Bad shed - again!

[Wing_Nut]

In addition to what Blue has posted, I believe hydration is a key factor in problems such as impaction from substrate being eaten. Animals that are sufficiently hydrated rarely if ever have issues with impaction.

Wing_Nut

 

[Bluetongue1]

Wing Nut, I think I agree wholeheartedly. Leaving the issue of ingestion of substrate aside, in my discussions with a reptile vet she emphasised that far and away the major cause of constipation and impacted faeces in pythons is lack of adequate hydration. I have my own thoughts on ingestion of substrates. I watched a video showing a near adult Bearded Dragon eating mouthfuls of sand. My reaction was "Why?" If this behaviour was genetic in origin, Mother Nature would have quickly eliminated it. As the old saying goes... Nature buries its mistakes. So you have ask yourself, within the known range of stimuli for eating, what would cause this to happen. The only conclusion that I could reach is that the sand contained sufficient traces of food, either from juices of food items or perhaps from wastes previously produced on the spot. I reckon that diligent husbandry would eliminate both. The only other potential factor is what was the feeding history and was the animal receiving enough to eat and enough of the full range of nutrients required. This was not mentioned and it did not seem to be emaciated at all. Bottom line... i do not consider that animals consuming substrate is normal behaviour and believe that there is a cause for each instance related to husbandry. I am not talking accidental consumption of substrate material that adhering to food items.


My apologies Snowman for not acknowledging the value of your contribution in terms of the effects of ventilation and the diagnostic value of investing in a hygrometer. Thankfully Dannydee already acknowledged Andynic's contribution of the need for frequent supply of fresh water.


Lawra, Thank you for your comments. I know that we all hope the information provided is helpful so that it allows you to enjoy your animals instead of being concerned or worried about them.

The hide illustrated is something I had not considered. It is in fact worse that a hide that is too big. It lacks the room for a trapped enclosed air space in which humidity can build up. The snake cannot seal the entrance to any effective degree. Most importantly, the distance between the snake's head and freely moving air is minimal, which means diffusion of moist air to the outside, where it will be rapidly dispersed, can readily take place. At the same time, diffusion of relatively drier into the hide can equally readily take place.


You would be much better off with something like an empty cup-of-soup box or cardboard packaging for muesli bars, with just a corner tab removed as an opening. While they may not look too flash, they do a lot better job than numerous commercial products. If they really offend your sense of aesthetics, then use papier mâché and paint with a bit of sand and glue to turn them into a natural looking rock with excellent insulation properties.


Blue

 

[Lawra]

Wing Nut, I think I agree wholeheartedly. Leaving the issue of ingestion of substrate aside, in my discussions with a reptile vet she emphasised that far and away the major cause of constipation and impacted faeces in pythons is lack of adequate hydration. I have my own thoughts on ingestion of substrates. I watched a video showing a near adult Bearded Dragon eating mouthfuls of sand. My reaction was "Why?" If this behaviour was genetic in origin, Mother Nature would have quickly eliminated it. As the old saying goes... Nature buries its mistakes. So you have ask yourself, within the known range of stimuli for eating, what would cause this to happen. The only conclusion that I could reach is that the sand contained sufficient traces of food, either from juices of food items or perhaps from wastes previously produced on the spot. I reckon that diligent husbandry would eliminate both. The only other potential factor is what was the feeding history and was the animal receiving enough to eat and enough of the full range of nutrients required. This was not mentioned and it did not seem to be emaciated at all. Bottom line... i do not consider that animals consuming substrate is normal behaviour and believe that there is a cause for each instance related to husbandry. I am not talking accidental consumption of substrate material that adhering to food items.


My apologies Snowman for not acknowledging the value of your contribution in terms of the effects of ventilation and the diagnostic value of investing in a hygrometer. Thankfully Dannydee already acknowledged Andynic's contribution of the need for frequent supply of fresh water.


Lawra, Thank you for your comments. I know that we all hope the information provided is helpful so that it allows you to enjoy your animals instead of being concerned or worried about them.

The hide illustrated is something I had not considered. It is in fact worse that a hide that is too big. It lacks the room for a trapped enclosed air space in which humidity can build up. The snake cannot seal the entrance to any effective degree. Most importantly, the distance between the snake's head and freely moving air is minimal, which means diffusion of moist air to the outside, where it will be rapidly dispersed, can readily take place. At the same time, diffusion of relatively drier into the hide can equally readily take place.


