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Jungle carpet shedding

22 11:52:52

Question
I have a 4 year old, 7 foot, female jungle carpet python. Shes in a 75 gallon tank with a huge water dish. Her bedding is coconut fiber and she has drift wood along her cage. Humidity is 65-70 temp is 85.
Ive never had this problem with her before. But she went into blue about a month and a half ago and never shed. I fed her a rat last week and she took it no problem. But shes wheezing because she wont shed. Its not because of a respiratory problem! (My corn did this same thing one year, and after several vet visits we finally got her to shed a thick shed in one piece. Weird.) But anyways, I now put her in a plastic tub with air holes, a water dish and coconut fiber bedding so the humidity is really high and a heating pad under her. Is there anything else i can do to aid her? Or encourage her to shed?

Answer
Coco fiber bedding can sometimes be problematic, as it tends to retain a lot of moisture. I know some folks have had issues with snakes on it developing blister disease.  Consider switching to cypress mulch, or even aspen.  I've not heard of this particular issue, nor seen it in any of my snakes before.  A snake in shed should 'clear' before actually shedding.  I don't think increasing the humidity is the answer.  

One breeder, at least, advocates keeping these pythons at 45 to 60% humidity, with cycling of the humidity level through misting a couple of times per week, in the winter.  (Misting spikes the humidity to 70%, and then it gradually declines again to about 50%, when you mist again).
The idea is that constant high humidity can lead to mold and bacteria growth, and respiratory issues, etc.  Allowing the cage to dry out and become humid in cycles was his answer to this.

It can't hurt to give humidity cycling a try, and see if that spurs your snake to complete his shed.

Temps should be 80F on the cool side, and 90F on the hot spot.