How old is the snake? The older the snake is the longer in between sheds so the shed cycle is possibly longer. If the humidity is low the snake might be waiting until it has enough moisture (because shedding takes moisture to work). how often are you feeding? Digestion also takes moisture and if a snake doesn’t have enough moisture it might wait until after digestion to shed. I’m not positive but all I can think of is longer cycles and a constant cycle of waiting.
1 Like
My male pied was in shed longer this time too.
I poured some warm water over him in the tub to bring up the humidity. Then He finally shed within a couple days of doing that. I am waited on feeding him too. He is due to feed but I am waiting a few more days for him to get over the stress of shedding. I will clean his tub out before i feed him also. Get all the wetness out from where i poured the water in it. Its time to clean anyway. Just my experience with mine.
@ghoulishcresties Thanks
@chesterhf yes, same for me almost all the time.
@phantom_hatchery I will try in the morning, that would help
@erie-herps I got her a few months ago, was told she was 7, true all my others are younger so maybe i am expecting too much.
Humidity is usually 60 but I raise it during shed. She fed like crazy the first month and was in good condition. No food since the shed cycle a couple of months ago.
@wmb1965 I have only raised the humidity to 70, I will try raising for a more while, thanks.
1 Like
I’m not sure why that could be. Mites and parasites can also cause dehydration but I wouldn’t worry about that (it’s unlikely). As long as your snake has fresh water available then dehydration shouldn’t be a problem. The only worrying part is you got her a few months ago and she’s been in shed a couple months. Do you have a way to get in touch with the previous owner to see if they have any information about how she was kept?
Thanks for helping
She is clean, as an albino its easy to see any mites, Besides i have a good anti mite quarantine thing going on. Its not a stuck shed as she shed clean almost as soon as i got her.
I will contact them too, good idea. I dont want to be cynical, but it was a 2600g female ready to bread but unproven for some reason, Am I asking myself why it was for sale for only $450 ?
1 Like
That does seem very inexpensive, so unless they had many of them or had a reason to get rid of her there could be an underlying issue.
That definitely is a very long shed cycle. I definitely agree with @erie-herps on this one. I believe that there some underlying issues with the animal that you were not made privy to @ascended.
2 Likes
Thanks everyone for the advice, this one was bugging me.
@erie-herps + @lumpy
I have contacted the seller but no reply yet. And yes I think your right, the snake might have some issues.
I think I will give it a week or so at higher humidity, then if nothing I will have to get her checked out.
I hope she is ok, shes a really nice snake
3 Likes
I believe jumping to blaming the seller might be a bit extreme at this point
3 Likes
I agree about blaming the seller but for now I think they are only a possible information source.
I wasn’t saying to blame the seller. I was saying that I agree with Riley ( erie-herps ) that it could be a option. Obviously higher humidity and time and peace are what is best for the snake at this time.
2 Likes
I wasn’t blaming the seller, they were open about her being unproven at 7 years old when they are breeders.
Information may help me understand why and if its connected.
Maybe there is an innocent reason she wasn’t bread or the odd long shed is normal for her.
I hope its a one off thing and I am worrying for nothing, but i need info.
1 Like
I think Travis was actually talking to Riley and I because we suggested that the seller may be at fault as a last resort.
1 Like
Yes, I agree. I mentioned it as a possibility but for now I’m just mentioning the possibility, I’m not trying to jump to assumptions or accuse anyone.
1 Like
Before I reply I make sure to read through the thread to get context for my post. All other suggestions that I could think of had already been mentioned, so I was just agreeing with yours because it would be a last resort to consider if nothing else pans out. More than likely the snake is just having a long shed cycle. No harm no foul, @erie-herps.
1 Like
I was talking to all three of you.
The OP alluded to it with this comment here:
Whereupon the idea seemed to snowball to a point where it appeared the OP had come to a decision on the matter without any actual facts:
I was advocating for reining that train of thought back as there are a number of other possibilities that could account for what is being seen that do not trace back to the seller as the issue
2 Likes
I said they were quite open about being unproven at 7 despite being breeders. I should have asked why at the time. its a possibility I should explore.
I am happy to look at other possibilities as I asked for in the first post.
I would be interested to know the other possibilities you are thinking of that might help.
1 Like
Various possibilities include (but are not limited too):
- “Dulling” I see this now and then, especially with my Albino and Candino animals. They go through an “ugly kid” phase during their cycle where they dull out and look faded. To the unfamiliar, it might look like a build up to a shed that then never goes anywhere
- Abortive shed. These can happen for no real rhyme or reason but some of the triggers I have encountered are sudden humidity changes (like happens when you switch your home from A/C to heat or when an animal is shipped from one region to another), sudden diet changes, bedding changes, and encountering new animals. The phenomenon is exactly what it sounds like, the animal starts a cycle and then just never sheds until the next cycle comes around. When it finally does shed the sloughed skin will often be thicker and may come off in patches rather than whole
- Infection. There is a constant layer of oily fluid just beneath the scales of snakes at all times. Sometimes, bacteria or fungus or yeast can begin growing in this fluid. There presence will cause the fluid to become semi-opaque, giving the appearance of a shed cycle. In some cases this is self resolving and the next shed cleans the interlopers out. In other cases this can escalate to a debilitating infection and when the animal sheds it will deglove.
- Waste exposure. Sometimes an animal sits a bit too long in its own waste (this can happen in as little as a couple hours so it is not always a matter of negligent husbandry). The ammonia build up in the tub can stain the scales such that they look like the animal is going in to shed. If you run your heat a little on the higher end and the animal has a predilection for discharging on the hot end then this can increase the odds of this happening
- Cleaning products. Some animals are sensitive to these. So if, say, you are wiping your tubs down with Clorox wipes and the animal is sensitive to Clorox, it might have a sort of allergic-type response that would resemble a pre-shed
- Keratophagy. The animal ate its own shed and because you never saw the skin you just assume they never actually shed. I have not seen this in balls but I have seen it in a number of other species so who knows…
5 Likes
Wow, that’s an extensive list for me to think about, thanks.
2 Likes
Update:
The snake was slamming rats initially. I tried an african soft furred rat the other day and she took it.
So what I believed was a shed fast is probably not the case.
Here eyes still look a bit milky, not blue. but I guess that’s just her or it could be something else like “ugly kid” phase mentioned. (i did not oil test this one)
I did examine t_h_wyman other suggestions.
I also copied the info for future reference, Thanks.
Vet found no problems just said she was in shed.
I am pretty good at identifying a shed cycle in albinos and my candino, I record it and then they always shed.
I cleaned a tub with very hot water, gave it a good soak to get rid of any chemicals.
That might of helped, but I only use thin bleach (the thick ones have added chemicals)
Also I check and clean tanks daily, full clean if its dirty and rinse the snake if it has a lot of wet urates in the tank or anything else on it.