New mom seeks advise/reassurance: Shedding trouble? dehydrated? Humidit? My fault?

Hi all: I was soooooooo glad to find you guys while doing my research before buying my first corn snake, Josephine Bone-a-part.

Last Month, I went to Reptilia, a large reptile zoo and pet store in north Toronto, Canada where I had the good fortune to be the only person in the store with 4 employees. I held a crested gecko, a Beardie and about 10-15 snakes of all sizes, breeds and colours. I was immediately captivated by the snakes. Amazing! I asked a million questions and just knew I would, one day, own one, so I bought (and devoured) the book, “The Art of Keeping Snakes,” researched the internet for 3 days regarding snake care, breeds, husbandry, etc., and decided a corn snake was the one for me and I for it.

I was going to go to a breeder to get one but found a nice man offering a healthy corn for sale online Kijiji. After reading the book and researching until my eyes bled, I felt informed enough to assess Josephine’s superficial health conditions before I bought her. She arrived at my house, and, to my delight, was/is indeed, a lovely healthy, active little critter. Smooth skin with no kinks, mites, wrinkled skin, raised scales or blisters. Vent fine, no red spots. She is strong, alert and calmed down fairly quickly upon holding her for the first time. I also got good energy from the guy and his wife and allowed instinct to prevail. I bought her and her little set up for a good price.

She is 14” and although small for her age, (from what I’ve read), was/is not “thin.” She is the cutest, most fascinating creature I have ever seen and, I not ashamed to say, I am in love. But I’m worried...

- I got her April 24th, 2007. She ate 3 days after she arrived, April 27th, a pinkie 1 1/2 the diameter of her largest girth point.

- I have the optimum conditions of humidity at 40-60% (depending if the light is on or off. I mist her once or twice a day depending on humidity reading.

- The digital thermometer with probe reads about 74 degrees (cool side) and 83 (warm side) an inch above her aspen chips substrate. (with minor fluxuations).

- her 3” water dish is rinsed every 2 days and holds about 3/4” of when full.
I saw her drink twice since I got her. She’s usually in either of her hides but comes out for her midnight stroll. I've never seen her hang out in the water.

- Excluding during a shed, I hold/play with her for about 5 mins a day unless she gives me the hint she would really rather I didn’t by not calming down within a 2 mins or so. She never bites and was reported never to have done so.

- her eyes went to the blue phase Wednesday May 7th, 2 days before her weekly feeding. okay, here’s where I screwed up I think...

- Yesterday, Friday, I noted the skin running along her neck (just half an inch long) looked pinched, on both sides of her neck and that her backbone seemed to be protruding. As a new mother, I immediatly thought she was starving, she was getting too skinny and that I was a bad mother

- I fed her a pinkie last night. I know.... I read AFTERWARDS I wasn’t supposed to feed her during a shed!

- I looked it up here in the forum and in the books (also bought The Kathy Love Corn Snake book) and thought perhaps she was just shedding and calmed the new mother instict to freak out and run to the vet.

- this morning the shedding skin around her neck is split and fraying. It looks like her head shed because it is bright red again but, if it did, it seperated from the head skin that shed cause I can't find it and I don't want to bug her too much. Her skin is not rolling off like the nice little “sock” featured in the books despite having a nice bark covered half log hide to rub against and various rocks. That was at 12:00 noon today.

Questions:
1. I gather this is an “incomplete or “split” in her shedding skin due to my error of feeding her during this phase and stretching her neck shedding skin too wide with the pinkie? Please confirm.

2. I’ve seen her drink twice (in 2 weeks) but the skin around her neck is still pinched and I think it has shed in that area.?
What does a dehydrated snake look like? Where does the point of dehydration start on the body? At the tail or at the head? Photos would be helpful as would links to said pics.

I just looked in on her and she has not shed any further. She scooted away from me and I didn't not pick her up. The skin just down from her neck is still “peeling” and the rest of her skin appears to be “lifting.” Cool yet alarming for a new mother all at the same time. Her neck still looks wrinkled but it's hard to say really.

3. Am I just being paranoid or would putting her into a homemade shed box set-up overnight be a good thing?
3.1 Why isn't she trying to wiggle out of it when I haven't been in the room all day and it's quiet. When's she gonna do that?

4. Or should I bath her for 15 mins first and give her a day?
4.1 How will I know if she hates the water and should that deter me from bathing her to assist the shed?

5. How long (from now) should I wait until trying to assist her shed?

I am sorry if I sound paranoid but the honor and the joy of caring for this creature is not to be taken lightly and I so want her to be happy and healthy.

