Does anybody else hate it when your snakes are in shed?

[EL Ziggy]

I know it comes with the territory and I love how they look post shed but I hate it when they're hiding for 7-10 days and I can't see them. And it seems like they tend to go into shed around the same time which only compounds my frustration. Four of my eight snakes are in shed right now including both of my newest snakes that are the only snakes in my bedroom. Make that 3 of 8 in shed. S'ven shed today.

http://i1319.photobucket.com/albums/t674/EL-Ziggy/20170131_205000_zpswqrwcha7.jpg (http://s1319.photobucket.com/user/EL-Ziggy/media/20170131_205000_zpswqrwcha7.jpg.html)

[trailblazer295]

Yes I do, usually when I go to feed I realize they are in blue. I keep telling myself "I need to check first" but never do. I'm hoping I'll reach the point where I will have multiple snakes on the same feed size on different schedules so I can pass the unwanted food off to another.

[SWDK]

I'm used to it by now. With having so many snakes it seems like I always have one or two in shed.

S'ven looks good in some fresh skin.

[riddick07]

I don't mind it. I have a lot of snakes so I can offer others rejected food items. There are times I'm showing them to someone and one of the favorites are in shed...that's annoying since they don't look quite as nice as they usually do.

[bigsnakegirl785]

There's a few I wish WOULD shed...ok just one now that Crona has shed. She's grown over half a foot and put on a couple hundred grams and..nothing.

Right now, Tirel, Demigod, and River are in shed. River is starting to clear up so she may get around to it any day now. Only bad thing is she went out of one shed straight into another - within a week of shedding she showed signs of starting another shed cycle. :/ Gotta clean up those scales (she climbed onto her CHE bulb cage because the room temp fell a bit when I borrowed the heater - luckily she hasn't been on it since).

[regi375]

Oreo, my Kingsnake, is currently in shed right now. I don't like it when they are, but it's part of caring for reptiles. Even though I constantly worry about her and check every time I pass the cage... Also a bit annoying when you go to handle your snake and then realize their eyes are blue. Still wouldn't trade any of my snakes for the world though.

[MartinD]

The thing I do like about my snakes shedding is looking forward to their colours looking brighter and better and making them look absolutely gorgeous

[EL Ziggy]

The thing I do like about my snakes shedding is looking forward to their colours looking brighter and better and making them look absolutely gorgeous

I would usually agree with this statement Martin. That was until this morning. My olive python shed overnight. I went to check out his new skin and it looked exactly the same as it did before his shed. He's still a handsome critter but I was expecting a little post shed glimmer :). What's also weird is that my albino carpet went into shed at least 3 days before the olive and he's already shed while she still hasn't. I thought it was odd that he would shed so much faster.

[Minkness]

Yup, I hate it too. Mostly because I can't handle. If I feed and one refuses, I have several others that wouldn't mind an extra. The only size rat Ihave that I can't pass around is medoums for my boa (about to move to a large), but he will always eat, even when in full, deep, blue lol. My BOs are the same as well actually. =)

[MartinD]

@Ziggy, thinking about it I have seen some snakes that have shed and there seems no difference in colour

[TRD]

Funny, 3 out of 4 are in shed here :o Somehow they always manage to sync the shed cycle. At least it's Feb now so reptile show end of this month. Just rehoused 3 snakes in bigger terra, 3 empty terra. Dangerous.

[riddick07]

I did pick up the amel Goldenchild when I was cleaning cages yesterday and got that crinkly sound. Sounded like I picked up paper or something instead of a snake made me panic for a split second. Then I was like oh you are shedding not dying lol he had a shed in his cage this morning too.

[Andy_G]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v366/Andy_G/IJCP/IM002374.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/Andy_G/media/IJCP/IM002374.jpg.html)

I love when they shed, though. :)
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v366/Andy_G/Common%20BCIs/DSC01254.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/Andy_G/media/Common%20BCIs/DSC01254.jpg.html)
...even if they try to reverse shed...

[EL Ziggy]

Great pics Andy!

[akane]

The king, rosy, and brown snake I don't really notice. They just slip their skin one day with maybe one refusal of food and little change in behavior. The brown snake was hanging out in a different location around the rocks and water dish so I wondered about hi but then he shed and went back to normal. The bull snake I feel sorry for because he miserably sits around for 2 weeks. The sumatran python says he's going to take my hand off until he no longer feels bad. Lesson... don't test the mood of the python in shed with your hand. Luckily baby pythons in shed have baby teeth and poor aim so I only got one puncture wound and 1 that didn't quite break skin between my thumb and finger.

[mattd]

my baby sammy just shed her second time since i had her. i hate it cause its new to me. but the morning i woke up and her whole body shed in one piece. i was on top of the world that day. after her first shed was not the best. finally starting to figure her out after much miss info and wasted money. its welll worth it now.

