ate his shed???

[Kali]

My hatchlings are in the process of having their first shed. As soon as I see one has shed, I offer him a pinky and leave him, so he can try his first meal in peace. I usually leave the shed with them, as I had heard (or read, I think it was here somewhere, but not sure) that that could be good for convincing them to eat, something about safe surroundings and stuff.
Today two had shed, so I put a pinky in with each. When I went to look about an hour later, both had eaten their pinky (Yay!), so I mark it on their chart. A little later, when I was checking if there maybe were any more that had shed, I see something like a hatchling struggling with his shed... I open the box, and find him eating his shed!! It was the last part, from the head, that was still sticking out, that I saw.
??????
I never heard anything like that, has any of you guys ever seen that?
I tried gently to pull it out, got a part out and then it broke. I didn't pull on the rest of it, because he had just eaten his first meal and I didn't want to stress him out even more, and on top of that, the moment it broke off, the little one started very enthousiastically eating what was still sticking out of his mouth.

I don't think a shed, and a fresh one at that, can do any harm in there, but of course I'm not sure of that. Any ideas maybe?? I really don't know what to think of this...

[SquamishSerpents]

that is very bizarre! my first thought was that maybe your snake had dragged the pinky over near the shed, and perhaps it got stuck to the pink and accidentally went down the tube?

but i re-read and saw that this happened AFTER you had confirmed that the pink was already gone...so i really have no advice for you! i can't imagine it doing any harm at all, though.

[pridecity]

Was it a live pinkie? If so, maybe it peed on the shed or something and the snake thought it was another mouse?

[cornsnakeforsale_com]

Strange. I can't imagine it doing any harm.

[ComoxCorn]

I had a hatchling do that last year. It's not common for them to eat their shed, but it won't harm them.

[Kali]

Well I'm glad that although rare, it has happened before :)
Indeed, the thought of the shed sticking to the pinky had crossed my mind, but I actually did see the pinky gone before the eating of the shed. It was an F/T, so it can't have peed on it, but maybe while eating, it dragged the pinky over the shed, giving it a bit of scent?
Whatever happened, that is one strange hatchling :)

[sarae]

i know some lizards eat their shed as a way of obtaining certain nutrients... and i rarely find shed in my sand boa's cage... I've often wondered if she's a shed-eater too!

[Stormy]

I dont know about snakes but my bearded dragon will chow down on his shed skin like it is the best thing ever. I asked the vet about this and he said they will eat it to help regain lost vitamins.