How to Handle a Snake Who is Shedding Skin

Transcript

Some of the basic things that we need to know about when our snake sheds is, they're growing, and they're literally growing out of their skin. It's very important number one, that we realize that before they shed they'll stop eating, so don't be surprised if they don't eat. Another signal is that they'll develop eye caps. Their eyes will have either a grayish or silver cap to them, and then shortly thereafter you'll start to notice that their color's a little bit more dull.

Those are signals that we need to create a shed box for our snake and that's very simple. It should be a box big enough to house the snake with one hole in it that they can get into, and you should use peat moss, or sphagnum moss. It should be moist. It should never be wet and this helps moisten. It's very important that they have their water basin, because getting into the water helps moisten and helps them shed.

When they shed it should be in one piece. If it is not in one piece and isn't consistent, in other words it should only take a few days, then that may be an indication that you need to get to the vet and have a look, because with most healthy snakes it is a very continual process. Once they shed, go ahead and remove the skin and discard it. There's no benefit in keeping the skin in the terrarium.
There's a couple of basic hints for the shedding of snakes.