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Shedding box?

Hm..My snake hasen't shed once since I've gotten him.
I thought they shed only a few times a year.
Should I be worried? I've had him about 2 months.
 
How old is your snake? Young snakes shed more often, averaging once a month. Older snakes shed only 3-4 times a year. However, each snake is different. What my snakes do is not necessarily a judge for what ALL snakes will do.
 
BeckyG said:
How old is your snake? Young snakes shed more often, averaging once a month. Older snakes shed only 3-4 times a year. However, each snake is different. What my snakes do is not necessarily a judge for what ALL snakes will do.
Click to expand...

He's around 3 months old. I haven't seen any signs of him ever shedding.
Although, when I bought him around 2 months ago, he did have some shed still left on his tail and that's off now. I took him to the petstore I bought him at and they told me the skin would come off on it's own on the tail. Now that I've read more about it and people talking about them losing circulation I think that was totally dumb of them to tell me it would just come off by itself. But oh well. So is it a bad thing I haven't seen him shed once since I've had him?
 
That's a very valid thought....

I actually had the shedding box on the warm side...
It has been getting a bit chilly hear as well, so with the heat, it became, "warm shedding box!" :)

But then again, the heat was great for mold growth as well.
In the future I will have to replace the substrate/paper towels bi-weekly perhaps...
 
Oops, sorry all - my last post was a bit out of place...!

Thanks for the info on the cheeks ‘pgr8dnlvr...!’ :cheers:
I was a bit concerned... I even called the breeder, and he mentioned the exact same thing (lol)…!

Brizzle -
You are accurate about the circulation...
It is not something that will definitely happen, but its better to be safe then sorry. Plus, you don't want to take a chance of possible bacteria growth in that area either (under the skin).

As far as shedding is concerned, I would be patient. It may depend on the amount you are feeding him. Keep in mind, snakes shed primarily because they are growing and the skin they are in, is not sufficient any longer. Also, the frequency of shedding will increase if there is an injure - so the snake will catalyze skin repair, to increase it’s rate of healing.

Sometimes, snakes can be a bit tricky when shedding …
He may have shed somewhere where you can not see. My amel actually shed her skin under the bedding. So you may want to double check the entire viv.

Once you get more familiar with your snake, you will know when he is about to shed (by the dull color) or when he just shed based on the more intense/bright color.

Just some thoughts...
 
logic said:
Brizzle -
You are accurate about the circulation...
It is not something that will definitely happen, but its better to be safe then sorry. Plus, you don't want to take a chance of possible bacteria growth in that area either (under the skin).

As far as shedding is concerned, I would be patient. It may depend on the amount you are feeding him. Keep in mind, snakes shed primarily because they are growing and the skin they are in, is not sufficient any longer. Also, the frequency of shedding will increase if there is an injure - so the snake will catalyze skin repair, to increase it’s rate of healing.

Sometimes, snakes can be a bit tricky when shedding …
He may have shed somewhere where you can not see. My amel actually shed her skin under the bedding. So you may want to double check the entire viv.

Once you get more familiar with your snake, you will know when he is about to shed (by the dull color) or when he just shed based on the more intense/bright color.

Just some thoughts...
Click to expand...

Yeah, I just started feeding him twice a week so he should grow a little bit faster now. When I first got him he wouldn't eat for 3 weeks and then he just started being a pig. lol. Anyway, thanks for the advice.
 
No problem... :cheers:

Just keep in mind, you don't want to 'overfeed' him either...
keep an eye on when he poops, and how much he eats.

Depending on how large/how old the snake is, the amount and frequency will be different. For hatchlings, the norm is usually around ever 4-5 days...
 
I keep a shed box with moist sphagnum moss in Hokie's hide all the time. He spends the majority of his days in there, but seems to be quite active at night, judging by the amount of material movement I see. My shed box is on the warm side. I have rock ledges stretching the entire length of the tank, so he has his choice of dry temp, but most of the time he is in the shed box. Actual sheds always occur outside of the shed box.
 
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