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My two year old GBK has shed two months ago, but took nearly three weeks to do it. Now she's doing it again, and has been opaque for over a week, nearly two. She barely moves, isn't eating, and just sitting in the hide on the cold side of the tank ignoring everybody.

Normally she's fairly active and still comes out to at least say hi and inspect her domain even when shedding and only hides when her scales get tender. She also usually eats no matter what, and has been having sheds at 3 months the past while which are usually fairly quick.

I'm not sure if I should be concerned or not, her breathing looks okay, she's not coughing or sneezing or wheezing, there are no retained scales or eyecaps from previous sheds and she's VERY unhappy if I touch her since her outer scales are soft so I've been leaving her alone as much as possible except to make sure she's still living (she's so still it's hard to tell sometimes).

This might be just a stupid question, but being a novice and my first adult snake (I'm used to zippy little hatchlings), I just want to know if I should book an appointment with the vet. I don't want to unless I have to since it's a long stressful trip for her to travel and also expensive.
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1.0 Eastern Kingsnake, Chain (Mars)
0.1 Gray Banded Kingsnake (Thanatos)

Oh and to clarify she wouldn't eat for a week before she started shedding. I don't feed when they're opaque.
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1.0 Eastern Kingsnake, Chain (Mars)
0.1 Gray Banded Kingsnake (Thanatos)

i was wondering if it might be a calcium defisciency,im no pro ive heard some people use distilled water,my opinion BAD idea. a Vet could dignose this better and can give calcium injections on the spot,also gelatin is good for human nails strenth and growth "scales /nails theyre just spelled different".please understand this is only an opinion not scientific proof.consult a pro.have a happy ,same to your snake.C

Posted by: styric at Wed Mar 7 05:25:18 2007 [ Report Abuse ] [ Email Message ]

My two year old GBK has shed two months ago, but took nearly three weeks to do it. Now she's doing it again, and has been opaque for over a week, nearly two. She barely moves, isn't eating, and just sitting in the hide on the cold side of the tank ignoring everybody.

Are you saying it took 3 weeks to get the dryed sloughed skin off or that it took 3 weeks to go from opaque to shed?

If its the latter you snake is just brumating. It sitting on the cool side and that slows its metabolism down and sheds take longer and they go off feed. Wait till spring and you snake will resume its normal activity.

Took three weeks to go from opaque to shed.

Hmm... I was wondering if she was brumating. This is her first year attempting it. I don't think it's calcium deficiency as I've been specifically going through the adult mice to find some small enough for her to eat for the extra calcium and nutrition.

In that case I'll turn off the heat except for the UTH until spring and make sure she has lots of fresh water to keep from dehydrating. I didn't really want to brumate her this year because she's a bit on the skinny side, but when snakes decide, they decide.

Thanks bluerosy, I know it was a really novice question!
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1.0 Eastern Kingsnake, Chain (Mars)
0.1 Gray Banded Kingsnake (Thanatos)

Well thanks for the compliment. ChristopherD ain't no newbie he just thought there is something else wrong with the snake since you posted.

When the spring flowers arrive warm her up and I bet she will come out eating like a champ. Snakes given a bit of a break during winter sometimes surpass those in growth that have been eating all the way through. I am sure your snake will be a voracious feeder come april.

Yeah,....I also concur, your snake should do just fine later on this spring, like previously stated, it's metabolism is just slowed down for now. It will do fine without eating until then, it takes literally many months for even a small snake to actually die of starvation, so don't even worry about that happening,.......good luck,...............................Doug
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Better to be silent and thought a fool, than to open mouth and remove any doubt!

I wasn't really worried about the not eating, it was just something I thought was good to mention, I was more worried about her stillness than anything. She's usually quite friendly and at least pokes her head to say hi and inspect the bowl/my hand or whatever is around when I'm changing her water or cleaning the tank.

I don't use distilled water, it has absolutly nothing in it and I'd have to supplement and dust the mice. I'm contemplating dusting them anyways for a bit when she comes out of brumation just to make sure I'm not missing anything as per ChristopherD's suggestion of possible calcium deficiency as it was a good one. She hasn't been on adult mice long due to her small size.

Thanks again everyone, it was a very much smack my forehead moment and cuss myself out for being an absolute moron. Then I went and amused myself with the baby chain to console myself! At least he's as zippy and bonkers as ever. I don't think there's any brumating happening there, he's too busy playing hide and seek with the cats.
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1.0 Eastern Kingsnake, Chain (Mars)
0.1 Gray Banded Kingsnake (Thanatos)