Corn Snake Skin Shedding

Video Transcript

Hi I’m Debbie McCanna on behalf of Expert Village.com; I’m talking in this clip about the care and maintenance of corn snakes, specifically today with regard to the process of shedding. All reptiles shed their skin. Lizards will shed their skin in pieces but snakes tend to shed their skin all at once. This is a long process and requires a lot of energy. A growing snake in the juvenile phase will shed more frequently than the adult snake. Signs of shedding include slowing down and behavior, maybe a loss of appetite and a gradual cloudiness appearing on the skin. The skin of the snake that I am holding right now is very bright and very shiny. In the case of a snake that is preparing to shed, the skin looks like it has been dipped in milk and the eyes will take on a bluish gray sheen. Snake handlers and reptile experts will refer to this as the blue eyed snake. The reason for this is the shed itself which as you can see in the shed here that I am holding is actually pretty much to void of pigment but it is a milky translucent color. The snake will typically shed in all one piece but may need to break the pieces up by moving through its substrate or aquarium apparatus. The reason why a snake’s eyes become cloudy before they shed can be seen here in this piece of shed that came from this snake’s head. On this piece of shed, you can actually see the scale that covers each eye much like the goggle of a diver. This is why a snake has no eyelids and cannot blink but it is not harmed when it crawls through the ground or debris. There is actually a scale covering their eye. It is important that proper humidity is maintained for your snake at all times but especially when they are in their cloudy phase and preparing to shed. One thing I like to do for my snake is actually put it in a moist pillow case, tie a knot in the pillow case and let the snake move around in there for about 20 minutes. This ensures that the snake if it is not going to completely submerge itself in its water will at least have the opportunity to be moistened throughout its body.

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