When will my snake shed?

[Silver]

Hi all, my 5 month old NT carpet has looked like it is going to shed for about a week now. All it's siblings have shed. Is there something I should be doing to help it along?

 

[l3atman]

hey...
there are a few things you can do...
the first of which is to get a fine mist spray bottle and spray it a few times into the enclosure to create a light mist, you could do this a few times a day to increase the humidity...
the other thing you could do, is move your snakes water bowl directly under or over your heat source (depending on whether you have a heat mat or a light), this is also to create a greater level of humidity..
hope this helps

 

[Silver]

Thanks for that. I am in Darwin, so the humidity is fairly high anyway. I will give that a go

 

[bobby2]

hydration on the inside is as important as on the outside!!! Many timid/young snakes wont drink out of still water bowls at this time because they are anxious around shedding and don't trust still water - make sure you change your water frequently - Also, when misting your cage, spray the water onto the side of the enclosure to create droplets, snakes will often trust these to be safer water sources and in nature this is quite often how snakes drink as they don't want to make themselves vulnerable by going to water sources.
Just remember that they get really anxious and timid at this time and wont shed until they feel safe and hydrated - don't worry yet, it is normal for the shedding process to take up to 2 weeks, if worst comes to worst, get a plastic lidded tub and put warm water in it, make sure it is shallow enough so he wont drown but deep enough so that he is mostly submersed.(if you're worried you can put something small in there for him to rest his head on, rocks etc) leave him for 15 to 20 mins at a time (different people have different variations on this time but he's only small so that's plenty) If you have a pet/ reptile shop nearby you can get some products that you add into the water at this point to aid the shed though it often works just as well without - take him out and put him back in his enclosure, make sure he has something mildly rough to get the skin off on... that's the best I can offer - just be patient, he'll probably get sick of his skin and shed it before you really need to worry... good luck with it - i'm sure it'll turn out fine

 

[Silver]

Ok, will try that. I am learning sooooo much from this forum, I love it!

 

[Silver]

Took Fluffy out last night, and sprayed inside the enclosure. When it went back in, acted totally differently, climbed up it's trees (which I had sprayed with water). Thanks for the advice!

 

[ShaunMorelia]

you dont need to take him out before spraying.

I find that it takes between 6-9 days from milky eyes to the night of the shed.
so i'd say he'll in the next night or 2.

 

[Silver]

Nope, you weren't wrong, Fluffy shed Friday night. Wow, what a difference to the colors!

 

[Kristy_07]

pics?

 

[Silver]

Will endeavour to take some tonight. I am such a gumbie when it comes to these things.....

 

[J-A-X]

there are no set 'rules' for shedding, even within the same clutch, same food, same temps etc, some shed 6 weekly-ish another sheds 9 weekly-ish, they shed when they are ready, misting or not, most of the time it seems to be coincidence that we mist and they shed a day or two later. they probably would have shed even if we hadn't misted,

I'm happy he has finally shed for you, hope to see some pics soon

 

[ShaunMorelia]

Nope, you weren't wrong, Fluffy shed Friday night. Wow, what a difference to the colors!

Yeah its always good to see a nice shed hey.

there are no set 'rules' for shedding, even within the same clutch, same food, same temps etc, some shed 6 weekly-ish another sheds 9 weekly-ish, they shed when they are ready...

I wasn't saying that tere ate "set rules" for shedding, I was just giving my experiences.
I keep strict records of everything about my snakes and that is what I have found in regards time from being milky eye'd to the shedding night, not in regards to time between sloughs.
With the amount of times between sheds, that all depends on growth rates, so if you are feeding an adult python 20% every 7 days, this will give you a different shed rate compared to a juvi being fed 20% every 5-7days.

Cheers.

 

[J-A-X]

All it's siblings have shed. Is there something I should be doing to help it along?

This is what i was responding too when i said 'no set rules' i wasn't debating the time between milky eyes and shedding, just the time difference between clutch mates shedding.
and i'm glad it all went well,

 

[ShaunMorelia]

Ah my bad.