[mattd]

btw she just ate her first weaned rat last night \0/

[Andy_G]

Thanks Zig!

[MartinD]

Lovely photo's, it always amazes me when I watch snakes shed. Thank you Mother Nature

[richardhind]

As you say it's normally when you get food out that you notice,luckily I've got plenty that will take it,I do love the iridescence that my pastel is when she has just finished shedding

[GyGbeetle]

I actually love it when they shed, because it means they're growing, and I'm doing a good job at nourishing them. I have 2 terrible shedders right now, no matter what I do to increase their moisture. One sheds about every 3 weeks, but always in pieces, and the other has only ever shed once since getting her in November. I like it even less when they don't shed.

I still handle them while they shed, sparingly. None of them have ever been aggressive while shedding, and all of them will still eat. We try not to feed them when their eyes are cloudy or they're really dry, but sometimes you can tell they want their yummies and it doesn't take much encouragement at that point for them to eat.

And I know that a shed means beautiful shiny snakes afterwards. That part rocks.

Now when my evil felines shed, that's a whole different story...

[bigsnakegirl785]

I actually love it when they shed, because it means they're growing, and I'm doing a good job at nourishing them. I have 2 terrible shedders right now, no matter what I do to increase their moisture. One sheds about every 3 weeks, but always in pieces, and the other has only ever shed once since getting her in November. I like it even less when they don't shed.

I still handle them while they shed, sparingly. None of them have ever been aggressive while shedding, and all of them will still eat. We try not to feed them when their eyes are cloudy or they're really dry, but sometimes you can tell they want their yummies and it doesn't take much encouragement at that point for them to eat.

And I know that a shed means beautiful shiny snakes afterwards. That part rocks.

Now when my evil felines shed, that's a whole different story...

Every 3 weeks is extremely fast, and paired with the bad sheds something could be off. Does it have normal stools, does it act weird at all?

The one that shed in November, I wouldn't worry too much about, I've found regardless of species or age, most snakes shed every 1-3 months. If it still hasn't shed in another month or two, I might try bumping its prey size up a slight bit.

[GyGbeetle]

Every 3 weeks is extremely fast, and paired with the bad sheds something could be off. Does it have normal stools, does it act weird at all?

The one that shed in November, I wouldn't worry too much about, I've found regardless of species or age, most snakes shed every 1-3 months. If it still hasn't shed in another month or two, I might try bumping its prey size up a slight bit.

Our retics are young babies, and have been shedding quicker than our boas. I'm not concerned, now is out vet. I've heard this said by pros that albinos tend to have sticky sheds, and she definitely does.

The one I brought home in November, and her clutch mate, only just shed in January. As a baby, this is a little concerning. Their husbandry was off at the breeder's, and it looked like the one had some previously unresolved stuck shed. Their feed size was just bumped up this week so time shall tell what future sheds will look like. Hopefully better

[bigsnakegirl785]

Our retics are young babies, and have been shedding quicker than our boas. I'm not concerned, now is out vet. I've heard this said by pros that albinos tend to have sticky sheds, and she definitely does.

The one I brought home in November, and her clutch mate, only just shed in January. As a baby, this is a little concerning. Their husbandry was off at the breeder's, and it looked like the one had some previously unresolved stuck shed. Their feed size was just bumped up this week so time shall tell what future sheds will look like. Hopefully better

If they're retics then it's possible you're feeding them heavier than I do mine, my retic sheds every 1-3 months like all my other snakes, even as a baby. But I also don't feed her very heavily. I definitely can't speak for albino retics, though, as far as the messy sheds go. None of my other albino animals have trouble shedding, but I do know that retics have thinner skins than most snakes. Maybe try adding a humid hide and see if that helps? When River was smaller she'd use her humid when she shed. Maybe it just needs an extra boost to make it easier?

Ah. Well if it shed in January then you definitely have nothing to worry about. It's not even a week into February, and January is only 2 months after you got it, still well within normal shed time.

[GyGbeetle]

If they're retics then it's possible you're feeding them heavier than I do mine, my retic sheds every 1-3 months like all my other snakes, even as a baby. But I also don't feed her very heavily. I definitely can't speak for albino retics, though, as far as the messy sheds go. None of my other albino animals have trouble shedding, but I do know that retics have thinner skins than most snakes. Maybe try adding a humid hide and see if that helps? When River was smaller she'd use her humid when she shed. Maybe it just needs an extra boost to make it easier?

Ah. Well if it shed in January then you definitely have nothing to worry about. It's not even a week into February, and January is only 2 months after you got it, still well within normal shed time.

