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approximate time frame of first shedding?

Any day! He probably shed at about a week of age, and they generally go about a month between sheds as babies. First you may notice that your normally active snake hasn't been seen for a couple days. When you lift the hide to check, there he is, looking up at you with blue eyes! The snake will stay blue for about a week, maybe a little longer, and then one day he will be out and about, with clear eyes and less dull color, but you can't find the shed skin anywhere! This is the clear stage. The snake will shed in two days or less from this time- mine usually shed the same day I discover them clear. After the snake has shed, inspect the shed skin for retained eyecaps and a complete tail tip. If either of these has been left on the snake, check back here for advice for removal.

To help your snake have a good shed, you might want to cover the top of his viv loosley with plastic wrap, and mist once a day.
 
Nanci said:
To help your snake have a good shed, you might want to cover the top of his viv loosley with plastic wrap, and mist once a day.
Click to expand...

Would I be highjacking if I ask when the plastic wrap should be placed? Start of blue, end of blue, after clearing?
Also, what is the perfect humidity for shedding?
 
jpccusa, no highjacking here.. (= it's all related.

Well, my corn ate last night very easily, and he doesn't appear to being dimming in color, so maybe later this week or this weekend, he'll start the process.

jpccusa, I don't know for certain, but I would assume once the snakes color has returned to normal, then start misting and such.
 
As an alternative to the plastic wrap you can stick a container with a hole cut in the side (i use a small butter tub) filled with moist paper towels. This should go in right after the eyes clear (after the blue period).
 
Well, he still hasn't dimmed in color at all.. in fact, when I feed him yesterday (sunday), he ate very quickly. and, he has been pretty active. what is the likelihood he would shed in the substrate (aspen bedding) and I would miss it? I was waiting for his shedding to do a good cleaning on his home.
 
It is possible. Peaches shed last night and i could only see a shed tail tip sticking out of the aspen.
 
Yay! I'm happy to report, Vosim is lackluster! After I fed him Sunday, he's practically not come out at all. I felt kinda bad disturbing him today after work, but I wanted to make sure he was at least starting to dim down in preparation.

Call me giddy, it's my first shedding! w00t!
 
OK, now I'm beginning to get a bit worried.

I fed my snake a normal meal one week ago, Sunday the 21st. He was not showing any signs of beginning the shedding process at that point, but I was expecting him to do so any day. When I put him back in his home, he burrowed into the aspen and remained there, in basically the same spot.

I left him alone until Wednesday, the 24th (my last post in this thread). When I pulled him out (he had been hiding ever since I fed him, which is slightly unusual for him, he usually is out at night looking around a bit), he appeared to be slightly lackluster (though his eyes did not appear blueish). I assumed he was starting the shedding process.

So, I left him alone until Friday, and decided to check him again, since he was still not moving much (and wanted to see if he had pooped yet). He appeared to be in the same state as before... the skin tone slightly off (and kinda dry looking), the eyes not blue, and he still had not moved from the same basic place, buried in the aspen. But, he seemed perked up a bit while I was holding him. I mean, he moved around my hand like normal - oh, and he had not yet fully pooped.

So, I put him back into his home, and he went into the hide on the cooler side of the home (that side is right around 75 degrees, the warmer side right around 86-88 degrees). He has not come out from that hide since. I can see he's shifting positions, but he is still there.

From what I've read, a corn as young as he should not be taking this long to shed. Am I being paranoid, or could he be dehydrated? He's always got plenty of water, and I know he knows where it is, because I've seen him go through it as I put him back into his home.

I've also been keeping his home misted, once a day, since Wednesday.

I was planning on feeding him again on Friday the 26th, but have held off, because I figured he'd be shedding any day.

Any thoughts?
 
I wouldn't worry, tho I don't keep my snakes anywhere near that hot. I live in Louisiana and they just get a plain old 80 degree room temp. Try turning down your warm side to just above 80. Maybe he is too warm?
 
Almost all the books and resources I've read (including the Love book) say that the range should be from 75 on the cool side to 85 on the warm side. I know this is a somewhat heated (pun intended) topic here, but I wouldn't think he is too warm. Leading up to this point, he's been back and forth all over the place in the warmer and cooler spots. This is the first time I've seen him (in the 2 months I've had him) sit so still in one spot for several days in a row.
 
Well it's only been 4 days since you noticed him looking a little dull, so I don't think you have anything to worry about :)

Generally I notice a dulling of the skin for a couple of days or so, then the eyes cloud over (now is the time when their vision becomes impaired and they will instinctively hide more), this also lasts for a couple of days or so, then the eyes clear and skin colour can return to normal (this is when you may think they have shed, but not quite yet ;) ) after a couple of days or so of being clear again, then you'll see a shed, well if he doesn't hide it under the substrate :)

All snakes are different and can take varying amounts of time to shed, but I find it can take around 7 to 10 days for youngsters, if you spot it at the very start. Obviously if you don't see the signs right at the start (like you seem to have done), it can seem like your snake only takes a few days to go through the process, especially if you catch him just before his eyes go clear again, after blue :)

I also find when my snakes are in shed/blue, their digestion seems to slow down and they usually don't pass toilet until they are about to shed, or they pass a toilet while they are actually shedding.

Hope that helps a little :)
 
OK, so I get home tonight and look into the cage to see if he's under one of his hides, and I see the aspen bedding all clumped up in front of one of the homes... now I know I didn't do that, so I decided to move some of it to see if he was hiding in there... and guess what was sticking out from under it?

Yep, his shed remains. So I think "yay!", bust out my camera and take a picture of the tail part sticking out.

Then, I move the hide to get a good pic of it, and there it is.... and a great big glop of poo stuck right in the middle. So much for a good photograph of that.

Oh, well, at least that answers the questions of "is he really shedding?" and "when is he going to poop?"

Thanks all for the advice, input, and encouragement all!
 
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