Reptile Forum, Reptile Classifieds - CaptiveBred

[Yellowgrub]

Hello all,

My rat snake has not shed for quite a while now (about five months), but this is probably as he's just reached adulthood. The problem is his scales are very, very dry - and he looks really badly in need of a shed. He sits in his water bowl quite a bit, so I think he must want a shed, but as he's not growing anymore he isn't outgrowing his skin! This is all speculation on my part of course. Has anyone come across this before with their snakes? I really want to do something for him, but I'm at a loss as to what that might be!

All help will be appreciated!
Cheers!
Tarryn

[Snowy]

Snakes continue to grow their entire lives and shed accordingly, once reaching adulthood this is ofcourse less often. Though from the sounds of it it could be on of a few thing:
1) As you say wanting to shed
2) The enviroment in the enclosure is not humid enough for him
3) Possible sign of mites. Is there anything floating in the water when he gets out?

Have you tried adding a humid hide? Mine is made out of an icecream carton for the bigger ones and a marge tub for the smaller ones and filled with moist, not soaking, shredded towelling. Most use sphagnum moss for it I just found the towelling worked best for me (towelling is the stuff towels are made of not kitchen paper).

If you have tried a lot of things I would say a vet visit is in order if you are truely worried about him.
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23/07/07 RIP Mousey a furry companion of 15 years.

[Yellowgrub]

Hi Snowy,

Thanks for getting back to me! There's nothing in the water when he gets out, so I'm pretty sure it's not mites. But it sounds like you might have something on the humidity side. I'm going to try giving him a humid hide, as you suggest below, and see how that goes. I don't want to stress him out unduly by a visit to the vets, so I'll try a few things first.

Again, thanks for the reply!

Cheers!
Tarryn