You would be much better off with something like an empty cup-of-soup box or cardboard packaging for muesli bars, with just a corner tab removed as an opening. While they may not look too flash, they do a lot better job than numerous commercial products. If they really offend your sense of aesthetics, then use papier mâché and paint with a bit of sand and glue to turn them into a natural looking rock with excellent insulation properties.


Blue

Thank you Blue

I am not worries about aesthetics, his first hide was actually a cigarette box! Ah how quickly they grow up.

I am making rendered foam hides but in various sizes to accommodate growth. In your opinion, would I be better off making low flat hides or round ones?

 

[Bluetongue1]

In nature Womas spend a lot of time in burrows. A long thin entry and a small cavity at the end. A good way to envisage this in terms of a hide is that it is like an igloo. The cardboard roll out of something like paper towelling, Alfoil, Cling Wrap or the like, when cut in half lengthways will provide an excellent mould for the entry. Select a magarine or round takeaway container of suitable diameter to just fit the coiled up snake, trim the top off to provide the required height and cut an aperture so the half cardboard tube fits snuggly into it. This may need to covered with Cling Wrap to stop the foam sticking - I don't know as I have not used foam to construct anything.


A little more information which hopefully you will never have need to use....
For retained spectacles, there are couple of things you can try before having to resort to the tweezers. Using a moistened cotton bud, gently rub across the eye from front to back while twisting the bud as you go. The bud shoud be rotated in the opposite direction to what it would rotate if you just rolled it across the spectacle.


One from Longqi (that I have never tried)...
Contact lens gel containing Carbomer is available from a chemist. Put a drop on the retained spectacle and sometime after that the retained scale will come off of its own accord.


Blue

 

[andynic07]

I have used plant pots cut to the desired height as a mould and then put a thick layer of expanding foam over. Once dried I trim it to the desired shape , carve a small entrance in and render over it with a grout , glue and water mixture . For my final layer I use a product called liquid sandstone to give me a sandstone colour and texture. I assume that the foam offers thermal insulation.

 

[Lawra]

In nature Womas spend a lot of time in burrows. A long thin entry and a small cavity at the end. A good way to envisage this in terms of a hide is that it is like an igloo. The cardboard roll out of something like paper towelling, Alfoil, Cling Wrap or the like, when cut in half lengthways will provide an excellent mould for the entry. Select a magarine or round takeaway container of suitable diameter to just fit the coiled up snake, trim the top off to provide the required height and cut an aperture so the half cardboard tube fits snuggly into it. This may need to covered with Cling Wrap to stop the foam sticking - I don't know as I have not used foam to construct anything.


A little more information which hopefully you will never have need to use....
For retained spectacles, there are couple of things you can try before having to resort to the tweezers. Using a moistened cotton bud, gently rub across the eye from front to back while twisting the bud as you go. The bud shoud be rotated in the opposite direction to what it would rotate if you just rolled it across the spectacle.


One from Longqi (that I have never tried)...
Contact lens gel containing Carbomer is available from a chemist. Put a drop on the retained spectacle and sometime after that the retained scale will come off of its own accord.


Blue

I've used the igloo as an idea for his hides - glad I'm on the right track

With his retained spectacle I tried a click clack bath/steam, cotton buds and also contact lens solution (comes in handy that I wear them) to no avail. I also left it about a week before resorting to taking him to be tweezed.I hope I don't have to ever do it myself - fingers crossed!!!

 

[Lawra]

Update: I invested in a hygrometer.

Steve went cloudy two days ago so yesterday i put a wet hand towel on top of the cage covering half the vent, also put one in the tank and moved the water bowl closer to it as well. The humidity went from 30% to 55% which seemed to do the trick. I just got home to see the end result: unassisted shed! Not in one piece (one little strip was hanging on his vine) but none retained thanks for everyone's advice.

 

[RedFox]

Good to hear an outcome. I'm glad Steve had a proper slough.

 

[Boondocker]

Update: I invested in a hygrometer.

Steve went cloudy two days ago so yesterday i put a wet hand towel on top of the cage covering half the vent, also put one in the tank and moved the water bowl closer to it as well. The humidity went from 30% to 55% which seemed to do the trick. I just got home to see the end result: unassisted shed! Not in one piece (one little strip was hanging on his vine) but none retained thanks for everyone's advice.

Thirty percent humidity is too low whether he is in shed or not. Woma pythons can be at risk for contracting infections at thirty percent humidity. I would aim for 45-50 percent at all times.

