Corn problem

[Richard UK]

Hi Everyone.
I hope you can put me at ease!
I recently purchased my very first snake. A rather nice red coloured corn snake. I did a lot of research before I bought it and have a nice large vivarium set up with everything to meet its needs. Unfortunatly, I was looking at the snake today and all the scales that run down the centre of its back seem to be 'peeling'. There is a clear coat on them wich seems to be lifting up at one end. Is this a precursor to shedding? The snake does not seem to be distressed at all. It is quite active at night and is feeding well. There are no visible signs of any parasites etc.

I look forward to your response,

Regards,

Richard.

[Kyle Walkinshaw]

would you happen to have any pics?

[snakemann87]

yes pics would help, or maybe hes shedding and itj ust isnt working out? did you see any signs?

[Big Mike]

Sounds like retained skin. Either it just shed and some of the skin did not come off or maybe it had some retained skin from a previous shed. This condition is most likely due to lack of moisture. You can leave it alone and help the snake to have a better shed next time or if you think the skin is bothering it, you can help it get the retained skin off.

If you want to get if off...you can put the snake into a shallow, lukewarm bath for a little while. Then gently rub the lose skin with your finger or a damp cloth. The old skin should come right off. Another thing you can do is to put the snake into a wet pillow case for a while. This might let the snake absorb moisture and rub off the old skin on the inside of the pillow case.

To prevent this from happening in the future you should make sure the humidity is adequate in the snake's enclosure. Watch for signs of an upcoming shed (cloudy skin & eyes) and raise the humidity during this period. Misting with a spray bottle is one of the most common methods of raising the humidity. I personally like to add a humid hide box to the snake's enclosure before it sheds. I put some wet sphagnum moss into a Tupperware container with a hole in it. The snakes curl up in there and absorb all the humidity they want.

Good Luck.

[Pixie]

First of all, congratulations on getting your first snake :D

As for your problem, I second Big Mike's opinion that it is retained skin for a recent bad shed. Personally I would try to remove it with as little stress as possible. The pillow case trick I've heard works great, but I use a towel. I soak a towel in warm water and put it in a kritter keeper with lots of folds, kinda crumpled. I then put my snake in somewhere in the middle and leave him in there for 30-60 min. The moisture help lift the retained skin and the snake moving on the towel's surface helps remove it. Everytime I've done this, my snake has come out without a peice of skin left. There a whole bunch on the towel though!!! But that's good :)

Good Luck

[eyespy]

Cutting the toe off an old sock, wetting it and putting it in the enclosure as a nice humid hide can work very well too. They seem to find the soft wet cotton very cozy.

Make sure that it's been rinsed thorougly though so no detergent is left in the fabric.

[Richard UK]

Thank you for your help everyone!

You were all exactly right! I placed my snake in a large plastic box with a wet towel as sugeted above and left it in a warm place for an hour. Most of the skin came right off! The rest just needed jently rubbing off with another towel. The snake looks all clean and shiny! Quite amazing!
With regards to the humidity, All the books I have read say that this snake requires dry enclosures and that high humidity can cause skin problems such as blister disease. Am I better off providing a humid hide for this species? Sorry for all the amateur questions folks, I just want the best for my snake. I hate it when people buy a pet without knowing how to look after it, and I always try to do thorough research before i get anything. That is why I came here, talking to experienced snake keepers is far better than any of the information you can get from a book!

[eyespy]

A humid hide is a nice thing to provide when you see your snake gearing up to shed, but otherwise keeping your viv on the dry side is indeed a good idea.

[Lizzy001]

hes sheddin