His eyes are no longer cloudy today..... What does that mean? There is no shed in the tank...
It means that the snake is out of the blue. For the first time you see your corn in the blue (assuming you check up on him often) you can expect a shed in around, but not always, 7 days. A corn will spend about the first four in the blue, then he will clear up (though I find that sometimes the colors are still a little dull), and will shed around 3 days or less after he gets out of the blue. I do think that if you provide him the right shedding conditions (ie. humidity) then he may shed more quickly once he is out of the blue, but I may be wrong.
Mine did that too, wait another day or two and you'll see a shed, mine actually ate during this time, i dont see the harm in feeding your snake now if he/she wants to eat but if your snake refuses to eat again dont worry it will start eating again after it sheds, just dont handle it still, its annoying not being able to handle your pet for this period of time but its not like its every week or anything.
I fed once during my snake was in the blue, and the shed was fine, but I still do not recommend feeding during the blue. It has been said to cause bad or incomplete sheds and other complications, so I would just wait until the next feeding day after he has shed.
as for that "perfect shed" dont stress if its not perfect, mine was almost perfect but had a small peice half way down the tail that didnt come off, it was maybe a cm long, its really no big deal unless it looks like a whole bunch of dandruff everywhere.
Ummm..... No, a perfect shed is always good, but after each shed the snake should be thoroughly checked for extra skin. First, a little patch of skin left can attract infection. Second, a ring of skin around the end of the tail of a snake will expand and contract repeatedly due to temperature changes and can cut off the blood flow to the end of the tail. Why is this bad? it's bad because the snake can lose the tip of it's tail because of this. Third, the eye caps. I haven't ever had problems with eye caps, so i can't offer much advice, though you should always make sure that they are shed. They can be found on the shed skin. These are the caps that cover the snake's eyes. If the caps are not shed, there can be problems.
I highly recommend you pick up a few books on cornsnakes so that you will be able to educate yourself about their habits. The Cornsnake Manual by Kathy Love is one of the best. It can be purchased at most pet stores, or on her website... Cornutopia.com. Please take the time to read the FAQs on this site, and pick up some reading material.
Yes, the two most referred to is probably (like said above) is Kathy Love's "Corn Snakes: The Comprehensive Owner's Guide" The second is Don Soderburg's "Corn Snakes In Captivity". Both are wonderful, and though you can read them cover to cover, they can be great reference books.
I have done some reading about corn snakes. I have also seen Kathy Love's books at my local petstore and have read them in the store. I put two shed boxes in but they are terrible so I will redo them. Thanks!
Great. I think your corn will have a nice shed. Don't forget to replace the interior substrate of the shed boxes at least once throughout the course of a week as it can get soiled and whatnot.