Quote Originally Posted by Cazador View Post
Hey Nick,

At this point, I'd be less worried about its lack of feeding and more about the partial shed. After a few days, the unshed portion becomes stiff and restricts the snake's movement. It time, it can even cut off the blood supply and usually causes the snake to lose a portion of its tail. I know you're going away, so you could try to soak the snake in lukewarm water (~80-90F) for about 30 seconds. Then you can try to gently pinch/peal the dead skin toward the tail. Peel it slowly, and you'll see that the snake attempts to crawl out of it as you help it along.

Another popular and successful technique is to put the snake in a "wet bag." You just dampen a cloth bag, put the snake in it, close the top of the bag, and put the bag in the snake's enclosure (to keep it at a comfortable temperature). The moisture and abrasion helps to remove the snake's skin overnight. I realize this may not be a viable option if you won't be home for a few days.

Put a fresh dose of Neosporin on the wound first, though. Also, dont' get too worried if the snake hasn't eaten for a month or so, even though it's probably last year's young. They're well-adapted for lack of food. Just make sure its ribs aren't protruding, and its skin isn't wrinkled (like Kitkat described).

Rick
I appreciate your advice. Actually I think I got a good 95% of his unshed skin off. I've had a few corns in my day that were pesky shedders so I'm familiar with the lukewarm bath idea. There remain a few unshed patches around the wound that I don't really want to mess with at this time but I did manage to successfully rid the old skin off from about four inches from his tail down to the tip.