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New Snake Owner-- How to treat a shedding snake

thelivingoddity

thelivingoddity

New member
I am a relatively new snake owner-- I had a baby corn when I was about ten, but he was sickly (despite vet visits) and passed away at 6 months old. I recently adopted a very healthy adult Okeetee named Seamus, and he seems to be doing great!

However, I have never experienced a shedding snake before. Seamus's previous owner said he was about halfway to a shed when I got him two weeks ago, but I've noticed shedding behaviors, and now the black checkers on his tummy are definitely more of a blue. His eyes are just starting to get a little blue, too. No real peeling yet, but I'm just wondering what I should be doing since he seems like he's going into a shed.

Is it ok to handle him? If so, at what point should I leave him alone?

Should there be any particular humidity inside his viv?

He's due to eat tonight, and I was going to offer him food-- should I be surprised if he doesn't eat, or does it seem like he's too early on in the shedding process to refuse food?

Thanks so much for the help!! :eek:
 
Handling is up to you...snakes sometimes get a little testy when they're going into shed. We have one or two that are very chill and really don't care if you pick them up. We also have an adult female who makes it very clear that she doesn't want to be handled when she's blue.

(we do try not to handle excessively during shed, but sometimes it's necessary for cleaning, etc)

As for food, again, if I know they're in shed, I don't even offer food. I've had problems with regurge in the past with some of my younger ones when they're in shed, so I prefer not to take the risk. Some snakes do fine with it, others don't. That said, I haven't had a problem feeding the adults when they're blue, although our adult male typically refuses. The adult female will pretty much eat anything any time it's offered to her.

It's up to the temperament of the individual snake...possibly offer a slightly smaller food item but be prepared for refusal.
 
Too funny this thread came when it did.
I am new to snake ownership-2 weeks, and got to witness a shed this morning.
I did nothing different other than let her be for an hour or so.
I suppose the older they are,the better they know how to shed,mine is only 2 month old so has not had many sheds.
My kids thought it was really cool too.
 
Handling is really your decison, either way they are going to be uncomfortable until they shed. I handled mine while he was shedding, be aware they may be a little bit tempermental though. I fed mine while he was in the middle of a shed and it didn't seem to affect him any. I guess it is all in the snake, he will either eat or not. Just make sure he has a warm side and a cold side so he can decide where he wants to shed..mine does on the cold.
 
My only corn can't be more than two months old and he just had his first shed with me. He turned blue last Monday, I kept his cage humid with a squirt bottle, went clear on Friday, and he had a perfect today. While he was in blue I handled him as little as possible; mostly just checking to make sure that he was okay. I say if they'll take food, feed them. I fed mine when he was clear on Friday, but then again, mine eats like a garbage disposal.
 
My guy is in blue, not sure exactly how far he is in the shedding process, but I don't think he'll shed for at least a couple days. However I did feed him last night and he devoured his meal, as usual c: He seems to favor the cool side of his tank anyway and has been sleeping in his hide a lot-- guess he's storing up energy for his shed c: I handled him for just a bit before I fed him (to wake him up-- had to get him out from under his paper towels) and he actually wasn't temperamental at all, so that's good. He was just really thirsty and a little bit sleepy c:
 
Ok, so my guy ate Sunday night and since then he's been in his hide and under his substrate for two days without coming out. I checked on him this morning and he's definitely about to shed-- his eye scales are very cloudy. He looked up at me and flicked his tongue, and I decided not to bother him anymore-- however, he has not pooped in over a week. He has eaten quite enthusiastically, but not pooped. He just stays in his hide 24/7. Is this average behavior for a shedding snake or should I be worried? D:
 
u can always give him or her a medium warm bath but put a little thing of water in the bath to make sure you do not drown him also keep uria humidity level average and make sure he haves a water bowl big enough for him to soak in also if u dont have to do not bother him they dont like to be bothered when sheading
 
my little baby just shed, his eyes went blue for a couple of days, cleared for one day, then he shed.

I am new to snake ownership too, so this was my first shed (even tho I have 3 snakes) I had offered him his meal, which was soundly refused complete with tail rattling and lunges!! So I fed it to another of my snakes and left him alone!!! the next day there was a beautiful shed and a hungry little snake!!
 
stumpyjoker said:
u can always give him or her a medium warm bath but put a little thing of water in the bath to make sure you do not drown him also keep uria humidity level average and make sure he haves a water bowl big enough for him to soak in also if u dont have to do not bother him they dont like to be bothered when sheading
Click to expand...

You don't want to soak them before they shed (while in the blue). It will remove the oils on their skin that they need to have a good shed.
 
My guy's previous owner says he has a history of really great complete sheds-- right now I'm trying my best not to bother him except to check on him to make sure he's doing okay. I'm keeping the humidity around 40% and the warm side is around eighty or a little above eighty degrees fahrenheit, though he's favoring the cool side. My main concern was the fact that he has two meals in his belly from the past two Sundays and still hasn't pooped-- however I hear they sometimes wait when shedding and then poop while they're coming out of their skin or shortly after, so I'm expecting a huge mess to clean up XD As long as he's okay, that's all I care about c:
 
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