Freshly peeled Nanners

My snake, Mr. Bo Nanners, just shed and he has just a couple scales on his head still. Should i give him another soak and try and get them off or should i leave them for next time? His eye caps are off and he shed great everywhere else, will those few scales on the top of his head really hurt to be left for next shed?


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Leaving them should be ok. The only thing is, you have no idea if it will get worse during the next shed. In most cases, you will be ok.
If you do not want to soak, you can just use some water in your finger to rub it off. This works most of the time.

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You can remove it by taking a Q-tip, wetting it in warm water, and using that to gently (with little applied pressure) wipe off the stuck shed. It might be more difficult if nanners is head shy… Which then I would leave it, maybe give a soak, in order to minimize stress.
and Nanners is a cutie! :banana:

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Just take a warm, water soaked. slightly wrung out wash cloth and let his head slither back and forth while holding him of course and the scales should come off. If it were me I wouldn’t risk leaving those scales until the next shed….

Good luck! :blush:

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Ok, tried the q-tip and the wash cloth…those bad boys must be spot welded on because none of them came off. :frowning:

Nanners is a scardy snake and is very head shy, tho I’m trying to desensitize him by gently rubbing his head boobs and smooching him.

I didn’t want to press too hard or rub over it over and over where it would irritate him.

I might try a soak later, it’s frozen mousey day and i know he’s hungry.

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Yes then another warm soak and washcloth again……. That’s why you need to get them off now before the next shed because they are so stubborn……

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Quick question, did you check the shed itself to see if there were pieces missing on the head? Idk if it’s my eyes or the photo, but to me it just looks like that is color development and not stuck shed. If it is stuck shed, however, I’d consider giving him a hide with some sphagnum if he’s too head shy to manually remove.

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That was my first thought too. Doesn’t really look like stuck shed to me in the picture…but it could just be the picture. :person_shrugging:

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You could be correct. @moonxtal these particular scales could in fact be just color changes. They do resemble the same color in the scales close by……

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The shed had a bad start on his head, came off in a bunch of little pieces.

I made him a humid hide, so he’s good there.

I’ll try and soak him tomorrow, he’s happily digesting rn. Lol

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@moonxtal Let it rest for a couple days after eating. I would not soak for at least 2 days after.
A good soak or two should help remove it. But don’t over do it, trying to get it off. To much stress would be worse then leaving it until next shed.

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It doesn’t look like stuck shed to me. It just looks like different coloration. The same different coloration appears on the neck and further down from the neck. If gently rubbing it with a damp wash cloth doesn’t do anything, then I’d say it is not actually stuck shed.

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Update, it WAS stubborn stuck shed because nanners just peeled ahain and the spots are gone! Also nanners scraped his back on something a while back and got a boo boo. Its healed up pretty quickly but now the spot is white. Hope over the next couple sheds it goes back to normal.


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Vitamin E oil will help with that

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With the scar or the stuck shed?

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With the scar. Sorry I was not clear

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