Shedding And Snakes
Snakes, being legless, hairless, slippery, creatures also come with a
few things typical pets such as dogs and cats don’t do. They don’t eat
normal food like pellets or canned food. And something else they do is
shed. When I say shedding most of you probably think of dogs, cats, and
well most any creature with fur. That interesting handful of hair you
get when you go to pet them or the ring which is left behind on your
shirt after holding little fluffy. But as snakes don’t have fur of any
kind they shed the only thing they have… skin! All reptiles shed but
most loose their skin in flakes or pieces where as snakes loose it all
at once.
Shedding, for a snake, takes a tremendous amount of energy and even
patience. Juvenile snakes tend to shed more then adult snakes so keep
that in mind as your snake grows. A couple signs of shedding are:
• Loss of appetite
• Cloudiness over their skin (as if dipped in milk) and their eyes
will get a bluish grey sheen to them. This change is referred to by
handlers as the blue eyed snake.
• General change or slowing down in their normal behavior.
Proper humidity is important to maintain when your snake is going
through this stage. There are several things you can do to help your pet
such as sticking your snake in a moistened pillowcase for about twenty
or so minutes being sure to tie a knot in the case so the snake can’t
get out. This way you know that it is getting moistened all over even if
it chooses not to go into its water bath.
Be sure you check your snake over after a shedding as they can
sometimes retain their skin especially on the tips of their tails or
their eyes. These two places are harder to get the skin completely off
for them so sometimes they need help or circulation can be cut off and
an infection can set in. If you find some skin left on the tail area a
nice warm water bath several times a day to try and to encourage the
skins removal can help. If the snake has retained its eye caps, which
can be seen as a silvery sheen over their eyes, a warm bath will also
work. Make the bath a good twenty minutes giving it loads of time for
that skin to soak up the water. Then take a soft, clean, dry cloth and
gently rub over the eye. Don’t force or be harsh with it or you may end
up harming your snake’s eye. This should be repeated several times a day
for it may take several times to get it all off. But of course if this
doesn’t work or you don’t feel comfortable doing this you can take it to
the vet where they can be calmed down and the vet can easily remove the
extra skin.
My last bit of information about snake shedding is that although
their skins can look very cool and even be fun to hold some snakes come
with diseases that are carried on their skin so please take care when
disposing of them, using gloves and lots of soap when you are finished.
Typically with snakes born and bread in captivity you don’t have to
worry about this but cleanliness is just one way to stop diseases where
they start. |