 

[Days1]

Congrats on the I improved shed

I have one question though. Is this your snakes 3rd shed in 3 months? I ask because the initial post said it was only a month before that he had a bad shed and then another in August when you posted and another now. I don't know much about Womas but this seems like its too frequent for sheds. If that's the case, there may be another issue. I'm sure someone else knows better than I do but I thought I would mention it.

 

[andynic07]

Congrats on the I improved shed

I have one question though. Is this your snakes 3rd shed in 3 months? I ask because the initial post said it was only a month before that he had a bad shed and then another in August when you posted and another now. I don't know much about Womas but this seems like its too frequent for sheds. If that's the case, there may be another issue. I'm sure someone else knows better than I do but I thought I would mention it.

My woma when young was shedding once a month roughly.

 

[Lawra]

Thirty percent humidity is too low whether he is in shed or not. Woma pythons can be at risk for contracting infections at thirty percent humidity. I would aim for 45-50 percent at all times.

Ok thanks he's going into his new enclosure when I get my act together. I have only checked humidity early morning and at night (when I'm home) are there hygrometers that stores info over the day eg: highs and lows?

Congrats on the I improved shed

I have one question though. Is this your snakes 3rd shed in 3 months? I ask because the initial post said it was only a month before that he had a bad shed and then another in August when you posted and another now. I don't know much about Womas but this seems like its too frequent for sheds. If that's the case, there may be another issue. I'm sure someone else knows better than I do but I thought I would mention it.

It's a woma thing Yes, he has shed fairly predictably every 4 weeks since I bought him in May. They grow faster than other pythons from what I've read and been told. He is not overfed, doesn't have mites, is well hydrated and a very happy chappy.

My woma when young was shedding once a month roughly.

Good to know! When does growth start slowing down? He's 9 months old now I'm thinking at 12 months I'll start feeding every 14 days instead of every 7.

 

[Days1]

Good to know Lawra...thanks! I'm glad your snake is doing so well

 

[andynic07]

Ok thanks he's going into his new enclosure when I get my act together. I have only checked humidity early morning and at night (when I'm home) are there hygrometers that stores info over the day eg: highs and lows?



It's a woma thing Yes, he has shed fairly predictably every 4 weeks since I bought him in May. They grow faster than other pythons from what I've read and been told. He is not overfed, doesn't have mites, is well hydrated and a very happy chappy.



Good to know! When does growth start slowing down? He's 9 months old now I'm thinking at 12 months I'll start feeding every 14 days instead of every 7.

He has not slowed down yet, every 4-5 weeks since I had him and he will be 3 in January apart from winter when he is in brumation. I also drop from weekly feeds to fortnightly feeds at 12 months old.

 

[wildthings]

I like to ball up some sphagnum moss, wet it and pop in right under the che where they sleep to up the humidity, the moss gets nice and warm and they quite often go lay on it, so they get a bit of a soak too while they're at it and once a month isn't too often at this age to shed..My oldest shed pretty much once a month till he was about 15/16 months old, he's six and we get a shed about every three months and my little girl Lucrezia is shedding once a month she's 9 months and the other little girl has shed once every about 2 months and she's 19 months old...so glad Steve got this one off completely this time, well done steve haha

 

[Boondocker]

Ok thanks he's going into his new enclosure when I get my act together. I have only checked humidity early morning and at night (when I'm home) are there hygrometers that stores info over the day eg: highs and lows?

Yes there is equipment that will do that. There are relatively cheap battery operated products that will track humidity and even alarm when set points are exceeded. However you're checking it plenty often enough now. If the humidity is dropping so quickly such as between morning and night, my guess is the enclosure has a vent issue.

 

[Lawra]

Yes there is equipment that will do that. There are relatively cheap battery operated products that will track humidity and even alarm when set points are exceeded. However you're checking it plenty often enough now. If the humidity is dropping so quickly such as between morning and night, my guess is the enclosure has a vent issue.

I'll see what I can find the humidity is the same whenever I check it, I just thought it might be higher during the day when the weather is warmer and ambient temp increases.

I did have a vent problem (it's too large), but the new enclosure will hopefully sort that out

 

[champagne]

dehydration plays a big part in stuck sheds and is often over looked, maybe do some research on injecting water into food items before feeding, a lot of people are starting to do it with interesting results.

 

[Lawra]

dehydration plays a big part in stuck sheds and is often over looked, maybe do some research on injecting water into food items before feeding, a lot of people are starting to do it with interesting results.

He's definitely not dehydrated; pees like a dog on a tree.

No stuck shed at all this time around

 

[princessparrot]

How long are your snakes usually in 'shedding mode' for before they actually shed? It takes about a week for my woma