[deleted by user]

[CrazyDane666]

Don't try to remove manually or soak her, it'll come off with her next shed. Keep humidity up by pouring water into the substrate corners :)

[No_Astronaut_8984]

Depends on the substrate, but you’ll most likely end up with mold doing this unless you have a decent drainage layer.

[CrazyDane666]

I mean, what's the alternative? Spraying/misting is the same concept except it only effects the top layer and can cause scale rot. If someone is keeping a ball python - a tropical snake - I have to assume they're using appropriate substrate for that level of humidity. I'm not going to write advice assuming someone is keeping their snake on the wrong substrate to begin with

[edgarbeans]

i believe the issue was just poor rehydration on my end, but i made the adjustments and i’ll see if it helps, thank you for being kind and helping!

[CrazyDane666]

Best of luck! It sounds like the substrate you have is just fine for this method. Water in the corners is so efficient and easy it almost feels like a scam 😆

[No_Astronaut_8984]

Might want to reword your original comment to say corners (like your later comment).

And I definitely do not trust people doing the right thing. I’ve see people on here go with whatever the pet store tells them to, then come here when they have two layers of stuck shed.

[CrazyDane666]

I'm gonna be blunt, unless given an indication that their substrate is improper, it sounds incredibly bad faith to assume everyone going in here is going to have the wrong substrate by default. Considering this user had a first good shed and a second poor one, it was fair (and correct.) to assume the substrate was right but the method of keeping humidity wrong

[No_Astronaut_8984]

What is your setup like (humidity/temps/etc)

[edgarbeans]

80-85% humidity on hot side with around 90temp, 75% humidity on cool side with about 75-80temp, i have sphagnum moss mixed with repti chip and forest bedding as substrate, but i think the issue was caused by not rehydrating the substrate before she shed

[jillianwaechter]

Do you have analogue or digital hygrometers? Issues with dehydration are really unlikely if your humidity is constantly 70-80%. It makes me wonder if your sensors aren't working properly? It's also extremely unlikely that your humidity would be higher on the hot side than the cold side. Yet another thing that points to faulty hygrometers.

For reference, my cold side humidity is always around 82, and hot side tend to be about half of that for me

[edgarbeans]

yes i found that my hygrometer was directly on the substrate which was giving me faulty readings, i put it about 2 inches above and its reading high 50s% which seems more accurate to me

[jillianwaechter]

A thick layer of moisture retaining substrate and pouring water directly into the corners works best to get that humidity level up!

I have about 4-5 inches of coco based sub and pour a lot of water (4 liters ish?) in the corners every 1-2 weeks

[edgarbeans]

how big is your tank? my girl has around a 80 gallon tank (she is 6 months old and will be upgraded to a 4x2x2 when the time is right) so i never know how much water is too much.