Something to add to water??

[sclark]

Hey all,

Has anyone ever heard of anything that can be added to a boa's water to help soften a hard shed. When I say hard, I mean think and hard, so much so the boa is not shedding past his head. This is a temp rescue that came in yesterday. The boa has been soaked 4 times in the past three days and it isn't helping. Been sprayed 5 times a day with the soaking. Even after soaking the skin with abit of help is not budging. But this boa is looking sad and needs further help. So if you have ever heard of something that might aid in softning the skin, let me know..
Thanks
Steve Clark

[Red]

Re: Something to add to water??

Ya there is several products out there...
shed aid is one and I think it is t-rex
Eric aka...Red

[sclark]

Re: Something to add to water??

My bad,

I know about shed aid, and some other ones at the pet shop, but I was wondering if there is a lesser of evils that comes from the kitchen cabinet.. There was something I was told about, can't for the life of me remember what it was. Kept thinking olive oil, but honestly don't remember.. Does anyone know?
Steve

[Red]

Re: Something to add to water??

You can give it some electryolytes this will hydrate from the inside out...
Eric aka...Red
Sorry I can't hlep you any more then this one
Oh pedealite helps alot

[SnakeDan]

Re: Something to add to water??

Yeah, Steve , I have hear of using olive oil, but I have never had to try it, thank God. Better do more research before you try it.
Later on,
Dan

[Slither]

Re: Something to add to water??

Have you tried soaking him and then putting a folded wet towel in his enclosure for him to crawl through and such? Never know, with the wet towel he might get it off by himself overnight. Just a thought.

[sclark]

Re: Something to add to water??

Thanks for the assist Red.. Something will work..
Steve

[sclark]

Re: Something to add to water??

Hey SnakeDan,

Yeah thats what I am worried about. I know there must be 50 old time things that work. Heck people have been keep snakes as pets longer then most of the products have been around..

Steve

[sclark]

Re: Something to add to water??


Hey Bill
Heck I will try anything. I know he is not very comfortable. His skin feels like it is cracking.. Not to mention this guy looks under fed. I know he is not under fed. Before he went into this shed he looked fat and healthy. If the paper towel this doesn't work, I'll try that shed aid stuff tomorrow. I never had this problem with my snakes and any I have taken in that had shed problems, a good soak or two always did the trick..
Thanks
Steve

[Doug]

Re: Something to add to water??

HI,
I used ot have lots of shed problems with a young BP,
never had any with my rdtails. I was wondering is your humidity adequate , are you measuring it at the floor level.
Each cage is a micro environment, with temps gradients and same for humidity. Some people feel that UTH"S can lower the humidity at the floor level, I ve found that che's ,lights, and exterenal heat thru screens can really suck the moisture out of my snake.
With the shed coming on I usally raise the humidty to 80 % this helps the skin to thicken and release from the new skin ..
I haven't had a partial shed in years.
Of course all my cages are wood enclosure's completly contained heat and little airflow to loose humidity. I live in your typical home in VA , gas Heat in the winter and AC in the summer, I am lucky if the humidity in my house hits 40 %. So I had to find ways to raise the cage humidity without risking blisster disease, ( I dono't think boa's have a problem with this unless they are laying on really wet bark ).. I could be wrong.
now pythons are a different animal :P... hehe
Unless there's a problem your Boa should shed normally after that blueing ..
DOug

[sclark]

Re: Something to add to water??

Hi Doug,

The humidity is correct for this guy. Like I said I never have problems with shedding, just with this rescue. I have no clue what this guys was housed in before he arrived, but for awhile he will be in a 20 gallon long. Humidity levels are 70%. Not sure if there is an underlying problem with this guy. Planning on checking into that after he finished with this shed. Gonna pick up some shed aid or something and see how it works..

Thanks
Steve Clark

[Red]

Re: Something to add to water??

Well better yet to putting a towl in the cage put one in a snake bag with the snake and see what happens.. This what I do to help my snakes shed... well not any more they all shed good
Eric aka...Red

[XzyluM]

Re: Something to add to water??

You wouldn't happen to be thinking about mineral oil would you? If so, from what I've heard, it can also cause dehydration, mostly in larger boids. Some ball pythons are notorious for having poor sheds even with the humidity is or above adequate. I have had a previous experience with a bad shed which sort of resembles what you are having. It will be frustrating and take some time, but it should eventually loosen up and come off. Just make sure you get the retained skin from around the tail if any and then work from there.

[sclark]

Re: Something to add to water??

Hi Red,

I tried the towle in the bag trick. So far no luck. I put him in the bag for about 3 hours. No luck yet.. But thanks for the suggestion, anything is worth trying.
Steve

[sclark]

Re: Something to add to water??

Hi
Yeah Mineral oil is what I kept thinking. I haven't tryed that yet, maybe because I still didn't pick any up..
This whole thing is getting more frustrating then I would have ever imaged. Like I said even with some rescues that had a shed problem, it wasn't as hard as this skin. It started to peal the other day, only on top of his head. It pealed from the nose to just behind the eyes. I was able to work that chunk off and started to work the the bottom of the head off, but he was really figting and I didn't want to hurt him. I will have to do something soon, maybe even work it all off somehow. Leaving old shed of the body could restrict blood flow and kill the snake if its around his neck. I know I have had a few resuces that had to have the tail amputated because of retained shed restricting blood flow and killing the tissue. So that is why i am going nuts. I did go to the pet shop and they didn't have sehd aid or anything like it, and the soonest they could get it would be Friday.. I will keep trying...
Thanks for the suggestions guys
Steve