| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| jonnyboy231 |
Posted - 02/04/2013 : 17:52:31
Hello,
I'm just wondering what's the best thing to do when your Royal has a fully retained shed?
My poor little man hardly ever has a perfect shed but this time he's got a completely shed still left on him, I have no idea why this has happened, I'm just wondering what's the best thing to do?
Bathe him? Put him in a box of damp moss for a while? Any other suggestions? |
| 13 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| herriotfan |
Posted - 07/04/2013 : 16:11:26
Damp flannel on top of their hides can help too.  |
| hodgie |
Posted - 07/04/2013 : 15:53:20
quote:
Originally posted by Zoe
Ta - I've put the damp most inside a log hide and her water bowl in warm end with another water bowl at cool end. Humidity now sat at 52% for an hour or so. Ill get something with lid for the moss.
An old 4 ltr icecream tub will do the job or you should be able to get something cheap from your supermarket. i`ve also heard conflicting views on which end you should place the tub, i`d personally put it in the cool end as you`ll find it will turn into a small sauna in the hot end. |
| Zoe |
Posted - 05/04/2013 : 20:14:51
Ta - I've put the damp most inside a log hide and her water bowl in warm end with another water bowl at cool end. Humidity now sat at 52% for an hour or so. Ill get something with lid for the moss. |
| hodgie |
Posted - 05/04/2013 : 19:53:03
You need a tub with a lid otherwise the spagnum moss will dry out and lower the humidity even more. You could place your waterbowl under the heat source. Your only other option is to put a much larger water bowl in the viv. |
| Zoe |
Posted - 05/04/2013 : 12:31:26
I'm struggling keeping humidity up - sits around 33 unless I spray which I do twice a day. I have a plastic tub with the damp moss in but it hasn't got a lid on, it's just under the heat lamp.
Should I put the moss in the hide then? |
| jonoandapril |
Posted - 05/04/2013 : 11:19:51
im a massive fan off the old damp pillowcase trick. pop them in one and leave it in the rub for a half hour/ 45 mins and that usually does the trick with minimal fuss or admin. |
| boomslang |
Posted - 04/04/2013 : 15:25:49
Just up the humidity more :) you using a ceramic bulb? that does lower the humidity,to a point where you need to spray etc etc
As for the bathing etc,I really don't bath any of mine.Not for afew pieces of shed.One of mine really freaks out in water  so they can become stressed,So i only do it when absolutely necessary.Guess it depends on the snake too
As for the water temps,I spray my chameleons for shed problems or whatever reasons.You have to keep the water temp warm,so i wouldn't spray them with 90f/100f water ie their basking temp.
Can't see a snake being any different. |
| Lotabob |
Posted - 03/04/2013 : 22:50:10
quote:
Originally posted by rockroyal
that'll be the last time i ever try to help and its not far to hot pal . if your going to flame me don't do it in public.
There was no flaming, no offence was intended or implied.
32-35°C is at the very highest end of the scale for keeping a Royals hot spot, where they can move out of the heat when they do get too warm. Being submerged at that temperature offers them no escape from the heat which can be distressing to an animal and in extreme cases a rapid increase (or decrease) in body temperature can put an animal into shock so the same applies for the water being too cold. Ambient temperature of a vivarium is around 25°C, which is also close to the water temperature in the water bowl in which snakes do bathe if they want to. It's a good base where any change in body temperature is going to be minimal. A safe bet as it were.
My personal opinion is not to bathe at all unless absolutely medically necessary. |
| JBOB |
Posted - 02/04/2013 : 23:43:27
I dont think Lotabob's temp suggestion is too hot but Id probably get the water around 32/33c
My Milksnakes first shed was in many pieces and the advice I got was to increase the humidity, which I did by adding a humid / moss hide. I use a tubaware box with a hole just bigger than the snake and fill it with sphagnum moss that I get from my local reptile place. I have it on the of side of the viv. The snake has somewhere with very high humidity and just having it in there has increased the humidity overall by 15-20%.
The Milksnake has had perfect sheds so far and since getting my Royal his three sheds have all been perfect .... and he loves spending a few hours in the moss even when not in shed.
Hope that helps a little |
| rockroyal |
Posted - 02/04/2013 : 22:52:21
that'll be the last time i ever try to help and its not far to hot pal . if your going to flame me don't do it in public. |
| Lotabob |
Posted - 02/04/2013 : 21:54:57
32-35°C is far too hot to bathe them. Just because the hot spot temp can be this warm doesn't mean the snake will be, in fact it very very rarely will be that hot. Which means plunging them into hot water will rapidly increase their body temperature.
You want the water at about 25°C if bathing is the way you want to go but bathing them in my opinion is a total waste of time for all but exceptional circumstances, it's too fiddly for you and stressful for the Snake. If its just happened then its not too much of an issue, as Hodgie says just bump the humidity up, provide a damp hide too if you want and let the snake do what it does best.
I would wonder though how you're getting such low humidity, do you have dehumidifiers or anything along those lines? |
| rockroyal |
Posted - 02/04/2013 : 20:39:28
give him a bath just warm water though around 32/35 c for around 5/10 mins keep a eye on water temps DON'T leave him alone them take him out and pop him in a towel and let him move through the towel. |
| hodgie |
Posted - 02/04/2013 : 20:35:22
I had this happen to me with my first royal a few years back. There is only one reason and that is that your humidity is to low. You need to increase it permanently. Not just when he goes blue. Don't worry about him as he will go through the full cycle again. |
