Pet Snake Care Guide on Shedding

Pet Snake Care Guide on Shedding

Snakes have the most magnificent process of shedding old skin. Shedding is also known as sloughing or ecdysis. A snake sheds its skin when it grows or become too big for its current skin. It will be replaced with a new skin.

As part of your pet snake care, you should know the process of shedding. The process starts when the color of your snake’s skin changes color to gray/blue/white for few days. After several days it will normally turn back to its natural color.

”Going into the blue” or “turning opaque” describes the stage when you would notice a faded skin over the eyes of your pet. At this stage, the sight of your snake is limited. Your snake can behave nervously and can even be aggressive. Your snake would likely to shed few days after its eyes returned to a normal color. Although, some snakes will not present any indication prior to shedding.

Here are some pet snake care tips you can do when the shedding starts:

Increase the humidity to aid the shedding process
Place a water bowl for the snake to soak in
Put something that can rub off the old skin (usually a rock or piece of bark)
Place moist towels but not dripping to help in shredding
Do not removed remaining pieces of the skin, let the professionals handle the pet snake care at this point

Inspect the skin if there are parts that causes discomfort for your snake
Call a snake handler/breeder or veterinarian to remove unwanted spectacles
The shedding should start from the head towards the tail
Handling should be avoided until 2 to 3 days after the shredding process