Corn snake shed problem

[arachnocat]

My big male cornsnake had a bad shed this time. He's got some strips of skin on the sides of his upper body and a few patches near his head. He won't let me soak him in the tub. I tried putting him in a tupperware filled with moist towels for a few hours but that didn't seem to do the trick either.
I've been misting him with water while he's in his tank for a week but the skin just won't come off. I know it must be very uncomfortable for him.
Is there anything I could put on the skin to make it come off easier. I thought about trying olive or vegetable oil but i'm not sure if that's safe (or if it will even work).

 

[Mister Internet]

I've had this happen with my big boy several times, and I always end up just getting a moist clean towel and gently gripping him near the head and letting him work his way out... it takes a couple of hours sometimes....you have to make sure the skin gets very re-moistened tho... do NOT trying pulling it off before it's ready or it will be far worse than just leaving it until the next shed.

That being said, corns usually do fine until their next shed, they're pretty tolerant, IME.

 

[reverendsterlin]

a light rub with some veggie oil, wait a couple of hours then let him slide through a dry towel
Rev

 

[arachnocat]

Thanks guys! I'll try that.

 

[Mushroom Spore]

I tried putting him in a tupperware filled with moist towels for a few hours but that didn't seem to do the trick either

There's a particularly powerful version of this that almost always works for my ball python, although I haven't had to do it in a while.

Take that tupperware (hopefully it's got plenty of ventilation, although nothing he can fit his head through) and line it with a layer of warm (not hot) and damp paper towels. At least two or four sheets thick. Put him in there, lock the tupperware up tight, and go put it in your bathroom. The floor, or on top of the toilet, or wherever.

Then you turn on the shower as high as it will go and as hot as you can get it, shut the bathroom door, and go do something else. I usually left it for 30-45 minutes or until the hot water ran out, whichever.

By the time you go back in there, the humidity will be absolutely ridiculous and even the most stubborn sheds should come right off if you do what Mr. I said about letting the snake crawl through a towel. (Go ahead and do the towel bit inside the bathroom with the door closed, so that everything stays humid while you work.)

I even got retained eyecaps off this way, since I could wipe VERY gently against the eyecap and he'd immediately start trying to rub it off himself once he got the idea.

If one shower sauna doesn't do it, put the snake back in the enclosure, wait until the hot water comes back, and do it again.

This is also an incredibly effective aid for dehydrated snakes. In some of my crappier apartments in the winter, my ball python would get wrinkly no matter what precautions I took, but one of these would fix him up immediately.