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Long shed cycle - Normal?

Sindrik8x

Sindrik8x

New member
Cruella last shed on 9/20/2013. Since, Leoric has shed twice. Given, he is much younger (by about three months). Cruella is now roughly 9 months old. So her last shed was at about 6 months or so.

Just gauging whether or not this is a usual thing since she's getting older now, or if that is kind of off. Before then she had been shedding roughly every month to month and a half.
 
Admittedly, that sounds odd. I wouldn't be suspicious if it was an older corn, but it's been what... since September? That sounds strange to me.

I would do an entire cleaning of the vive and dig through all the substrate to find any sheds. I would suspect there to be at least one, if not two lying around. Is it possible it is crumpled in a ball and stuck somewhere? When my ball python sheds he doesn't do it in a nice straight line. He balls up. Sometimes I will find pieces of it from where it got stuck to the inside of hides weeks later.

If you find your snake really didn't shed, and you didn't notice any pre-shed behaviour in the past couple of months, I'd say s/he needs to be bumped up a size in food - especially if you've double-checked all the temps and humidity and everything is okay.

Best of luck!
 
NH,

Hey, thanks for the feedback. A bit of background. Cruella began regurging mid-December for the first time.

I found a regurge from the 8th of December in her tank on the 15th. I had been away up north in Pennsylvania when it happened. So temps obviously fluctuated too much. I fed her upon my return on the 15th (just one pink) as I figured it had been probably 5 - 6 days since it happened. She kept the one down. I know I should have waited longer for her to build the acid in her stomach back up...

Anyway, so I fed her on the 23rd, two pinks this time. Regurged again and temps were fine. So, my guess was I had just been not waiting long enough. So, then I waited 10 days for the next feed (one pink), she kept it down. That feeding was on the 7th of January.

Leoric had no issues over this time period, though his temps tend to stay a bit more consistent as Cruella is closer to our ceiling fan that my wife feels needs to run all night... so it's about 2 - 3 degrees less ambient than the rest of the room around there.

Long story short, moved the viv, waited longer between feeds, checked temps, etc. Looks good right now. But, I haven't cleaned viv since regurges. Just spot cleaned. Haven't had time... I know, I'm terrible. I am cleaning both vivs today and will be looking for sheds. She has never shed under the bedding before, but maybe it is in a hide stuck somewhere and I just don't see it.

I'll let you guys know if I find one as I clean. Her colors looked more bright the other day, so it struck me as odd. I didn't see a shed anywhere immediate. My guess is she snuck one in on me.

The good thing is I think she's healthy again. How long should I keep her on solo pinks? Two feedings? Three? I would think she has built back up enough acid to return to normal, yes? Just hesitant to go to two again as she did ok with the solo one before and the regurged the two next time around. Though this time I waited longer between feeds.
 
Excellent that you keep such good track!!
My guess is that due to the regurges there was a missed shed. It is also possible that a shed cycle was the cause of the regurges, perhaps on top of other conditions.

Here is a link to the regurge protocol listed on this forum: http://www.cornsnakes.com/forums/showthread.php?t=28342

Try to follow it as best as you possibly can. If what you've been doing is vastly different than what it says in the protocol, I suggest starting over as if the regurge just happened. It's much better to have your snake miss a few weeks' worth of meals than have a regurge - any regurge, never mind a second, third, or even fourth.

Regurges unfortunately are quite detrimental to a snake's health.

Best of luck!
 
Hey all, just an update. I cleaned out both viv's this evening. No sheds under the bedding and I dug and cleaned it out cupful by cupful. Also, no other regurges anywhere, though there were some other presents so that is good. After wiping everything down and putting in fresh bedding and the clean hides, I fed both snakes.

Cruella ate fine. The lump is really small in her stomach now, it's just fuzzies look so big next to her last time I compared a few weeks back. I'm going to make sure she holds this one down and passes again, feed her one more small pink and then maybe up food size if she does ok for these three consecutive feedings.

The only thing about my area here is the fuzzies most stores sell are fairly good sized and seem like such a step up. I may wait until the February 15th show at the PWC Fairgrounds in Manassas and buy bulk feeders there for both Leoric and Cruella.

Anyway, no bad news other than Cruella hasn't shed in forever, but I think it is due to the regurges and the food size being so small. She seems like she's growing still after holding her this evening. Not quite sure how we are almost four months between sheds, but I guess only time will tell.
 
Just an update. Three successful feedings in a row for Cruella with no regurge. Looks like we are back on track.

I am going to try and feed her two pinks this next go round on Monday afternoon/evening. So long as she does well on those the next few feedings, looking at a late February/early March transition to fuzzies.
 
Don't feed her when she's blue, ever!

For her next meal, you can do 1.5 pinks, and then repeat (with the other half- cut when frozen) and as long as those two go okay, then try double pinks, as long as she weighs enough, going by the Munson plan.
 
Nanci,

Cruella never had issues when dulled up feeding wise. She had just started to dullen up last night. That being said, if it's not a good practice, I won't next time.

She took two small pinks this time as the last three meals she was able to handle one small pink with no issues or regurges. She barely has a lump these days, so it looks like it may be time to bump soon.

I need to invest in a scale, as I have no idea how much she weighs.
 
If you have a snake that has regurged, you do't ever want to chance it when you don't have to.
 
Yea, that was definitely absent minded thinking on my end. Wonder if that is what caused her first one... dang it! Now, i have to play the waiting game hoping I didn't screw up... blah.

Hopefully she'll be good. As of this morning (not long ago) so far, so good. Fingers crossed.
 
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