| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| xautomaticflowersx |
Posted - 21/10/2009 : 22:48:39
Ripley's been in deep shed mode for the last couple of weeks, so I've been expecting to see a nice shiney, freshly-shed snake any day. This morning I had a little peek into his RUB and saw him out in the open curled up in a knot with his head hidden... looking rather unhappy. On taking the lid off I could see that he had only managed to get the skin on his head off, but everything below the widest part of his head is still there. I picked him up and he straightened his neck out and started rubbing himself on my hand. So while he was doing that I folded up a towel, put it in the bath and sprayed it down with warm water from the shower. I let him have a good slither around for 20 mins or so, which he seemed to really enjoy, but he didn't get any skin off. I rubbed the edge of the skin gently and part of it started to roll back a little, but it was very difficult and I didn't want to hurt him by pulling at it. My leopard gecko kindly donated her corkbark hide for him to rub against, but I just checked him this evening and he's not managed to shift any skin still *sigh*.
This is his first shed with me, so I can't say whether he's normally a good shedder or not. Do you think I should give him another little soak and try to be a bit braver with removing the skin? I was really hoping that he'd just shed with no problems.  |
| 9 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| xautomaticflowersx |
Posted - 26/10/2009 : 21:11:03
Thanks, yeah Ripley is fine now. All shiney and happy  . Hopefully the next shed will be better if I give him/her a soak beforehand and pop in a humid box. |
| heaton177 |
Posted - 25/10/2009 : 11:20:01
hello. my 1st shed was like this with my royal. now he is currently in he second shed now. i had to to the same as you, and it does take a while. but this time i have saw him soaking in his water bowl everymorning (exept thismorning) so i think hes learnt, i also raised the humidity and chnged the moss in the hide.
he hasnt started shedding yet so i dont know if he will get it all of in one but lets hope its a little bit better than lasttime :). ill let you know how he gets on... hope ripleys alright mate.
chris
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| xautomaticflowersx |
Posted - 23/10/2009 : 14:08:55
Ripley should really be a female name anyway to be honest, but I can't get used to the idea of him being a her! I think until I'm 100% sure I'll just keep on calling him a 'him'. I wouldn't want to get used to Ripley being female and find out I'm just rubbish at popping. |
| kashie |
Posted - 22/10/2009 : 18:15:16
Lol - just catching up from last night - lol at him/her peeing all over you for popping.
Just as well you chose a name that can be used for both sexes or you would really be in a pickle!!
Glad she's all shed and shiney again. |
| xautomaticflowersx |
Posted - 22/10/2009 : 01:41:58
*Pheeeeeew!*
All finished! That's one shiney little snake and I'm one relieved owner. I didn't take any piccies of Ripley looking all gorgeous because I figured after being messed around with so much he ought to just be put back in the RUB.
While I was removing the very last bits of skin from his tail he became very very relaxed and I thought it might be a good opportunity to try and sex him. I've seen other people pop and probe snakes (I did a ND in Animal Management and have looked at videos on youtube of popping/probing recently) so I felt fairly happy about doing it. I got squirted on with pee, but I'm about 80% sure that Ripley is in fact female lol. No hemipenes popped out, just one little mound... so unless I didn't quite roll the hemipenes out fully he is in fact a she. 
I must get her (feels very odd to call Ripley a 'her') probed by one of the experienced peeps at the reptile shop at some point soon to be 100% sure. |
| xautomaticflowersx |
Posted - 22/10/2009 : 00:47:54
*Yawns*
I'm currently sat in the bathroom with the laptop in front of me and a swimming snake in the bath.
I'm about two thirds of the way down his body and have just put him back in the water because the skin seems to be getting a little dry again.
It's literally coming off a scale at a time... thank God he's only small and I don't have to be removing skin from several feet of snake! Bless him he's being so good... poor little guy must be so fed up and tired, but *touch wood* he's behaving exceptionally well. Although it's getting to the point where I'm finding it hard to tell between the shed skin and the unshed skin lol. I have a stress headache from concentrating so hard!
Next time I'm going to give him a bath before his shed and definitely give him a humid box. I CANNOT be doing this every time, for his sake as well as my own.
I am *covered* in tiny scales. And so is the bathroom floor! Will give him a couple more minutes in the bath and then we'll start over again. |
| kashie |
Posted - 21/10/2009 : 23:13:24
Next time he goes into shed try a moss hide or some damp kitchen roll under his hide this usually helps, but they do occasionally have a bad shed, so at least you will be prepared and know what to do next time should it happen again.
Let me know how you get on. ;) |
| xautomaticflowersx |
Posted - 21/10/2009 : 23:06:45
Okidoke I'll give him another little soak and try to rub it off with a damp flannel. He seems happy to let me try and rub it, because he was rubbing his neck on my hand when I was holding him (which was extremely cute lol).
I'm wondering if the problem could have been caused by dehydration as I've never ever seen him soak in his bowl. It's definitely big enough for him to curl up in and it's not too deep. I've seen him with his head hovering over the water, so I'm assuming that he at least drinks! Maybe next time he comes into shed I should give him a good soak myself to make sure he's properly hydrated.
I'll let you know how I get on. Thanks for the reply
Edit: Thankfully he did a giant pee and poo in the night before he started his shed, so I should be safe! |
| kashie |
Posted - 21/10/2009 : 22:59:15
Dont worry - I've become a dab habd at this, give him a soak in luke warm water for about 15minutes then let him crawl through a damp towel.
If this doesn't work I usually use a damp kitchen towel and lightly rub the skin until it comes away. As long as it's off his head, he should be ok at letting you do this, they soon realise that you are trying to help them and settle down and let you do all the hard work for them. ;)
Oh and dont be alarmed if he wee's and poo's all over you in the process they usually do this after shedding but I think all the massageing stimulates them to go.  |
