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shedding

wntk24

New member
i am new to owning a corn snake i just came home from work and realized my snake had just shed how do i know when he is about to shed so i know for next time and the snake is seven weeks old
 
The easiest way to tell is you stop seeing him out at night when he normally would be. Often, you can tell by looking at him, he will be cloudy blue or pink, depending on his color. That lasts a week to ten days, then he'll go back to clear, then he'll shed in a day or so. Right now, look at his shed and make sure you see the complete tail tip and both eye caps.
 
Some snakes won't eat when they are getting ready to shed. Since he has shed you could try feeding him now.

When snakes are getting ready to shed they become less active and will hide the whole time. Their color will fade and will get sort of milky. Their eyes will also cloud over kind of like they have cataracts. A few days before their color will clear back up and they will look like normal again. Then a day or two later (sometimes longer) the snake will shed the skin.

You need to make sure all the skin came off. Any skin left could cause problems. Every baby snake I have ever owned had trouble shedding their tail tip the first time they shed for me. So make sure the skin came off the very tip of the tail or it could cut the circulation off and make the tail tip die and fall off. You also need to make sure the eye caps came off. Snakes have a scale over their eye that they also shed. Sometimes these can get stuck too so make sure they came off. Is easy to tell by looking at the shed if they came off or not.

Being a baby doesn't mean it is normal to not eat. Yes some babies hatch out as non eaters and some never start. Some will start and then stop later. But that doesn't mean this is normal behavior. A breeder normally will not sell non eaters and if you got your snake from a pet shop you should ask if it has been eating before you buy it. If you got it and it actually is a non eater you should take it back to the store for a refund or exchange.

Since your snake just shed I would bet that is the reason it has not eaten because like I said some snakes will not eat when they are in a shed cycle.
 
Well I feed my snakes right after they shed because they usually shed right on feeding day lol. You can wait the next day if you want. If you try feeding and he still doesn't take it, I would wait until the next feeding day or 5 days before trying again. After those 5 days are up and he still doesn't eat you could either try a few tricks then or wait another 5 days. After that point if he refuses again I would start trying a few of the tricks suggested in the many non feeder threads on this site.

Do you have a feeding schedule? Usually for younger corns I feed every 5 days. Then move up to every 7 days once they are a little bigger. Also make sure you leave the snake alone while eating and try not to bother him too much. Try feeding in the evening and if you have too you can leave the meal with him over night.
 
You can feed him again any time after he shed. And I wouldn't bother trying to feed him next time he's "blue" or pink in your case.
 
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