Garter Bomb incoming

[Steveo]

Any sign of your Scotti?

Negative.

[Steveo]

Last night I fed everyone and did a full scrub-down of the tank. I put the carefresh in extra deep and they seem to enjoy it. The pickeringii has eaten both fish and mouse parts twice in a row; before that, she had usually just eaten the fish. I'm still going to offer fish until I run out of frozen silversides, then I'll transition to live feeder guppies that I'm raising up as a treat.

One of the female radixes looked to be on her way to a retained shed last night. It didn't stop her from feeding but I could see it wrinkling and folding over when she curled up. After her meal I helped her get it off. I tried to get her to crawl through a wet rag while I applied some pressure (this has worked with others), but any time I covered her head she just went backwards. I was able to get from the vent down with tweezers, but I put her in a shed box and she was able to drop the rest in one piece.

About 3 weeks ago I had to help a radix with a shed also. I hope this wasn't the same one.

[EasternGirl]

I'm so sorry to hear about your little puget...and I'm sorry to hear about the red-sided baby, Steve. I have had some troubled shedders. Adding a moist moss hide to the enclosure has done wonders. I used to have to help my albino checkered with every shed...but he has moist moss hides now and hasn't had any problems the last few sheds. I just take a little plastic deli cup and cut a little hole for an entrance and put it over the moist moss. I have done that in a couple of my tanks and the snakes seem to know to go and sit inside before a shed. Also make sure they have something rough to rub off the shed. I have noticed that carefresh does not work well for getting sheds off with problem shedders. Perhaps put some dry moss or aspen in a corner for them to slither through when shedding. This has also worked well for me.

[ConcinusMan]

I used to have to help my albino checkered with every shed...but he has moist moss hides now and hasn't had any problems the last few sheds.

Don't get too relaxed. Every dang albino checkered I ever had, suffered from the same issue. Then eventually, they seem to grow out of it, then BAM! dead one day from a retained shed in spite of moist hides and watching for signs of trouble. It's happened to every one I've ever had. I give up on albino checkereds.

Regardless of what kind of snake it is, repeated problems shedding isn't a good sign. I've lost nearly every baby that had that problem, in spite of making it to a year or so, and in spite of seemingly getting over it. And it had nothing to do with environment. No other snakes kept in the same tank had any issues, ever. Just specific snakes had the problem. Repeatedly. But I haven't had a single albino checkered make it. They all died of the same thing.

[EasternGirl]

Gee thanks Richard...now I will be worried about losing Hermes all the time. Chris has an albino checkered that is a couple of years old I believe. I don't think he has had any problems with shedding.

[ConcinusMan]

Wasn't meant to worry you. Just keep a very close eye. It's easy to miss when an albino goes opaque. If you watch closely, you'll know when he's due to shed. That way, if it doesn't happen when it should, you can intervene in time. If I wasn't so dang busy, and confident that they had outgrown the problem, I probably could have prevented the deaths. They would have died earlier, had I not noticed the problem and assisted with getting the old skin off in time. Once it gets to the stage where it's wrinkled, its often very difficult if not impossible to get the skin off.

Just a tip if it doesn't go so well. Get it started around the cloaca, peel backwards toward the head. Although still difficult sometimes, it's a bit easier than trying to do it the "correct" way.

Watch for fading yellows and eyes turning purplish. That's the opaque stage. After a few days to a week, the eyes will suddenly go back to normal. That's when you should expect a shed within 5 days or so. If it's been 10, somethings wrong and you may need to assist.

Just saying keep an eye on him. Although he may seem like he's over it, keep a close eye out for a failure to shed.