two sheds in two weeks.

[James_Scott]

One of my new BHP's had a bad shed a couple of weeks ago due to low humidy. I bathed it and got all of the remaining skin off. Now it is going through another shed. The enclosure has condensation on the inside so humidity isn't the problem. No sign of mites. Any ideas?
Cheers,
James

 

[oreo1]

how old is the bhp? maybe it is stressed??

 

[James_Scott]

Its only 5 months old or so. Very placid and inquisitive. Doesn't hiss or bite. Active outside of its enclosure and tends to move rocks around its enclosure at night. No sign of stress and it appears to be very healthy.

 

[James_Scott]

any other ideas of what it could be. How harmful is it to have condesation in the click clack long term?

 

[tenacres1100]

you may be over feeding it?

 

[James_Scott]

I'm feeding it less than 20% of its body weight per week. It is however growing very fast, gaining around 10% of its length and body weight per month.

 

[Jay84]

I'd definitely keep an eye on it. I posted a similar thread on here a few months ago. My mates water pythons did the same thing, she shed, then shed again, and again and again. She shed a total of about 7 times in 8 weeks.

She was taken to a 'reptile vet' in Karingal and was told that it was fine. The vet did no tests, nothing. a few weeks later the snake was dead. Her skin deteriorated so much that it was flaking off in your hand and exposing flesh. cracking because it was so dry (even tho the humidity was fine in the cage)

so keep an eye on her, and if she sheds again then definitely take her to the vets! and if they say its normal get a second opinion.

good luck with it and let us know the outcome.

 

[James_Scott]

Thanks Jay84,
Will let you know how it goes.

 

[tenacres1100]

any other ideas of what it could be. How harmful is it to have condesation in the click clack long term?

you can always add a few more air holes, you don't want it wet in there, that should help. It should shed about every 8 weeks at that age. maybe feed it about 10% of it's body weight for a while.

 

[Ewan]

The associated risk due to periods of over humid or damp conditions is scale rot.

BHP generally do not require over humid conditions to shed properly and are better kept dry with a water bowl on the cool end. I would be looking at the bad shed, stress, dehydration or internal/external parasites as being a cause. It maybe best to seek advice from a good reptile vet.

Untill then pay attention to enclosure conditions. And make record of any symptoms to aid diagnosis and treatment.

If you provide temps and a pic of your enclosure we may eliminate environmental factors.

 

[Daryl_H]

Pay close att to her eyes if a snake dose not shed its eye scale something in the snakes system tells it to shed again to get rid of the eye scale and then they over stress from the clouded eyes

 

[ReptilianGuy]

i had a run of something similar with my carpets... but that was 3 sheds in nine weeks for all but one. the one that didn't wasn't feeding, well ate less than the others. i put this down to over feeeding them.
although i've never had a bad shed though.
you said there is condesation on the inside of the enclosure! to me that is high humidity as it is warm moist air cooling on a cool surface.
good luck with your bhp though and try some of the above mentioned

 

[kensai]

My RBBS did the same thing last year, shed twice within a month, 2 other keepers had the samething happen, at the same time, we put it down to changing weather patterns

 

[James_Scott]

thanks guys,
Will keep you posted. She should shed over the next couple of days.

 

[James_Scott]

Just a quick thought. The mention of dehidration came up in this thread. I noticed that last time the shed wasn't complete I bathed her to remove the skin. As I was doing this she was drinking from the tub like there was no tomorrow. I give her clean water every second night, so is it possible she just doesn't drink on her own or may not like the water dish. It is a plastic clear tub. Anybody else had problems with snakes not drinking?

 

[Ewan]

James it is not unusual to find a snake taking a drink while being bathed and this observation alone is not enough to tell if the snake is dehydrated.

The best thing to do from here is sit on your hands and wait for the next shed then a consult with a good herp vet.

 

[James_Scott]

Just an update. Today she shed again for the 2nd time in 17 days. Still not a complete shed. The skin has come away cleanly at the head but the body is comming off in bits.
She has not had a clean shed since I got her in Feb. She is in an identical setup to the tub next to her where my male bhp sheds perfectly.
I tried a new water dish and she appears to have no issues drinking from it.
I will wait and see if she can remove all the excess skin off herself today and may have to bath her again tomorrow. If she doesn't get it all off, I will pay a visit to the vet to get her checked out.
Oh. and the condensation was only a temporary measure to help with the shed. Usually the tubs are dry. I have removed the substrate of pellets and replaced it with paper towel.
Time will tell.
Thanks for all the advice to date. It's comforting to know we are not alone with our problems.

 

[Ewan]

Those pellets are no good. They can suck all the moisture from the air. Get the skin off today. If you need assistance there was a great " how to" thread posted a few weeks ago or check out www.herparticles.blogspot.com

 

[James_Scott]

thanks Ewan.
Will do it today, she is still in the process of removing it herself, so I will see how she goes first.
Thanks

 

[serpenttongue]

What you need to do is keep the enclosure/tub dry, but with humidity being created only by the water bowl. After the snake has cleared up from the milky stage of shedding, then you bump the humidity up a little bit by putting the water bowl up thew warm end or dumping a fist full of damp sphagnum moss/cat litter in a clump at the warm end. This will help create more humdity.

The milky stage of shedding is where the oils are released between the old and new skin. If the enclosure is too warm and dry then the oils disappear pre-maturely. This is what usually causes the old skin to stick back onto the new skin like glue. So during the milky stage, dont have temps too high. In fact you may do well to drop temps a bit at this time.

You will need to do this several times before the skin starts coming off in one piece.