Maybe you’ve never owned a pet snake before but you’re considering it. Well, we’re all about education and potential owners making informed decisions about the animals we sell, so this blog article is dedicated to explaining the process of how snakes shed their skin.

In this article, we’ll answer four important questions regarding snake shedding:

-Why do snakes shed their skin?
-How can I tell if my snake is going to shed?
-What do I do when my snake sheds?
-How often will my snake shed?

Why do snakes shed their skin?

Snakes are reptiles and as such possess scales instead of elastic, stretchy skin like mammals. A mammal’s skin grows and expands as the mammal grows, but a snake’s skin doesn’t actually grow along with it, so the snake must shed the skin in order to comfortably grow. This process of shedding skin is also called ecdysis.

In truth, the snake doesn’t actually shed its entire skin. Once the top layer of cells has accommodated as much growth as it can, the snake will slough it off in one single, hollow, sheath leaving behind a shiny, iridescent, and much more vibrant outer layer.

In addition to allowing for growth, getting rid of the top layer of old skin allows the snake to shed any unwanted skin parasites that may have attached themselves. This is not a common reason for captive pet snakes to shed due to human interference and prevention of parasites, but in the wild, this is a huge advantage to the animal.

How can I tell if my snake is going to shed?

When your snake is preparing to shed its skin, both it behavior and its physical appearance will change.

Your snake’s scales will acquire a grey sort of tone to them and lose iridescence. The snake will also appear to get cloudy, milky, or grey eyes. You might think your pet snake has developed cataracts, but in truth, eye clouding is 100% normal and you only need to be concerned if your snake has shed its entire skin and its eyes still appear cloudy afterwards.

Don’t be surprised if your pet snake also becomes lethargic, more secretive, or even more aggressive. Snakes, like people, have different dispositions and some will go through the shedding process smoother than others.

Some pet snakes might strike out more if you attempt to remove them from their enclosure and others might hide and not come out until they are ready to actually slough off their skin.

It is also very common for snakes to refuse food a week or so prior to shedding. Do not be alarmed if your snake is just not hungry. This is normal.

What do I do when my snake sheds?

More often than not, snakes will shed their skin in secret. The entire process could occur in under an hour and you might not even realize it has happened until you discover the skin in the enclosure.

If you happen to come upon your snake in the physical process of shedding, do not disturb it. You could injure the snake and the snake could become stressed and injure you unintentionally too. 

Once you can see that the entire skin has been detached from the snake in one piece, remove it from the cage and dispose of it. 

Pay close attention to your snake’s eyes in this time as you want to be sure that the shedding process occurred without any issues. Sometimes, particularly in instances where the humidity level in the cage is not high enough, snakes can have trouble ridding themselves of the skin cap that protects their eyes.

How often will my snake shed?

Snakes will shed their skin as long as they are growing, even if they grow at a much slower rate as they advance in years.

Young snakes who are growing rapidly will shed as often as every two weeks. Adult snakes who are considered mature will shed far less frequently – usually around two to three times per year.

Conclusion

Snakes make great pets for people who are educated and aware of the care requirements for these slithering reptiles.

If you are prepared to deal with an animal that wears a new skin every few months, then feel free to check out Backwater Reptiles’ many species of snakes for sale.