Squishy Snake??

[Raiyne]

I was holding Shesha today and nearly panicked when I heard a faint gurgling noise from her. I examined her thoroughly and was able to hear the sound several more times. It doesn't appear to be at all related to her breathing (thank goodness). Apparently... she's squishy.

The sound appears to come from when she moves in between my fingers. I can feel it when it occurs. After a long time checking her over and having her move in my hands over and over again, it seems to me that she has small pockets of air under her skin. That's what it feels and sounds like to me. The "squishy" spots are random. Sometimes it's near her head, sometimes middle, sometimes the tail. I've never noticed this with her before. Could she be near shed? Does this sort of thing happen when snakes near shed?

Shesha is an '07 and is near 70 grams. I haven't seen her shed yet since I've had her. Marsha said she last shed around May 10th. I can't tell if her colors are duller than normal. Her eyes definately aren't cloudy. I fed her 3 days ago so I could have easily missed cloudy eyes while letting her digest. Then again, it took her longer to digest than normal because the hopper I fed her was pretty big. For all I know she could have some sort of weird snake gas from eating a big meal. She certainly doesn't seem sick. She's a bit flinchy, but that's pretty normal for her.

Any suggestions on what's going on here?

[Raiyne]

After some searching I found a website about snake shedding that said this:

To aid the snake in separating the old skin from the new, glands in the body secrete a fluid which runs between the two layers including under the eyecap.

Fluid in between two layers of skin would definately explain the way she felt and the sorta squishy noise as well. If she's just starting to get the fluid under the skin, then her eyes would be getting milky very soon. That makes sense to me. According to the site, the snakes developing skin is extremely fragile so it recommended as little handling during the shed process as possible. I'll watch her closely over the next few days to see if I notice any color changes.

[Nanci]

I guess my snakes feel squishy sometimes, like I can hear stuff moving around inside.

[susang]

I've heard noise when my snakes go between my fingers. Especially the little guys that are squirmey, I hear stuff. I'm no expert on snakes or their movement, but if someone was holding me and I had no arms and legs I would think the amount of tension in my muscles alone would make a noise trying to move, air in the lungs, fluids whatever would make noise. I don't know just my .01 cent opinion.

[alan]

When my snake is in pink she feels sort of ?rubbery skinned? After she clears (pre-shed) her skin feels like there is a plastic coating on it, sort of ?crackly?
Question marks are for lack of proper adjectives, it's close enough.
I have never heard gurgling related to her shed, and I've handled her at all stages of shed.

[Raiyne]

Thanks everyone! I really appreciate that you still take time to answer my paranoid questions. It's a relief to hear this is normal... even if my shed theory was probably way off. :p

[LBoz]

if someone was holding me and I had no arms and legs I would think the amount of tension in my muscles alone would make a noise.

LMAO...Sorry Susan..just the visual. :laugh:

[Okeetee_Corn_Snakes]

Reminds me of the first time I ever heard my snake fart. I was sleeping when someone very close to me farted and I jolted out of bed because there was no one in my room who can make that noise. I turned on the lights and looked around. Eventually I figured it was Dez. Since then I make a lot of snake fart jokes.