Should I feed my snake - Shedding Issues

[toonytrolly]

So, I've had Kaz for about 2-3 weeks now, the first time I attempted to feed him a week after getting him he regurged it and I've been holding off on feeding again because I wanted him to have time to recoop. A few days ago, I was looking at him and noticed a distinct dulling of his skin colors, and the day after that his eyes seemed to have gone white and cloudy - so I immediately assumed he was shedding and held off feeding him even longer. However, today when I looked at him his eyes looked shiny again, his skin seemed brighter - but there was no skin in the tank to be found! I'm not sure if maybe it was a false alarm and I hadn't been able to tell correctly with the lighting - so I was hoping some of you might help to offer me insight as to whether or not he looks like shedding is an imminent problem, or if I should go ahead and feed him in a day or two. I'm just getting a bit worried because he hasn't had a meal in his stomach since I got him, and I don't want him to be going hungry because of false assumptions.

http://i.imgur.com/jY9x1Fj.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/xgnLDDY.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/L9k4eLO.jpg

[Karl_Mcknight]

you obviously don't know.

The eyes cloud over, then the snake will shed off the eye caps which makes the eyes look clear again. The actual skin shed comes later, maybe a day to 10 days. Your snake is trying to shed. If you'll leave it alone it will.

[toonytrolly]

you obviously don't know.

The eyes cloud over, then the snake will shed off the eye caps which makes the eyes look clear again. The actual skin shed comes later, maybe a day to 10 days. Your snake is trying to shed. If you'll leave it alone it will.


I didn't know. I'm really sorry, this is my first snake ever and I'd never read about that as I'm more used to lizards than snakes - I only took him out for pictures and put him back, I won't disturb him again... The last thing I want is to stress him out, I'll try to ask questions before resorting to disturbing him next time...

[Karl_Mcknight]

there is all kinds of information on this website, there are books about raising snakes, and a lot of materials online. All you have to do is a little searching and reading. If you're going to keep an animal as a pet, you at least owe it to the animal to know what you're doing.

While your snake is trying to shed and get over it's regurgitation issues, why don't you take some time and learn a little about keeping a pet corn snake.

[DollysMom]

Not knowing is no problem. You are here to ask and we are here to help. Shedding is such an interesting process. The more I learn about it the more amazing it seems. Here is a link to wiki vet. https://en.wikivet.net/Snake_Shedding

They do not shed their eye caps early, it's just that the lymph that floods between the layers of skin to separate it, including the eyes, clears up before the old skin is discarded. You are not the first person who has been fooled by this detail of snake physiology.

[daddio207]

I didn't know. I'm really sorry, this is my first snake ever and I'd never read about that as I'm more used to lizards than snakes - I only took him out for pictures and put him back, I won't disturb him again... The last thing I want is to stress him out, I'll try to ask questions before resorting to disturbing him next time...

You have NOTHING to apologize for !

Good post Dollysmom!

Just to simplify the shed process for you toonytrolly. There are 3 phases to the shed process.
First phase is the "in blue" phase where the eyes turn blueish in color and the body becomes dull.
Second is the "clear" phase were they go back to looking almost normal.
Third phase is the actual process of shedding their skin.

That second phase does fool a lot of people !
One of the most important things to check is to make sure that the eye scales have shed with the rest of the skin. They DO NOT shed eye scales earlier than their skin.

[toonytrolly]

Not knowing is no problem. You are here to ask and we are here to help. Shedding is such an interesting process. The more I learn about it the more amazing it seems. Here is a link to wiki vet. https://en.wikivet.net/Snake_Shedding

They do not shed their eye caps early, it's just that the lymph that floods between the layers of skin to separate it, including the eyes, clears up before the old skin is discarded. You are not the first person who has been fooled by this detail of snake physiology.

You have NOTHING to apologize for !

Good post Dollysmom!

Just to simplify the shed process for you toonytrolly. There are 3 phases to the shed process.
First phase is the "in blue" phase where the eyes turn blueish in color and the body becomes dull.
Second is the "clear" phase were they go back to looking almost normal.
Third phase is the actual process of shedding their skin.

That second phase does fool a lot of people !
One of the most important things to check is to make sure that the eye scales have shed with the rest of the skin. They DO NOT shed eye scales earlier than their skin.

Thank you both for informing me about this!! I'm trying my best to keep on learning about what's best for my animals - even with all the reading I did prior to getting Kaz I still feel lost sometimes - snakes are a big jump from geckos and beardies!! I'm misting his tank as often as needed to keep his humidity at a solid 40-50%, and I hope when he does shed that it goes smoothly. One more question - after he does shed, how many days should I wait to feed him?

[daddio207]

Most snakes will eat same day. Since I feed so many I just wait till their next scheduled feeding. In your case if keeping to a schedule due to your own schedule is not important then you can feed anytime after. There's a chance he won't eat within hours of a shed so you might want to just wait till the next day.

Funny story, I had a albino king snake hatchling about 3 months old that I did not realize was in his shed process. I went ahead and fed him and as he was swallowing the mouse he started to shed off his skin. As he completed swallowing his mouse he finished shedding and defecated into the old skin! That's multitasking !!

[DollysMom]

...

Funny story, I had a albino king snake hatchling about 3 months old that I did not realize was in his shed process. I went ahead and fed him and as he was swallowing the mouse he started to shed off his skin. As he completed swallowing his mouse he finished shedding and defecated into the old skin! That's multitasking !!

ROTFLOL. You win! I'm not sure what you win but you definitely deserve something.

[daddio207]

ROTFLOL. You win! I'm not sure what you win but you definitely deserve something.

HAHA
Apparently my prize was a poop sausage ! LOL :D

[toonytrolly]

Update!! Kaz JUST shed tonight, I checked his skin and it all looked good - eyecaps came off with the rest of his head, although it DID split in the middle and I'm not sure if that's normal or not... I'm going to feed him tomorrow, so I hope everything goes smoothly after that!!

[DollysMom]

Congrats. As long as none of the shed is stuck on him the split on the head doesn't matter.

Since you had a regurge, feed smaller than normal prey. It's not unusual to go with a smaller prey when acclimating a snake, either. No harm in it at all. Best wishes.