Bad shed? No problem.

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Originally Posted by DarkSmoke

is the part where the snake should be soked when there is a bad shed not before cause it can do more harm then good only for ball pythons or for all snakes?

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Different snakes have different needs, so I do not like to use absolutes. I'm sure it would work for the more popular snakes like corns and such. I'm not sure I'd use this particular method on something like a sand boa, but in general it should work for most snakes.

The last shed Chili had was a terrible one. So when I saw him with blue eyes this time, I was determined to give him a good shed. I sprayed constantly, put saran wrap over most of the top and kept a moist towel on the bottom, except for over the heat source where he spends much of his time. It all seemed to work! The shed still came off in pieces and there was a bit left on his tail, but my concern is, there was still much left on the top of his head. He let me remove it by hand which I guess means he's starting to get over his head shyness.

Does anyone else have a problem with BP's not shedding the top of their heads?

My method is slightly different from yours, although almost the same.

I usually just use an enclosure (tub in a rack) and put it back in the rack, so it still gets heat (my room is nice and warm anyway 80-86F), and i leave them in there over night. I've never had any problems with this method at all.

The reason i use this method is because i've used darkened out water bowl/hides in the past and my royals have chose to sit in them for 2-3 days at a time when they were in shed. Even if i moved the royals out, they'd go straight back in there after about 5mins of me returning them.

Sorry if this has already been covered but quite a long thread now! I've heard that handling whilst 'in blue' (and up to shedding time) can result in the old layer of skin 'sticking' to the new layer, thus resulting in a bad shed. Is this true or rubbish?

For routine cleaning duties, there's not any issues... i wouldn't advise handling a royal during shed, for fun practices though. Most if not all won't be the most appreciative of it :)

If you look at it from the snakes point of view.... this practice of handling the snake is entirely for our own pleasure, the snake doesn't benefit the same way we do, so if you do handle them, i'd just leave it for when they are not in shed. When they're in shed they are generally miserable wee things that want to be out of site, and out of your way lol :)

will it do damage if you pick off shedding skin?

My 7-year-old just had a shed where his left eye looks kindof bionic chrome-ish, but his right eye is fine. I tried taking pictures but on camera both eyes look the same. Is this a leftover cap from the shed or is this something I'll have to take him in for?

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4016/...f399f6f0cd.jpg

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4048/...87ddf400b2.jpg

Thank you greatly for this post. I did not have a tote I could use so I ended up using the bath tub. I think it took over an hour to get all the shed off. This post was a great help.