Reptile & Amphibian Forums

My big boy Ruby had a bad shed - he ripped his shed right an inch below his head so it didn't come off, and I had to soak and pry it. He didn't like this a bit, 'specially not the part where I had to massage it off his lower jaw. I noticed halfway through that the room smelled awful..I thought I read once that corns can musk. Is this true?

Also, is there any easy way to remove the shed than brushing against the grain? Jesus..

Yes and yes! Corn snakes can musk, although they don't do it very often. And the smell does somehow seem to "sneak up on you."

As far as helping an adult snake shed, placing the snake in an escape proof container with 1/2 inch of water and a damp towel will usually do the trick - the humidity loosens the old skin and the friction caused from crawling through the towel allows the old skin to come off easily.

You may have to leave the snake in the container for an hour of two, but it sure beats peeling skin by hand and getting musked!

Tim

Third Eye

Right on, i'll deffinately have to try that next time. A 4' corn isn't too manageable when he doesn't want to be squeeezed and man-handled. I'm glad all he did was musk, his bites tend to hurt!