Feeding to stimulate shedding

[Invictus]

Hey all,

Just wanted to share an interesting experience I've had. This has worked with both my BCC and my big corn snake.

A couple of weeks ago, the big guy got the foggy eyes just after feeding. He stayed in his hide box, and we didn't see him for about a week. He doesn't usually take long to shed. Usually 1-2 days after his eyes clear up.

Well, about a week after that, he still hadn't shed yet. So, this means he was in shed mode for almost 2 weeks. (1 week for the eyes to clear up, 1 week of nothing.) So, I figured there is no sense starving him just because he won't shed. So, I fed him. Sure enough, as soon as I put him back in the terrarium, he started scraping up against anything he could find, and he had fully shed by the next day.

The same thing with my BCC.. He was taking a long time to shed, and I was getting concerned. Fed him a rat, he shed the next day.

Neither snake showed any signs of being stressed as a result of feeding and shedding. Maybe this is something that you all can try if your snake is having shedding problems. It's seemed to work quite well for me so far.

[BurmBaroness]

Actually, I feed my snakes when they're in blue or not. Most snakes, tho not all, will eat while in blue, and it does help their shed, as I thaw their prey in warm water, so they get extra hydration.

[marisa]

Same here. All get offered food, shedding or no. I have one that has known issues with this so we steer clear of it with her, but aside from that, they are all offered food whenever.

Marisa

[Invictus]

Sweet. Good to know I've happened upon something that is already tried, tested, and true.