Scary Shed w/ Western Hognose

Question
Hello -

I just went through an incredibly scary experience with my young Western Hognose snake. He's about a year old, 6 inches long, and has never had problems shedding before this week.

This shed cycle started out normally, and went as expected up until the actual shed. Last night, I noticed that he had not yet shed, so I took him out and examined him. His mouth was unable to close properly, because there was a thick "build-up" of dry scaly skin around and inside his lips. Fearing mouth-rot, I opened his mouth carefully with a business card, but everything appeared normal. Nothing at all to suggest any infection. I soaked him for 15 minutes last night in a warm moist towel, and returned him to his cage to sleep.

This morning, I noticed he had successfully shed everything except his face. The thick scaly build-up of skin was still there, and his mouth was still awkwardly open. Rubbing gently with a warm moist towel, I was able to remove most of the skin, but had to (CAREFULLY) use tweezers to lift off the eyecaps and the "lip" area.

Thankfully, all is well now! He looks great and I can tell he is much, much happier. He can close his mouth normally, and seems in great shape. I looked at the piece of scaly build-up once I removed it, and have no idea what caused that area to be so much thicker than normal skin. It was so thick I couldn't see through it at all, and was only around his lip area - definitely not normal.

I hope you have some ideas about this! I really appreciate any comments you might have and any advice on how to prevent this from happening again!

Relieved and curious,
-Amber and "Mortimer"

Answer
Hi Mortimer,
  Your mom seems to care a lot for you! Eat good so you will grow up big, strong and hissy like my hognose Moet and Attila.

Amber,
  It does seem that he has had a few bad sheds in the past. Raise the humidity. Westerns do not require a lot, just maybe mist him once a day and inspect him after sheds. Put a little triple antibiotic ointment or mineral oil on the troubled area occasionally as well.

The eyecaps: Please do not ever pull an eyecap off again. Here is why. When I was a young keeper, I made the mistake of doing this with a brz rainbow boa. I removed his cornea (even though I followed all precautions) and caused him to go blind in one eye. If he retains an eyecap, apply the ointment 3X per day. They will come off by themselves soon enough. Hope this helps!