retained shed

[kingTom]

Hi!I have 1 question.2 days ago my Thamnophis sirtalis shed his skin,but I see some little pieces of skin remained on the tail.what should I do?
another question,I read that if the shed is not perfect snakes could lose part of their tail.It's true?I have another thamnophis that shed his skin 2 times,in case he didn't correctly shed his skin,how could identificate this problem?He shed 3 weeks ago.It's to late in case of retained shed?His tail appears normal to me,not like the first thamnophis I told.

[EasternGirl]

For the retained skin on the tail, I would just take a warm wet cloth and gently rub the tail until the skin comes off. You can probably also just take your fingernail and gently pick it off. They can lose part of the tail if the retained skin is not removed...the tail can rot...the skin can die...and it falls off. If rubbing it off with a cloth does not work...let us know and we can tell you how to make a shed box. For the other snake...if he did not correctly shed his skin, you will see very dry, cracked looking skin...and folds in the skin...and the snake will have a lot of trouble moving. If you post a picture, we can tell you if it looks like there is a problem. It is not necessarily too late. Usually, you can put the snake in a shed box if there is a retained shed and help the snake to get the shed off.

[kingTom]

these are the photos!SAM_0576.jpgSAM_0579.jpgSAM_0592.jpgSAM_0593.jpg canyou tell me the sex too?it is a thamnophis sirtalis sirtalis?

[kingTom]

this is another thamnophis they give me.I don't think he had shed problem,but he have a wound since they give me.I don't know if it's a serious wond.can you tell me something about?can you tell me the sex too?thanks!SAM_0612.jpgSAM_0614.jpgSAM_0616.jpg

[kibakiba]

first one is a female, not sure about the species... You're going to want to get the shed off of her tail asap.

Last one looks male, but I can't tell for sure. I can't see a wound on him.

[chris-uk]

Wrap a warm, wet cloth around the tail and hold it there for a few minutes. Then let the snake pull itself out from the cloth. Repeat until the shed comes off.

[EasternGirl]

Yes, the first one looks to be a female. I think she is an eastern (T. sirtalis sirtalis) but I cannot be positive. Can you show another picture? The second snake looks like it may be male, but I am not sure...I need to see a better picture of the underside of the tail. I would also need to see more pictures of his body to see if there is shedding problems and a better picture of the wound to see if it looks serious. I'm pretty sure it is male though.

[GarterGuy17]

Yes you must take off the shed asap , and it looks like retained shed all the way up to the cloaca which is very bad seems like the entire tail will come off if not taken care of.