Not Shedding

[white_tiger]

Hi all, bit worried about my 14 month old MD, she hasn't shed since xmas. She seems well, still eats, is active when I get her out, temps are good and tank is clean. I did move her to a different area in our house over xmas, to accomodate visitors and only put her back recently, that might have something to do with it but not sure.
She seems to have dry scales around her eyes which is worrying but other than that all is good. She eats pinkie rats once a week and toilets about three days later, so I have no clue what is wrong. Any answers would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Serpentess]

Pinkie rats for a 14 month old carpet? Way too small and not very nutritious. Bump her up to hoppers or fuzzys at least. Keep feeding once a week, bump up the humidity and she should shed within a few weeks-a month.

 

[sookie]

reptimist might help

im still new to owning snakes but my 9mth old eats weaner rats.rat and mice sizing can be different from store to store,believe me!and to help with the shedding a friend of mine suggested reptimist to help moisten up the old skin and makes it easier to slough off.
hope i have helped.....cheers

 

[Serpentess]

im still new to owning snakes but my 9mth old eats weaner rats.rat and mice sizing can be different from store to store,believe me!and to help with the shedding a friend of mine suggested reptimist to help moisten up the old skin and makes it easier to slough off.
hope i have helped.....cheers

If her snake has been on pinkies, I doubt it will be big enough for weaners, but yes, my Coastal was on weaners when he was 9 months old too.
Store brought products like Reptimist should only be used as a last resort, it's best to just simply up the humidity or give the snake a misting of water or even a luke-warm soaking first.

 

[Mace699]

how long is she? my MD at that age was around 1.5mtrs and i started feeding her on sub adult rats shes now on jumbos and 6 and a bit feet but a pinky rat sounds way to small. even my little jungles are on Juvi rats and there around 70cm to 1.3 mtrs. dont be scared to up the food size you'll be suprised how big they can stretch their mouths. i'd try it on a adult mouse or a weaned rat and see how it goes.

 

[JAS101]

im still new to owning snakes but my 9mth old eats weaner rats.rat and mice sizing can be different from store to store,believe me!and to help with the shedding a friend of mine suggested reptimist to help moisten up the old skin and makes it easier to slough off.
hope i have helped.....cheers

i think theres no need to raising the humidity or even use reptimist , the food size is the issue [ hence why it hasnt shed in a fair while] because its not geting the right size food for it to grow [ without it growing there wouldnt be as much of a need to shed often]

 

[Serpentess]

i think theres no need to raising the humidity or even use reptimist , the food size is the issue [ hence why it hasnt shed in a fair while] because its not geting the right size food for it to grow [ without it growing there wouldnt be as much of a need to shed often]

She said the snake has dry scales around its eyes. I would bump up the humidity for this, otherwise she might end up with retained shed issues.

 

[JAS101]

She said the snake has dry scales around its eyes. I would bump up the humidity for this, otherwise she might end up with retained shed issues.

i still wouldnt bump it up just yet - mind u this is only my opinion. id get the food size sorted first .

 

[Serpentess]

i still wouldnt bump it up just yet - mind u this is only my opinion. id get the food size sorted first .

Bumping up the humidity when the snake has dried out scales is a good idea.
She can sort out the food size and humidity at the same time... They're not very technical tasks. Haha.

But I do agree that the food size it priority. So hop to it Ms. White_Tiger and your MD should be shedding in no time.

 

[white_tiger]

Thanks for the suggestions, had thought about uping the food size but then she tries to take it sideways and she looks so uncomfortable.
Anyway I will up food and see how she goes. Oh and she's just over 1m which I considered fine for her age, but guess I was wrong.
Thanks again and will let you know

 

[Fantazmic]

shes probably a fraction small
when you up her food do it gradually and no matter how fussy once the larger food has gone down dont give in keep gradually working up to something bigger...beleive me it works I have mister fussy here who finally took a 110g rat !!

and something I have worked out...wait till she is hunting...looking down waiting to ambush and feed her then...you will be amazed if she is in the right mood how she will work out how to down the food.

I would suggest with only feeding pinkies that you just havent bought on a growth spurt.....once you get the food size up she will settle and have a big sleep and then the shed will come on and she will have a big grow.



Be very careful about upping the humidity...too wet and you can bring on scale rot....what I do when mine are in shed is just spray morning and night with a fine water mist.....this way you are introducing moisture but they arent in it all the time.

Hope this helps

 

[white_tiger]

If anybody is still reading this thread, she has finally gone through the cloudy eye stage but I am unsure whether to feed her until she sheds, I think she could probably do with a feed, or should I just leave her alone? I have been misting her morning and night, she doesn't seem to want to move from under the paper towel in her tub, understandably during this period but I am concerned. As I am every time shedding is close. Let me know what you think.

 

[adfel]

I would try feeding her as they will sometimes still feed during this time....... Your snake should be eating 20% of its own body weight in food..... So when you weigh your snake you should times its weight by 20% and then feed it a prey item around about the same as your final firgure... so a 100gm snake should be fed a 20gm prey item..... PM me if you want to talk more... I have a 2yo MD..

 

[white_tiger]

Stoked, Pandora finally shed, thanks to everyone who helped, greatfully appreciated. Hope all stays well. I am in the middle of building a new enclosure so no doubt I will be after a few tips. But I will keep you all updated and might throw in some pics of mine and Pandora's progress. Cheers