Over shedding but unable to shed??

Hello Im Rob, I have 2 corn snakes and a boa constrictor, and Im new here.

The problem is I have a corn snake that Iv had for 15 year and she was a few years old when I got her, the trouble is she keeps getting ready to shed her skin but not shedding it so it seems to mount up, this causes her to skin to go pale, baggy and dry.

The only way to solve this problem is to put her in the sink, leave to soak and then rub the skin off, sometimes I have to this 4 times a month, with sometimes 2 skins coming off at once.

Shes never had a problem with shedding untill the past 6month and has never shed this much or been unable to shed.

She does sleep alot now compared to my younger and she seems to be alittle smaller these days but I supose shes getting on abit!

No other feeding problems at all.

Any help welcome as this is a dearly loved corn snake!!!

Thank you

Welcome to the Corn Snake Forum. I am not an expert on this, but it looks to me that this is some sort of sign that she is getting old. Maybe her old age is making it hard for her to shed? This is what it seam to me...but someone else will chime in later.

Welcome S & S. The first recommendation I would send your way is to search on the forums here and see what various members have done to raise humidity in your enclosure.

Some use a soak/hide combo so the snake can pick their own tmoe to soak, others perfoam a "mandatory soak" in a spare enclosure, and yet others have just misted their enclosure lightly.

One method that seems to work for me is to use my UTH. I place the normal deli cup of water over the UTH to raise the humidity and then place a doubled-over paper towel on top of their vivarium so that the warm moisture is retained.

You will find around 20 ways to raise humidity, which is highly recommended to assist in removing those nasty sheds.

Also recommended is some accessory, like a rock or other item that has a rough edge, so the snake can rub the skin off themselves.

I use rocks frommy vacations and local area here, all boiled to remove any kind of nasties they might have harbored.

Since introducing them into my vivs I almost always find the whole intact sheds wrapped around these "scrapes", sure signs that the snakes find them an effective tool for removing those itchy old skins.

Hope some of this helps, welcome again to the forums, and good luck!

Let us know how it turns out for you and your lady ;]

Sorry I can't help never heard of anything like this before but I'll bump the tread to help out.

Anybody out there hear of this???

An adult of those advanced years will have very well established shedding patterns. The radical departure from her normal habits (speeded up shedding and problems shedding), makes me think that she's not a well girl at all.

If she's eating normally but still losing weight, that would make me think that she's not digesting her food properly.

In her late teens/early twenties, she could be experiencing a number of age-related conditions. If I would you, I'd get her to a knowledgable reptile vet for some tests as soon as possible.

Off the top of my head, there may be kidney or liver issues? Anyone??

ok guys thaks alot of the advice, I supose I'll give her chance to get better, and if not I'll think about getting her put down, dont realy want her to suffer

Hey now, talking about putting her down is a bit premature. There are plenty of things that it might be, some of which could be treated. The things we've suggested are just best guesses from your info.

Get a reptile vet to give her a good overhaul and get a formal diagnosis before you give up on her. That's her best chance at getting better. My gut feel is that she's not going to recover spontaneously and needs some vet care/intervention.

I agree; you'd better take her to the vet first. I suppose it is something intestinal because she is loosing weight too. Maybe she only needs some meds to restore her metabolism or to get rid of nasty parasites.

By the way; my sister owns some leopard gecko's which shed after every meal and only soaking gets the sheds of. She cannot find any cause for it and tried every trick kwown. Mayeb some gecko owner knows how to solve this and maybe it applies to snakes too?