Ok ..What exactly is a bad shed?
A bad shed can involve various levels of problems. The most common being that ALL the snake's shed has not come off during a shed. Some other ways a shed can go wrong include:
* Snake is obviously in shed and not shedding
* Tail tip shed remains
* Bits and pieces of shed remain on snake
* Multi layers of bad sheds are retained on the snake
* The eyecap[s] has remained after shed
What does a bad shed look like?
Here are some pics of snakes with a "bad shed" :
BCI [not a great pic, but you should get the idea]:
Children's/Spotted Python:
As you can see, both of these snakes have some shed pieces still attached to their bodies. The problem here is "how" to remove the remaining shed pieces off the snake. There are a few methods that people use to aid in the removal of the remaining shed[s]. Some of the following are examples you can try. Some methods work better for different snakes than others. In any case the first thing you'll want to do/try out is to "SOAK" the snake. The way you'll do this is:
,br>
1. Place temperate water [ not cold/not hot] into a "soaking spot"...such as a plastic bowl & cover w/airholes, a sink or even a tub. MAKE SURE YOU BLOCK OFF ALL HOLES SUCH AS DRAINS AND FAUCETS ETC.. So that your snake doesn't "escape" into the plumbing. The level of the water that is usually recommended to use is about 1/3rd the height of your snake's body when laying in the water. The water should not be so deep that your snake has to "swim" in it or keep itself afloat. I personally tell people to "soak" their snakes for about 1-2 hours. Make sure that there are no drafts near the snake while soaking. Also...
NOTE: NOT ALL SNAKES "LOVE" TO "SOAK".
Ok..If your lucky, at this point, your snake may have left it's shed in the water. If the shed is still on the snake there is still more you can do to help him/her out.
2. Take a "rough" washcloth [ok grab a beachtowel for your full grown Burmese python lol] and let your snake wind it's way through the towel as you guide it. DON'T "SCRUB" THE SNAKE WITH THE TOWEL! A lot of times this will help to remove the bad shed. I have had one snake, A Dumeril's Boa, that did not appreciate this at all. He struck at me every chance he could for the following month..BUT the shed came off :}.
Now at this point some sheds could be soo stubborn that they are still on the snake. Another thing you could try is the following:
3. "GENTLY" rub your snake's skin with your fingers. Sometimes the friction will help to remove the bad shed. This will be in multiple pieces of course!
If all the above doesn't help to remove the bad shed you can also try using "MINERAL OIL". Just rub your snake down with the Mineral Oil. You should put enough oil on the snake so that it is well coated. Be careful handling your snake at this point..THEY GET VERY SLIPPERY! Do NOT put any oil around the pits, nostrils or mouth of the snake. Place your snake in a pillowcase for about an hour. If your snake is too large to place in a pillowcase, like a retic or burm, you can place it in a cage or tote that has no substrate that will stick to the snake. After an hour you can do one of a couple of things. Either go back to the towel method [2], rubbing method [3] or just place your snake back in it's cage. If you place the snake back in it's cage to let it work the bad shed off on it's own, make sure you have something like a rock
{NOT A HOTROCK!} or piece of wood the snake can use to get the shed off.
What to do for retained eyecaps in a bad shed:
This is taken directly from our forums:
Morti Writes:
I cry a lot over retained Eyecaps. I have only had one experience with this problem and I did my diligent web research and this is the course of action that I came up with:
Soak the snake several times. If this does not work, put mineral oil on the eye itsself with a q-tip. If this does not work, rub gently around the eyecap and try to get it to come off. If this does not work, wrap scotch tape around your finger, sticky side out and roll it across the eyecap from nose to tail. None of this worked so I thought, "If we wait until her next shed, it should come off." It didn't. I ended up holding the snake while Mortica grabbed the edge of the eyecap with tweezers and pulled it off.
*WARNING* THIS IS A LAST RESORT AND SHOULD ONLY BE TRIED IF EVERYTHING ELSE HAS FAILED!!!
There is a great danger of damaging the snakes eye. It worked for me, but it was very stressfull, both on the snake and on the owner.
NEVER TRY TO "PULL" A PIECE OF SHED OFF YOUR SNAKE !!
You could cause problems such as infections or pull the "new" skin off also. I know people who have "pulled" off the remaining shed from their snake's tail and have caused infection as well as had to have the snake's tail amputated!
If after trying these methods it doesn't help to get the shed off...START OVER.
Hope that helps.
-Your Sick Uncle Morti.
Linear Mode
