Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hey guys, my snake shed just fine - perfectly in fact, and it's all rolled up in a cute little donut.

I have noticed something funny with this snake though, and I was just curious if anyone else has seen this - I have only seen it in this animal and no others;

When this snake dulls and goes 'blue,' the entire animal has generalized swelling, and gets very sluggish. Handling during this time slowly 'wakes up' the animal, and swelling gradually reduces with activity, but doesn't completely go away. After the shed is complete, the snake looks perfectly normal and healthy, no signs of swelling.

I have seen this snake do this every shed cycle. I want to pay much closer attention to this snake and all of my others when they go into shed to see if I can pick up on perhaps more episodes of this swelling. Perhaps it occurs more subtly in my other snakes. In over 20 years keeping reptiles I don't recall seeing this in any of my other animals. I know shed cycles are hormone-controlled. My best guess is that maybe this animal experiences more, uh, "water retention" in its list of "PMS" symptoms?

Has anyone else seen anything like this? Your observations would be greatly appreciated!

~Rebecca
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1.0.0 Dumeril's Boa '04
1.1.1 Ball Pythons
[1.0.0 '05 Orange Hypo (Specter)]
[0.1.0 '05 Het Orange Hypo (Sylvia)]
[0.0.1 '03 Normal (Sue)]
0.2 American Pit Bull Terriers (40lb darling lap dogs:Brandy&Mara)

I haven't noticed anything with any of mine that I'd call 'swelling', but one female definately gets way more sluggish than the others when she goes into shed. She also takes longer in her blue stage - everyone else goes blue and sheds in about a 7-10 day span, but she takes at least 2 weeks every time.

Interesting observation, though. I'll actually check mine out to see if there's any other physical differences. I know I usually just leave 'em alone once they start lookin blue, so maybe I just haven't had the chance to notice a difference.

~jenny
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"Polysyllabism in no way insures that what you're saying is actually worth being heard." - Blake (an e-friend of mine)

"I have never made but one prayer to god, a very short one: "O lord, make my enemies ridiculous." And he granted it." - Voltaire

Yeah, I usually leave mine alone when they get blue, which is why I feel like I haven't been looking closely enough to rule this out in any others. It is definitely most noticeable in the one individual though - first time I noticed it, I panicked, and thought it was on Death's doorstep, took it out, handled it, and saw the swelling go down a bit. Any time I've handled this snake in the 'blue' since, I've seen the same thing. It just seems so wierd!

Shed-cycle swelling aside, it is a very healthy happy snake.

~Rebecca
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1.0.0 Dumeril's Boa '04
1.1.1 Ball Pythons
[1.0.0 '05 Orange Hypo (Specter)]
[0.1.0 '05 Het Orange Hypo (Sylvia)]
[0.0.1 '03 Normal (Sue)]
0.2 American Pit Bull Terriers (40lb darling lap dogs:Brandy&Mara)

The swelling is from the fluid that is separating the new skin from the old skin. They really do look pitiful when in shed, don't they? Big pouters
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-Becky Brown, RVT-
1.0 Lemon Pastel Classic Jungle(NERD)
1.0 Black Pastel
2.13 Normals
1.0 NERD Yellow/Green Hypo
1.1 Spiders(BHB)
1.1 Yellowbellies(BHB)
1.0 100% Het Pied Classic Jungle(Don Kaye)
0.1 50% Poss. Het Pied(Gary Kettring)
0.1 Classic Jungle
1.0 66% Poss Het Ax Genetic Granite(VPI)
18 07 Hatchlings