shedding

All right my cormsnake has very hardtimes sheeding his skin lately actually all the time it never comes off all at once except for the first time he shed it always looks like it is uncomfortable for him and he is not as playful i was wondering if this was a normal way to shed and how often do they shed.

It's not normal for the shed to come off in more than one piece, although it's not unusual for that to happen once in awhile. The most likely cause for the shedding difficulty is that the humidity level is too low. If you can't actually increase the humidity in the tank, try misting it once a day with some water in a spray bottle. Winter months in the north with the heat on all the time often cause the humidity to drop too low for corn snakes.

Something else that might help is moving the water bowl closer to the heat source, but misting usually works.

The frequency of the shed depends on the growth rate and the age of the snake. Very young snakes tend to shed once a month. Adult snakes don't shed as often because they aren't growing as fast, but they still shed maybe 4 times a year.

You mentioned it looking uncomfortable and him not being as playful. Many snakes will become "cranky" when they are about to shed and during a shed. As long as he manages to get all the skin off he will be fine, and should be back to his happy self soon. kenalotia had some good suggestions for raising humidity. Also you could give him a bath when he is about to shed, and it might help.

shed cycle

during the winter months i have had the same problem. (cold dry air up here too) whe i notice a snake going into shed (cloudy eyes, duller colors) i put the shed box into the cage with them. my "shed box" is just a plastic shoebox with a hole cut in the lid. inside i put some damp towels. the snakes seem to love it and i haven't had a shed problem this winter. (last winter was real bad for a few of my snakes) good luck!!! ...jim

misting...

oops one more thing... i haven't had alot of success with misting. it seems that the water just evaporates within a few hours. if you mist, you can cut down on the water loss through evaporation somewhat by covering the lid partially with a sheet or two of newspaper. if you do this watch for an increase in temperature in the cage...jim

what if you snake sheds its skin, and still has another layer, and keeps shedding it, and pretty soon you cant even see the substrate?

im just kidding.. seems like everyone gets to the post and answers them throughly before i even know they are there

Well, if you handle your snake while he is in "blue" mode prior to shedding, it is possible to mess him up. When he's blue, there is a secretion under the top layer of dermis that's purpose is to separate the layers and prepare for shedding. If the outer skin is torn during this time, it can dry and scab over, sort of gluing it to the new skin that is forming underneath. This area will likely not want to come off during the shed. Even if you don't handle him, he may tear his own skin on cage furniture. When my snake recently shed, his skin became very baggy and rough and dry feeling, and I could see how it would be easy to tear some portion of it during this time. Probably also too low humidity as others have said. You can move him to another damper container around shed time, or change over to moister substrate in the cage for a while. This information about the possible trauma during shed above is paraphrased from what I read on Applegate's page: http://www.applegatereptiles.com/articles/bookshedding.htm

See this for more detailed info. This is about milksnakes specifically, but I don't see why it wouldn't apply to corns also. Correct me if I'm wrong.

My ratsnake also shed in tatters and strips, but he got most of it off in one piece, although that piece was split right down the back, not whole. He missed about an inch on the tip of his tail, that came off easily by moistening my fingers and kinda holding the tail while he pulled away from me. Not too tight just enough to apply friction. Just as he pulled free, he whipped around and gave me a little nip on the knuckle! That's gratitude for ya. I am definitely in no way ever going to touch a venomous! That rat snake gets me almost everytime. And I don't think he's even considered all that fast by snake standards. But then again I am not totally on guard around him, and I try not to jerk away in any case.

I had this problem with my snakes, too!

Hey littlewuboourns! I had this same problem for a while with my snakes. I didn't see anyone ask what type of home (enclosure) you have for your snake. Is it an aquarium? With a screen top? That's what mine was. Also, what kind of heat source do you use...radient or under tank? I was using radient heat when my snakes were having trouble shedding.

I tried the misting thing, and didn't have any success that way. One of my snakes got so bad that he looked terribly dehydrated. I put him in a small container with enough dechlorinated water to just cover him and let him soak for about 6 hours. I then returned him to his enclosure and the skin came off in one piece. He had several bad sheds. It was driving me crazy.

Next, I sought out a way to stop my snakes from having this problem at all. You see, I am a vet tech and I had always been told that it was a bad thing to use under tank heaters. I thought I was already doing what was best for my snake. Well, I wasn't
I have switched <b>ALL</b> of my snakes to sweater boxes with under tank heaters and none of them have had problems shedding since! It solved all of my problems...not to mention that this type of enclosure is also less expensive! It's better for my snakes and cheaper to boot. How can that be beat?

Just be sure to put the under tank heater on something heat resistant...like melamine! If melamine shelving isn't available, then stick it to a melamine cutting board. Don't stick it directly to the plastic sweater box. You don't want to burn your house down trying to heat your snake

Good luck, and if you need any help getting switched to sweater boxes, then let me know!
Terri

Try using a shed box--get a hide that's fully enclosed (except for a hole for your snake to use) but separates into two halves and pack it with dampened spaghnum moss. ZooMed and exoterra have been good brands for hides in my experience. I recommend zoo med reptile shelter 3 in 1 cave for a shed box and I've had good experiences using orchard sphagnum compared to sphagnum moss directed for sale to reptile owners.

Corncobb said:

Try using a shed box--get a hide that's fully enclosed (except for a hole for your snake to use) but separates into two halves and pack it with dampened spaghnum moss. ZooMed and exoterra have been good brands for hides in my experience. I recommend zoo med reptile shelter 3 in 1 cave for a shed box and I've had good experiences using orchard sphagnum compared to sphagnum moss directed for sale to reptile owners.

Click to expand...

That's good advice. However, this thread is from 2002, so it might not be much help to the OP now.