We've been feeding our retics once a week. They are both now on small rats, but originally were given rat pups. I don't remember what we fed them when we first got them in July/August; that's way too long ago.

So for the baby boas, you think that's ok to only shed like that? It's just very different from our BCIs. they shed about every 6 weeks like clock work. We've switched them to every other week feedings (they were getting round. Didn't intend them to get round, so we pulled back on the feeds). Both of the baby BCIs shed with no issues. One of the BCAs sheds with no issues. The second BCA sheds with help. I'm hoping this resolves now that she has proper husbandry. Only time will tell.

[bigsnakegirl785]

We've been feeding our retics once a week. They are both now on small rats, but originally were given rat pups. I don't remember what we fed them when we first got them in July/August; that's way too long ago.

So for the baby boas, you think that's ok to only shed like that? It's just very different from our BCIs. they shed about every 6 weeks like clock work. We've switched them to every other week feedings (they were getting round. Didn't intend them to get round, so we pulled back on the feeds). Both of the baby BCIs shed with no issues. One of the BCAs sheds with no issues. The second BCA sheds with help. I'm hoping this resolves now that she has proper husbandry. Only time will tell.

I've been feeding River every 2 weeks for a little over half the time I've had her, so definitely feeding less. I find websites like iHerp to be useful tools in keeping track of things like sheds, feedings, weights, etc. if you were interested in starting a record for your snakes. It definitely helps with keeping up with husbandry practices and watching them grow.

Yup, the frequency should be fine. The only one I'm worried about the boa shedding with help. I'd offer a humid hide or try to bump the overall humidity for that one. Boas do best at 70-80%. Sometimes boas just like to hold onto their sheds, I think Crona went 4 months between his last two sheds, might have been 3, but Nymeria has a history going a very long time without shedding...her second shed with me was 6 months after the first and she's currently gone almost 9 months since her last shed despite growing at least 7"-8" and 200+ grams (she normally sheds every time she grows 4" so not sure what's going on). I also could have forgotten to record a shed cycle, but I have no photos of her in shed or freshly-shed so I have no way to know for sure.

Unless my snakes go a ridiculous amount of time like that, I'm not really bothered by their shedding frequency.

[GyGbeetle]

I've been feeding River every 2 weeks for a little over half the time I've had her, so definitely feeding less. I find websites like iHerp to be useful tools in keeping track of things like sheds, feedings, weights, etc. if you were interested in starting a record for your snakes. It definitely helps with keeping up with husbandry practices and watching them grow.

Yup, the frequency should be fine. The only one I'm worried about the boa shedding with help. I'd offer a humid hide or try to bump the overall humidity for that one. Boas do best at 70-80%. Sometimes boas just like to hold onto their sheds, I think Crona went 4 months between his last two sheds, might have been 3, but Nymeria has a history going a very long time without shedding...her second shed with me was 6 months after the first and she's currently gone almost 9 months since her last shed despite growing at least 7"-8" and 200+ grams (she normally sheds every time she grows 4" so not sure what's going on). I also could have forgotten to record a shed cycle, but I have no photos of her in shed or freshly-shed so I have no way to know for sure.

Unless my snakes go a ridiculous amount of time like that, I'm not really bothered by their shedding frequency.

I've been trying to open an iHerp account now for 2 months. I've contacted the site admin and they haven't gotten back to me. In the meantime, I've created an Excel tracker to record all activities for them, so I don't have to trust my memory. Thanks for sharing your experience. I'm not feeling so bad with our sheds. I still don't know where to find a humid hide. We have a closed hide over the heat that we do keep humid by spraying substrate often. I'm guessing that's not what you're meaning though.

[akane]

I'm just used to having a lot of animals to keep track of and we never kept paperwork growing up. I do own a pedigree and breeding tracker software I can put custom things into but I kind of got lazy in using it and keep forgetting to insert things. I can't always tell you dates but I retain an overall impression of what each animal is doing and if alarm bells start going off I don't question instinct. Every time I do even at the insistence of experienced people I regret it. I assess behavior of everything but birds very clearly and I have been watching that individual so after I know an animal (snakes are still a bit new) I don't usually need records to tell me much. If I walk past a cage I just assessed that cage subconsciously. If my chronic illness flares up my husband will spend some time feeding and watering and I walk in the room after a few days and instantly "that one is off" "that water bottle hasn't been working right" "those 2 need separated" "that one is going to give birth early", etc... I'm just always tracking the room for little details in each cage. Birds and I just don't work out for some reason. I am having more luck with some diamond doves than I ever did hookbills. I've given it a few tries and I can't get a feel of parrots. They continue to escape my observation skills and not react to handling how I expect. If something does go wrong I am lost without a technical guide because instinct gives me nothing there. It's very frustrating when I'm used to just knowing whether I realize why or not.

