Is this normal?

So, I was checking Arshess today, and I noticed a few new things. First off, the two scales above her scar on her nose are wrinkled. It was never like that before. Also, when I was looking at her belly, there's a line going all the way down her belly. It used to be from her mid ventral area to her tail, but now it's gone all the way from her neck to her tail. The last thing that I noticed, was yesterday, while I was handling her, a piece of clear scale(?) was coming out/peeled out from her side. I don't think she's in shed or anything like that, since she didn't go into blue and her colors haven't dulled, but I don't know. She seems fine, she's eating normally and active. What do you guys think? Could it possibly be that she's dehydrated? I'm really worried about what's happening to Arshess.

When I find my camera, I'll take pictures so you guys can better see what I'm talking about.


^I haven't taken a picture of how her nose looks now, but I circled the two scales that are wrinkled. This was a pic taken before her scales wrinkled.

So, here's the pictures. Also, I just took her out to clean her tank, and while I was holding her, a piece of skin came off. Does that happen normally? Is she in shed mode? She doesn't look like it to me, but I haven't had a snake shed on me yet. So, I really don't know if she's in shed. But, she never showed any of the common signs of shedding. Should I just put some wet paper towels in her hide for a day to see if it's a shed problem? Please help me out guys, I'm starting to worry about Arshess a lot more than usual. >.<;;;


^Wrinkled scales near old scar




^I couldn't take a pic of it running all the way down her body cause I couldn't get the whole thing without it blurring, cause she kept moving. But, is a line like that all the way down her body normal?


^Scale/skin peeling off. This is different than the one that came off.


^This is the scale that fell off when I was handling her.

It just sounds like your snake has got some stuck shed on her from a previous shed.
The line down the ventral is normal, as far as I know.

Soak her in a tub with some luke warm water (the water should feel warm, but cool to the touch too (cooler than body temp)) to try to get rid of any more excess stuck shed.

Actually, now that I think about it, I believe the scale chipping/peeling started after I started giving her baths. >.<;;; Could that possibly be the reason for Arshess peeling like this?

You probably just loosened the stuck shed when you gave her the baths. I can't see how giving a snake a bath in the right temperature water could cause any damage.... Try running her through a warm damp cloth a couple times to try and get rid of any bits of stuck shed she might still have.

Alright, I'll try that when she's awake. But, what's really weird is that every week I always run her through a warm damp cloth for at least 3 minutes. (To clean her after she poops.) And I've had her for a month. So, shouldn't I have already removed any remaining skin from her previous shed?

And what about her nose? Are the scales wrinkling near her old scar, normal?

Do you run her whole body through the cloth? Are you sure the cloth is wet enough? Warm enough? She doesn't look like she has a lot of stuck shed on her anyway, it might just be the odd stubborn bits and pieces. But I would try soaking her first for a bit and then running through a cloth. As long as it's only bits and pieces and her tail tip is completely free of any stuck shed, it shouldn't do her any harm. And if there are still pieces left on her after a soak and run through a cloth, it'll most likely come off during her next shed.

As for her nose... I am not 100% sure. I could guess and say that the wrinkling is also some old skin?? If you've only had her a month and she hasn't shed with you yet, maybe she's about to, hence the nose wrinkling? I couldn't say for sure though... :awcrap:

Yes, I run her whole body through the cloth. As for the cloth being wet enough, it's wet, but not dripping wet. If that's what you're asking.

Any other suggestions from anyone else? Not trying to be ungrateful for your opinions, EmJagsz, but I just want to see if there's any other explanations that might fit. But, thank you very much for working with me on this issue. I really appreciate it. =)

Haha don't worry, I'm actually ENCOURAGING that others who are more experienced pitch in here!! Good luck with Arshess

I'm going to hazard a guess and say she's coming up on a shed. Sometimes a snake will go through the fadey and blue stages without you noticing, and then suddenly shed without you ever knowing they were gonna! If you've had her for a month with no sheds yet, it's very possible she's just gearing up to shed. I don't know about the line down the ventral scales, since none of mine have ever had that as far as I've noticed, but it could very well be caused by getting rid of the shed.

Come to think of it, maybe she hasn't even gone into blue yet? My anery boy is sort of funny--about a week before he even starts to fade out, his face will start to look blunt, as if he hit his nose really hard on something. His entire body will look a little bloated, as if he's about to burst out of his skin, and then as much as a week later, he'll fade out and, after a few more days, officially go "blue". He will look perfectly normal after shedding, too--no more popping out of the skin! Anyway, I suspect this same sort of thing could easily cause the wrinkly scales behind the scar.

Good luck, and I hope it turns out to be *just* some retained shed. Since the pieces that came off were clear, you can rest assured they weren't the actual scale! =)

Floof said:

Good luck, and I hope it turns out to be *just* some retained shed. Since the pieces that came off were clear, you can rest assured they weren't the actual scale! =)

Click to expand...

Thanks so much for your input, it slightly puts me at ease knowing that the clear peeled skin wasn't anything significant.

Anymore input from anyone else, or possibly another reason for the line going down her belly, the wrinkled scales on her nose, or the peeling skin? Any and all opinions are welcomed.

give it some time. from the pictures it looks like it may start to shed. Keep it moist from time to time, if more scale come off then they are from previous sheds. On the nose it looks like some type of inury too dark try closing in a little bit more with the camera

Yeah, she came with the injury when I bought her. When I took her to the vet., he said that it was an old scar and already healed. Which brings to my attention, will the scar on her nose affect her shed? Will it make it harder for her to have her shed come out in one piece?

that's a good question? i think that since that part is injured it might come missing some scales when it sheds since it is injured the scales cant regenerate new skin. In this case the shed wont come out all perfect. Once in a while you might have to assist him or her to remove whats left. Now that i think bout it that shed it looks like it has on the sides. It might be from past sheds that were not properly removed.

Yeah, I'm keeping a close eye on her, to make sure that I can be there for her if she needs any help with taking off her old skin. ^.^

Well, I hope everything clears up after she sheds. That's the most I can do for now. Since, I've tried everything else.