Just a beginner! Need help!

[Trina-mae]

Hi! I have had my snake for almost 3 weeks. When I bought him his colors were bright orange and red and his eyes were as well. But now his color has dulled quite a bit and his eyes are pretty cloudy. I have read that this is part of shedding, but it has been going on for about a week now. He eats well, and is otherwise completely normal. I am just worried that something really could be wrong, what should i do? Does he maybe need help with his shedding?
Thanks!
Trina Mae

[Nanci]

This is normal. It takes roughly 10-12 days to complete the shed cycle. After the snake reaches its peak of dull (blue) color, you will notice it becomes active again, and appears to have shed, but you can't find the old skin! This phase is called "clear," and lasts (depending on at which point you discover it) up to 48 hours, although in my experience my snakes generally shed within 24 hours of turning clear. If he is a baby, you may expect this cycle to repeat about monthly.

After your snake sheds, inspect the shed skin to make sure the eye caps (clear scales covering the eyes) are present on the shed as well as the complete tiny tail tip. If not, or if ragged pieces of the shed remain on the snake, do a search for Bad/Incomplete Shed and you will find instructions (simple) for a method to remove the remaining shed.

Misting him daily and covering his screen cover loosely with plastic wrap will keep the humidity up enough to prevent shedding problems, usually.

[Trina-mae]

Oh yay! I thought something bad was going to happen to him lol.
How often should I be handling him? I hold him everyday and he is very active and playfull with me, but I just don't want to do it TOO much, even though I really want to! haha

[Nanci]

Well, when he is blue, I would say not at all. In the wild, this is an unsafe time to be active, so they hide away until they are ready to shed, just as they hide away when they are digesting. At other times, it's ok to handle your snake every day, or even a couple times a day, as long as he isn't in the digestion phase, which would be the 48- (conservative) 72 hours following a feeding. If you see a bulge from a remaining meal (in his stomach, not ready to poop out down at his vent) then you should not handle him because this risks a regurge. It isn't harmful to handle your snake when he is blue, although some would say their skin is more sensitive, more just a courtesy to the snake, who would normally be hiding and inactive.

[Trina-mae]

Great, thank you for your help!!
Now I'm not so worried!