thinking that might be a good purchase this weekend.

I wouldn't hesitate to soak my BCI, but this dum just HATES wet. I tried the wet washcloth thing and she jumped a mile!

	Boa Constrictor Imperator Boa Constrictor (Boa constrictor imperator). Most common is the Colombian Boa.

[Kent K25]

I'd recommend goin to Target/Walmart/etc one of those places and picking up one of their dual thermometer/hygrometers for about $20 or less with all the sales right now.

It reads humidity on the unit, temp on the unit, and temp on a probe. I put the probe under the substrate on the hot side and place the unit on the wall of the cool side.

[ann0306]

Thanks

[JuliusSqueezer]

great advice.

A note about soaking. People tend to think soaking 20-30 minutes is enough. It isn't. Soak her for several hours or even over night. Place the soak tote half on and half off a human heatpad set on low. Make sure she has something to hang onto. I use a wadded up toiletpaper or papertowl core. This also provides something to rub against to get the shed off. Check her every couple hours or so if you want...when you see the shed is coming off, you can usually gently rub the rest off. If she hasn't shed completely after several hours of soaking add a drop or 2 of mild liquid soap. DO NOT put the soap in at the beginning of the soak. Allow time for her to drink first. She is not likely to drink any more after she has been soaking awhile. If she does drink the water with soap, it won't hurt her since it's such a small amount anyway but it could cause a bit of runny stool. There is a product out called shed aid that you add a few drops to soak water that does the same thing...know why? because it's soap lol. No snake hates water. What they hate is you putting them somewhere they aren't certain of. Once she settles into the soak container, she will be fine and may even fuss about being removed. Make sure there are airholes either in the lid or around the upper rim of the tote. I prefer putting airholes around the upper rim because I also use them to feed in and I stack them.

[JuliusSqueezer]

OH...also do not use cold, hot or warm water. The water should feel neither warm nor cool to your touch (tepid)

[ann0306]

So the stress of a soak that she'll hate should be less than the stress of a bad shed? Thanks so much- I appreciate all the replies!

[Kent K25]

Originally Posted by JuliusSqueezer

No snake hates water. What they hate is you putting them somewhere they aren't certain of. Once she settles into the soak container, she will be fine and may even fuss about being removed.

Like he said, it's not really a matter of your snake hating water or the soak, it's the new and assumed unsafe location. If some squirming and resisiting means they hate something, then my boa hates to eat, cuz I have the TOUGHEST time getting him into his feed tote.

[Gecko-Guy]

Also, if you want to raise humidity in the tank, use warm water instead of cold water. I used to think that my boa hated getting sprayed because he would squirm and then hide. I tried using warm water and he basically puts his face up to the spray bottle because he likes it so much.