Thanks so much for reading my little novel.
I have read posts here but still want the reassurance of my situation being answered directly should anyone have the time to read this way-too-long post.

With gratitude,
Tracy and Josephine Bone-a-part.

Thank you for your thorough explanation..that always helps. Pictures help tremendously too. Here is my advice. Normally I would say with any shed issue then just put her in a moisture box for a bit by taking a washcloth and dampening it in warm water ( not too warm) and put the washcloth and the snake in a tupperware container. the moisture will help the skin and the washcloth provides something to rub the skin off...HOWEVER , You just fed her yesterday so you must guard from causing a stress issue that could lead to a regurge so I suggest you offer a moist hide that she can choose to go into in her enclosure as well as misting it a bit with water for the next two days..then if she still has not shed, then put her in a tupperware container with the washcloth and leave her in there for about 30 minutes or so. With young snakes your first focus should always be to avoid any stress 48 hours after feeding so they will digest their food properly.

Does this help?

Thanks for the reply.

Yes, this was most helpful. As long as I know I can wait a few days and no hard will come to her then I can sleep tonigt!

Was it my fault from stretching her neck?

I note in the books, etc., that it is stated that a snake should not be offered food during the shedding phase but it doesn't clearly state why. Any thoughts? I'd imagine that it has to do with internal energy conservation/distribution?

The biology of a snake is just as fascinating as it's behaviours, don't you think?

Thanks again,
Tracy

It sounds like your snakes shedding skin lacked proper moisture. the next time he gets to a preshed phase start misting his container or getting him into a moist hide earlier. Many people feed thier snakes while in the blue. I dont think you did anything wrong and it sounds like you are attentive to the needs of her. Just keep an eye on the humidity issues when she needs it , and i would suggest buying a cheap digital thermometer from Walmart or somewhere that has an externel probe. you then can lay this probe under the substrate on the warm side to get a more accurate temp range .

Yes, I find these animals fascinating. I now own about 50 of them and breed some of the more specialty ones. THey are the brightspot to many of my days...

regards

It's perfectly ok to feed your snake when she is blue. Some snakes may choose not to eat- and once you know that, wait to feed till you see the shed, then feed that day.

Here is a pictorial of how to make a moist hide: http://tinyurl.com/2h77qy

Nanci

I've fed my snake a few times now while she was in different stages of shedding. Once while she was in the blue, once while she was mid shed, and once a few minutes after she had shed. I've also fed her the same day after moving her to a new place on a few occassions. I know not all snakes will do that, but mine has done it with no problems so far. You really can't know until you try.
I have also tried the humid hide thing. All it took was 15 minutes in it. I took my snake out, she ran through my hand, and I had a nice complete shed to save.

how often do corn snakes usally shed? and what shoudl the humidty be in the tank?

I note in the books, etc., that it is stated that a snake should not be offered food during the shedding phase but it doesn't clearly state why.

I think it's because there's a theory that 1) the tighter, pre-shed skin can prevent the mouse from travelling through the snake's system smoothly, or 2) most of the snake's physical resources are dedicated to the shedding process. Apparently, either of these factors are seen as increasing the risk of a regurge.

However, as with other posters I routinely offer food whilst my Corns are blue and I can't remember having a shed-related regurge. Some Corns always reject food whilst they're blue, but this is an individual characteristic.

how often do corn snakes usally shed?

It depends how fast they're growing. My adults shed about 4 times a year, where a hatchling can shed 2-3 times a month.

ok and what's a good humidty level for them to shed?

Well Josephine had a time in the tupperware moist hide this am, followed by 15 minutes in the facecloth playground. I was able to get most of the skin off. There's a few places just down from her neck which were troublesome and didn't come off. She seemed to have had enough and was giving me signs she was ready to "go home." I put her back into her tank and she seems happy now. Burrowing and rubbing her nose everywhere.

She DOESN'T like the water. I plopped her into a little bath and she was like, "Get me outta here!" So, after a minute of her obviously not having a good time, I took her out and had her run through a wet facecloth. I caught a few bits of skin and large amounts came of in complete (full tube) pieces. It was all really exciting for me. Her, not so much, although at the end I coulda sworn I heard her say, "Aaaaahhh. That's better... oh ya..."

The bits that are left...will these harm her if they stay? They are so small that I can't get a hold of them very well despite several attempts. I tried rubbing gentlely with the facecloth but the pieces didn't catch and of the terry cloth as I had hoped.

Should I wait a couple days and bring her back into the wet facecloth playground? I don't want to stress her so I thought I'd give her a day off.

Thanks for everyone's help. It sure is comforting to have some old hands guide us through.

Tracy : )