Royal Shed Concerns

[UtterNutter]

I've had a royal python for a few months. She's only young. I don't know how old she is but is about 1 1/2 feet long. I've had corns for years and they generally have no problems shedding and shed a few days after going clear after the blue stage. My royal was in the blue two weeks ago and hasn't shed. Is this usual? There are what looks like bits of skin in her water bowl which she bathes in often. But I'm not sure that's what they are as they're tiny fragments. She's on paper towel not substrate. I've not had anything like this before. Could she be having problems? She's eating fine and seems healthy.

Alex

[UtterNutter]

Can anyone help?

[stingray]

the fact that she constantly bathes could be a sign your viv is too dry, give a nice long soak in a luke warm bath, you can also mist the viv, royals need a slightly more humidity than corns........

[UtterNutter]

Originally Posted by stingray

the fact that she constantly bathes could be a sign your viv is too dry, give a nice long soak in a luke warm bath, you can also mist the viv, royals need a slightly more humidity than corns........

Many thanks. I wasn't told that. I hope she's OK. Her head scales are grey inbetween giving her a crackled effect. I'm concerned.

[stingray]

no need to be concerned yet buddy, as i said, let her bathe for a long time 15/20 mins in luke warm water.....this should help moisten the dead skin....

when she/he does shed, check it and make sure the tip of the tail and both eye caps have shed.....

[Zincubus]

Originally Posted by stingray

no need to be concerned yet buddy, as i said, let her bathe for a long time 15/20 mins in luke warm water.....this should help moisten the dead skin....

when she/he does shed, check it and make sure the tip of the tail and both eye caps have shed.....

Soak as above then have a wet or very damp , ROUGH textured bath towel at hand then just let the snake wriggle inside the towel whilst you apply very GENTLE pressure .... any loose / stubborn shed will come off on the towel as will any retained eye-caps ....


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[UtterNutter]

Many thanks. She's bathing nearly all the time so I thought that'd be enough soaking. She doesn't look like she's shedding at all, apart from the grey lines on her head. No lifting up of the skin anywhere. So I dont't want to rub her if there's something wrong.

[Paul F]

Could she be too hot if she is constantly bathing? What are you temps?
Does she have room to escape the heat?

The methods described above are fine for helping stuck shed, and royals do generally need a little more attention than the average corn where shedding is concerned.
An alternative (but not better) method is to put the snake into a wet pillowcase, tie the top off with string etc, and put the whole thing back into the viv for half an hour. The snake can breath fine through the open weave of the fabric, and though it looks to be struggling to get out, this is what you are aiming for, and the snake will come to no harm what so ever.
Handy if you have other stuff to do as well.

[Zincubus]

Isn't constant bay jinn also sometimes an indication of MITES ?!?!

[Malc]

Generally, in my experience, Royals are one of those snakes that don't shed well for some reasons or another. By that I mean that they seldom shed in one complete section that is like the proverbial inside out sock.

Humidity does play a part, and keeping the humidity above 60%, ideally 70% around the time of shedding will help, but often the combination of a heavy bodied snake with small scales results in the skin tearing, often leaving bits or strips attached to the top along the spine.

I've kept Royals for 30 years, and noticed that the same individual can have a bad shed on one occasion, but the preceding shed and subsequent sheds were fine and the skin came off the snake without any intervention. In that time nothing had changed in the environment.

In that time I've never experienced any of my royals trying to fit into the water bowl at the time of shedding, and looking back on my records (we all keep records don't we ?) for my adult female, she sheds around 5 times a year, averaging 11 weeks between sheds. In the past 20 sheds, 18 were full, one a partial, and one that needed assistance. On those two occasions a soak in a bath and gentile rub with a damp towel removed the bits still attached. If your snake is spending a lot of time in the water, and your environmental conditions are otherwise OK, then this would indeed suggest that something else is the cause, especially if the snake seems to be in a constant shedding cycle. Mites are the obvious cause, and it would be worth treating the snake and the vivarium for a mite infestation.