[bigsnakegirl785]

I've been trying to open an iHerp account now for 2 months. I've contacted the site admin and they haven't gotten back to me. In the meantime, I've created an Excel tracker to record all activities for them, so I don't have to trust my memory. Thanks for sharing your experience. I'm not feeling so bad with our sheds. I still don't know where to find a humid hide. We have a closed hide over the heat that we do keep humid by spraying substrate often. I'm guessing that's not what you're meaning though.

The site did recently update and completely move house, so maybe that's why you're having troubles?

As far as a humid hide, it's any sort of hide that is kept more humid than the rest of the enclosure. I don't offer humid hides to most of my snakes, because their regular hides work like humid hides. When the rest of the bedding is dry, it's still nice and wet under their hides for at least a few days after. I keep those snakes on damp EcoEarth to maintain their humidity, and re-dampen it when it dries.

[Andy_G]

Just a quick note that both poor sheds as well as frequent shedding can partially be attributed to mites as well as injury. Certainly not saying that's the case, just throwing it out there for anyone reading as I don't believe it was mentioned.

[GyGbeetle]

Just a quick note that both poor sheds as well as frequent shedding can partially be attributed to mites as well as injury. Certainly not saying that's the case, just throwing it out there for anyone reading as I don't believe it was mentioned.

I don't believe they have injuries. One had a mite infestation, so I sort of expected her to have a bad shed. The other one, the lavender albino tiger retic, she's as healthy as can be, didn't get any mites during our "infestation", but never sheds in a single body shed like the other retic we have. I think that's just "her thing". The vet we have been using mentioned this isn't uncommon with albino morphs, as their mutations can cause other systemic issues such as poor shedding.

[Andy_G]

The vet we have been using mentioned this isn't uncommon with albino morphs, as their mutations can cause other systemic issues such as poor shedding.

I have zero retic experience...but lots with many other species. This is untrue for those many other species.

[GyGbeetle]

I have zero retic experience...but lots with many other species. This is untrue for those many other species.

I don't know then. We have the same husbandry for her as the other retic. He sheds like it's going out of style, with a single body shed overnight, and her enclosure looks like a CSI crime scene after she sheds, with explosions of shed skin everywhere. Then we have to bathe her to get the rest off. Usually takes 2 days. But she's completely healthy. No issues anywhere else, other than shedding. She has a great temperament, eats great (although sometimes tries to start at the butt end first). We've had her since August of last year, and she's about 6 feet now (coming from only 2 months old when we first took her home). She's not fat. She just has horrible sheds.

[TRD]

Maybe she's simply not drinking enough. Snake doesn't drink enough, snake doesn't shed well, but otherwise may have moisture enough to be well. I have a similar experience with a milksnake. She's healthy as can be, but she's not drinking from the water bowl for whatever reason and as a result isn't shedding well as it requires quite some water intake prior to starting the shed cycle. She gets whatever water we can get into her by feeding her wet mice... absolutely won't drink a drip from the bowl.

It's interesting because nelsoni milksnake is suppose to live in close proximity to water streams in their natural habitat. I'm not sure why she's not drinking from a bowl (and we tried many different ones). Maybe because the water is not in motion, maybe because she feels exposed (though we have moved the bowl to different places and also covered it). She just doesn't use it. Even my KSBs come out to drink at night and I see them drinking on regular basis. The nelsoni, never, not once.

It's one of those things that's bugging the hell out of me. I wish to provide well for her and make her comfortable, but she's just really not the type that is going to do well in captivity for some reason compared to my other snakes. I almost completely stopped handling her to see if there would be any change, and also provided a lot of leaf litter in her enclosure to give her tons of hiding options, moved her terra to a more silent area, but nada. She's seclusive around the clock. Now I'm thinking about what I can try next. Not drinking is the most worrying, I'm not sure how milksnakes get their water in nature... I read that snakes who drink from streams in nature may not recognize standing water in a bowl as suitable water source... but nelsoni is a well established species in captivity, so I doubt that applies here.

[Andy_G]

TRD...just because you don't witness it, doesn't mean it isn't happening. :)

[GyGbeetle]

TRD...just because you don't witness it, doesn't mean it isn't happening. :)

That's what I've been told too. But if you're worried that it's the standing water, there are some water features that provide continuous flowing water to put in their enclosures, if you have the room. I thought about getting it for some of my snakes, but they're kinda expensive, and I have a lot of snakes, and I'd feel guilty if I bought it for only one, and the rest didn't get one. Plus we're redesigning everything so I'm trying to be cost efficient until we transition to new enclosures.

If you end up buying one, let us know how it works out. I'm curious to know if snakes will enjoy it