Potentially malnourished Woma??

[AgentClopsWorthy]

Context I am a really new reptile owner and only just got her 3 weeks ago.
So according to the person I got her from (reptile classifieds) she is almost 2 years old, sheds well, and hates being handled..... That is very much incorrect.
First off she has yet to even try tag me let alone anything more drastic, but also she has "shed" twice in those 3 weeks (once three days after bringing her home and again yesterday). The people I got her from said they were giving her weaner mice once a fortnight and while I know I don't know much, that doesn't seem right for the size she is so I picked up and gave her an adult mouse last week.
The first "shed" she did wasn't clean at all, it was in pieces with the biggest being MAYBE 3 cm square. The second shed was the same but she also pooped a HEAP! Like I'm talking 5 black pieces a quarter length of my pinky.

What can I do better?
I changed the substrate from tiny wood shavings to sand (I did do research on it first and I spot clean every day)
I changed the heating lamp to a ceramic 150 (they had an infared basking light also added a heat mat for the hot side as its been cold af recently)
And when she looked like she was going to shed I made a humidity box with some sphagnum moss and put it in there with her to try and help, but she didn't use it.

She doesn't look big enough for almost 2 years as she's currently 52cm long and it looks like her spine is sticking out so much and I'm concerned.
I just want her gorgeous self to be loved and cared for but don't know how or if I'm doing everything wrong.
Any help?

 

[Sdaji]

Weaner mice once per fortnight for a Woma that age is definitely insufficient. She does look small for her age. Sounds like you're on the ball giving her more to eat, great job.

Depending on where the water bowl is, how large it is, how much ventilation you're using, etc, you're likely to have difficulty maintaining the humidity at a good level with that coarse sand substrate. Womas are usually good sloughers, so if you're having that issue it's probably too dry. Was the humidity box at the warm end or cool end? What temperature was it at? What are the enclosure temperatures? If she didn't use it despite being too dry to slough properly, presumably either the temperature was not to her liking or perhaps it was too wet or something.

Interesting that she's underfed but handles well! Usually an underfed Woma will literally try to eat you, very enthusiastically! She must be a real sweety.

She's a very beautiful Woma and she's lucky to be in the care of such a doting person.

 

[snakesandmirrors]

The incomplete sheds could be due to low humidity. Have you tried misting the enclosure lightly? I did that with my ball python and it seemed to help, but I'm not 100% sure about womas.

 

[dragonlover1]

The incomplete sheds could be due to low humidity. Have you tried misting the enclosure lightly? I did that with my ball python and it seemed to help, but I'm not 100% sure about womas.

ball python AND in Australia ? highly illegal

 

[AgentClopsWorthy]

Weaner mice once per fortnight for a Woma that age is definitely insufficient. She does look small for her age. Sounds like you're on the ball giving her more to eat, great job.

Depending on where the water bowl is, how large it is, how much ventilation you're using, etc, you're likely to have difficulty maintaining the humidity at a good level with that coarse sand substrate. Womas are usually good sloughers, so if you're having that issue it's probably too dry. Was the humidity box at the warm end or cool end? What temperature was it at? What are the enclosure temperatures? If she didn't use it despite being too dry to slough properly, presumably either the temperature was not to her liking or perhaps it was too wet or something.

Interesting that she's underfed but handles well! Usually an underfed Woma will literally try to eat you, very enthusiastically! She must be a real sweety.

She's a very beautiful Woma and she's lucky to be in the care of such a doting person.

Thank you so much! I originally only had a small water bowl so I added another (as the local pet shop didn't have anything bigger) and have been misting the enclosure in half's morning and night (morning I mist hot end, evening I mist cool end so that all of the substrate isn't damp all the time)
She has put on some weight since I made the initial post and has gained a HEAP of energy! I can officially say I have a snake now as she tried to eat my finger the other day Also every time I mist she puts her head right under where I spray in the most adorable way.

But question, when I went to turn on her light and mist this morning one of the scales on her head is discoloured af. Did some googling on scale rot and is it that? Or am I misting too much? Or has she just bruised herself from rearranging some of the fake plants around? OR is it a nutrition thing? Is the feed I'm giving her not giving her all the nutrients she needs?
So greatful for your insights

 

[Sdaji]

I've been keeping snakes for 30 years, I've worked without many thousands of them on three different continents, I've bought water bowls from quite a variety of sources ($2 shops, supermarkets, op shops, garage sales, kitchen supply stores, etc etc) and have never actually considered the concept of buying one from a pet shop. Ceramic dog feed bowls and various bowls you'll find in kitchen supply shops are my usual go to options in Australia.

If you're talking about the light area on the frontal scale (the big one in between the eyes on the top of the head), it does look like some minor damage caused by bad sloughing, or perhaps even a very minor infection (nothing at all to worry about, about on par with a zit on your face), but either way it should clear up in another slough or two without any treatment and I wouldn't be at all concerned, just make sure the humidity is high enough for her to slough her skin properly and anything like that will very quickly clear up.

 

[AgentClopsWorthy]

I've been keeping snakes for 30 years, I've worked without many thousands of them on three different continents, I've bought water bowls from quite a variety of sources ($2 shops, supermarkets, op shops, garage sales, kitchen supply stores, etc etc) and have never actually considered the concept of buying one from a pet shop. Ceramic dog feed bowls and various bowls you'll find in kitchen supply shops are my usual go to options in Australia.

If you're talking about the light area on the frontal scale (the big one in between the eyes on the top of the head), it does look like some minor damage caused by bad sloughing, or perhaps even a very minor infection (nothing at all to worry about, about on par with a zit on your face), but either way it should clear up in another slough or two without any treatment and I wouldn't be at all concerned, just make sure the humidity is high enough for her to slough her skin properly and anything like that will very quickly clear up.

Thank you so so much. Seriously so greatful.