Shedding issues

Sleppery · #1 (**permalink**) 02-18-2010, 07:54 PM

I picked up tiamat on the 3rd of february. She's a 5 ft long boa, possibly red tailed, not sure. He had her inside of a 30 gal tank for the last three years with nothing but an inch of sand and a bearded dragon sized water dish. She was curled up in newspaper with no light on when I saw her.
Her eyes were cloudy and it looked like she was going into a shed cycle. He hadn't fed her in a month and a half. We brought her home, next morning she ate.
She still hasn't shed. I have her in a 4x4x4ft cube wooden enclosure with a small pond at the bottom for her to soak. She has refused to move since we brought her home. Her eyes are no longer cloudy and she only has a couple flakes coming off here and there.
She won't sit in the basking area, or move from her designated corner. Only one time, and that was after I gave her a soak. She wormed her way...take a guess where....right back to her corner at the top. lol
Is something wrong with her that I'm not seeing? She doesn't have mites, she's friendly, she's not too thin. I had our vet look at her and he said she just needed a little more weight and nothing was wrong other than that.
What can I do to help her shed without stressing her other than the obvious? (humidty is at 63%, I mist her three times daily, and gave her a half hour bath in an inch of water) And what else is going on with her mentally?

Hairless · #2 (**permalink**) 02-18-2010, 08:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sleppery

I picked up tiamat on the 3rd of february. She's a 5 ft long boa, possibly red tailed, not sure. He had her inside of a 30 gal tank for the last three years with nothing but an inch of sand and a bearded dragon sized water dish. She was curled up in newspaper with no light on when I saw her.
Her eyes were cloudy and it looked like she was going into a shed cycle. He hadn't fed her in a month and a half. We brought her home, next morning she ate.

The no light and small water dish are actually good things...the sand and fish tank, not so much...

Quote:

She still hasn't shed. I have her in a 4x4x4ft cube wooden enclosure with a small pond at the bottom for her to soak. She has refused to move since we brought her home. Her eyes are no longer cloudy and she only has a couple flakes coming off here and there.
She won't sit in the basking area, or move from her designated corner. Only one time, and that was after I gave her a soak. She wormed her way...take a guess where....right back to her corner at the top. lol
Is something wrong with her that I'm not seeing? She doesn't have mites, she's friendly, she's not too thin. I had our vet look at her and he said she just needed a little more weight and nothing was wrong other than that.
What can I do to help her shed without stressing her other than the obvious? (humidty is at 63%, I mist her three times daily, and gave her a half hour bath in an inch of water) And what else is going on with her mentally?

Boa constrictors don't like direct light. If yours came from an environment without a basking light that would be all the more reason she is avoiding it now. Heat from lights doesn't help with shedding issues either.

Providing an environment that makes a boa feel safe and secure will eliminate most issues. It may take several days or longer for your boa to shed after the eyes clear up, but it sounds like there may be some shedding issues - got pics?.

There is a bunch of bad information on how to apply husbandry to your boa (lights for heat/soaking pools/proper environmental conditions/feeding etc..

This is good info: Rio Bravo Reptiles: Boa Care

Sleppery · #3 (**permalink**) 02-18-2010, 09:03 PM

I'm not even sure if she's actually a red tail, how old she is, or when the last time she shed was. The previous owner was a self admitted snake fearing moron.

In the second pic you can kind of see the flaking in the middle coil. She won't rub on anything. I reach in and rub her occasionally with my hands. She seems to enjoy that.

Her eyes cleared up around the 6th. And still just the minuscule flaking. I'm worried about her. She's my little buddy.

Sleppery · #4 (**permalink**) 02-18-2010, 09:44 PM

Should I give her more soaking time?

Not sure what to do. At a loss. My reptile experience is limited to bearded dragons.

current temp~
Very top of enclosure (where her shelf is): 91 degrees F
Very bottom of enclosure: 75 degrees F

I did a ton of research before picking her up. So I'm pretty sure these temps are good.

Did not count on her going into shed the day of pick up. That's for sure.

Sleppery · #5 (**permalink**) 02-19-2010, 05:21 PM

UPDATE:

I came down this morning to turn on tiamat's basking area and discovered her like that! wewt....the skin on her head is coming off ^^ girl is finally shedding.

Jolie · #6 (**permalink**) 02-25-2010, 08:45 PM

Yeah!
I have a male that looks just like this and I have found that he takes a bit longer to shed also. I keep the humidity up at about 70% and put a big water dish in, should he wish to soak, during the shedding time. Also it helps if you have branches or things in there that she can rub up against - I have a piece of petrified wood that is almost like a rock that has some nice rough edges that I put in right before Romi is going to shed and everytime his skin comes off in one big pile. Hope this helps - she is a beauty!

Sleppery · #7 (**permalink**) 02-25-2010, 08:56 PM

She's actually about halfway done shedding. She's got sticks, rocks, and a pond with warm water in her enclosure. I think it might just have been the stress of the move that made it take so long. Hopefully the next time goes better.

Advertisement