A little panicked...

Yesterday I noticed a little more stuck shed on Worm's throat, and I wanted to get it off before I fed him. So I just soaked him, and tried to get it off with a damp q-tip. It worked, and then a lot more started coming off. "Hmmm, this is more stuck shed than I thought he had," I thought. But I kept going.

Then I noticed that the bits where the "stuck shed" had come off didn't have that particular snakey irridescence to them. And suddenly I'm kind of terrified-- is it possible that I just removed a lot of the top layer of his *skin*? It didn't seem to hurt him, though he didn't look to enjoy the process much. If I did that, if there's any way I could have done that, what on earth do I do? There was no blood, no apparent damage at all, and it was coming unstuck pretty easily, sometimes just when he twined around my fingers. I really thought it was stuck shed. But I looked at the belly portion I got from soaking him right after his shed, and... it can't be.

I am horrified. Have I hurt him? What should I do?

Was he blue? Had he shed at all? I don't think his skin would just peel off like that. When was his last shed, and was it a complete shed?

No, this is the little guy who had the problem shed last time, and the scales came off on his head. He hadn't gone blue, and I don't think he was ready to shed yet.

Argh, I hope I haven't damaged him. It really was coming off easily...

And if he was getting close to ready to shed and I wasn't able to tell yet (he's a snow), how much trouble would this cause with his next shed? Will a layer that wasn't supposed to go yet try to?

I love this little guy so much, and he keeps having problems. If I hurt him, I won't be able to live with myself.

Could he have been blue? Was he in hiding? My _guess_ is he was blue, you didn't know, so he was at the point where he clears, and the skin was just starting to loosen up before shedding, and you shed him.

Well, I didn't do it all the way, because I didn't mess with his top half. I hope it's just that. He hasn't been hiding, not like he did before last shed, but I've been bothering him as little as possible since the last bad shed anyway. I didn't see his eyes go cloudy, but it's possible that they're going to do so soon. I just REALLY hope whatever happened won't make his next shed any harder than it has to be, what with the scabby head and all! If he loses most of the scales on his belly next time, that would be a real problem.

Another question: I've been googling furiously, and all I've come up with so far is the nebulous statement that peeling off stuck shed can result in severe skin damage. Presumably this also applies to accidentally removing skin that wasn't ready to come off yet, even if it did come off easily. But no one says what KIND of damage. Does anyone know? Would it be visible? Would there be weeping or blood? What does damage to a corn snake's skin look like when it doesn't involve lacerations or missing scales?

Obviously I know much less than you do, but I hope he's ok! I'm sure he will be fine.

Some snakes do a sneak blue when you don't notice and then there's a shed skin in the tank. Others are such little drama queens about the whole ordeal.
I think that if the snake was in pain, he'd let you know about it. We have a ball python who needs constant shed assistance. My anery corn had some stuck shed some time back. She rubbed it off between my fingers; I found it to be stiffer than the sheds that detach in one piece.
We also just got a snow male last weekend. He is settling in, so I don't bother him much. Last night I noticed his eyes didn't look as pink as they did when I first got him. What does a snow in blue look like?

Heh-- for most of the process, a snow in blue looks exactly like a snow not in blue. There's a period where their eyes go a more opaque pink, but since I hardly even caught Worm in it last time, I could well have missed it. He hasn't been hiding, but we'll see.

I hope he's ok

Okay, I just peeped in on him in his hide. The effect is slight, but I'm pretty sure his eyes are a bit opaque, and since that's the only way I can tell if mine are going to shed, I'm going to go ahead and assume he is. Thanks, Nanci, for helping me out in my panic, and to the rest of you for your well-wishes. Now I just have to try to keep that difficult spot from last time from being trouble again!

Here's hoping for a better shed for my tiny one this time!