• Hello!

    Either you have not registered on this site yet, or you are registered but have not logged in. In either case, you will not be able to use the full functionality of this site until you have registered, and then logged in after your registration has been approved.

    Registration is FREE, so please register so you can participate instead of remaining a lurker....

    Please be certain that the location field is correctly filled out when you register. All registrations that appear to be bogus will be rejected. Which means that if your location field does NOT match the actual location of your registration IP address, then your registration will be rejected.

    Sorry about the strictness of this requirement, but it is necessary to block spammers and scammers at the door as much as possible.

Sleepy Corn!

Hello, I'm new to corn snakes and I have had a 9 month old for about a month now. He was quiet when I first got him, I let him settle in and get used to his new home and after that he was very active and got more cheeky. It is suppose to be feeding night tonight (Monday) and so he is usually very active Sunday night. This week he has slept both Sunday and Monday but he doesn't look like he is shedding (that I know of). His eyes are the same as they always have been, and the skin the same colour. Could anyone advise if he could be in the early stages of shedding? He is hidden away alot at the moment, and is due a shed soon. I haven't fed him tonight and not sure if I should wake him up tomorrow to feed, if he is still being lazy! Any help is much appreciated :shrugs: :)

Thanks.
 
Welcome to the forum.

So, lets get your story straight. Your snake has been hiding for 2 days. When regularly your snake would be active thoes two days. Am I with the program so far?
From what I read, your snake might be shedding soon (I am guessing this because he has been hiding thoes two days. When regularly, you said, the snake would be active). But we wont know untill the color of the snake changes. What morph is your snake?

You wont know if your snake will eat durring shed untill you try it. Try feeding him. If he does not take the food, dont get scared. It might mean he is going in shed. If he does take the food, well....good for him.

Hope this wasnt too confusing for you. :D
 
Thanks for the advice...yep you got it exactly right. He Would usually be very active. I'll try feeding him tonight and see how it goes then! It's a classic corn snake. Normal colour!!
 
Agreed, this is your new pal's first shed :)

Most are secretive and spend the whole period hiding and usually refuse to eat. Mine always took food anyway, however some experienced keepers have noticed an increased risk of regurgitating if fed during the 'blue' phase, so you may wish to err on the side of caution and not try to feed.

Try not to disturb him too much, but if you want to ensure a perfect shed you can increase humidity but 'misting' in the viv or creating a humid hide (search!) - I hasten to add, though, that this may not be necessary at all and he might shed perfectly without any assistance from you.

As for the change in skin colour etc, it doesn't happen instantly, it's quite gradual at first, but you'll soon notice when he's deep in the blue phase.

Just one last thing - his skin and eyes will clear up totally a few days before he sheds. So it will look like he's freshly shed and you could be very confused as to where the skin has gone ;)

Oh, sorry, a few most last things! They are usually voracious eaters immediately after a shed, so get the mice ready :) aaand it's very important that you check the old skin to ensure that the eye caps and the very tip of the tail have both come off with it.

:)
 
Thank you very much for your help. His eyes are now very blue so deffinatley shedding! So thats a good sign i guess! ill let you know how it goes :) thanks again!
 
I don't know if this will happen with your snake, but I notice that my charcoal corn will start browning out prior to her going into shed (she's normally a nice grey with black markings). I've also noticed that the black markings on her belly will lighten up to a medium grey.

Again, this is just what my snake does. It might be something for you to keep an eye out for to help figure out when your snake will shed.
 
I've only had a black and white king snake and my bubblegum snow corn snake. Both light colored snakes and even after they go back to clear I can still tell they have loose skin on them. My new little girl however is normal colored (though she a hypo) and when she went into the clear I thought she had shed but could not find the skin so I was stumped. Then the very next day she shed LOL. I felt really stupid but apparently it's harder to see the loose skin on the darker snakes.
 
When they shed, first they go paler then they go back to their normal colour for a day or two immediately before they shed. It's not uncommon for new owners to think they've eaten their shed as a result.
 
Thanks for the help. I'll see how it goes then! The eyes were blue last night so hopefully in the next few days he should shed. Also hopefully in one piece!!
 
Back
Top