Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I was very shocked to see that one of my balls was very, very pale. She shows signs of shedding. Her eyes are the blueish glare, her skin is very, dull and pale, but what concerned me was that she was very sluggish. I went to pick her up so I removed her hidebox and went to touch her inside of it and no response. Her head ws laying on the ground and she almost looked dead. After a 2 second belly rub she "woke up" I guess is the best terminology I could use. In my hands she seemed fine. When I placed her in her tub again I misted her and she just laid there. She did not runn off into her hide like she normally does. She just laid there. Then after another 2 second belly rub she slithered into her hide where she is. Could this be a respiratory problem or am I just freaking out for no reason. Her looks worried me but more her actions. Do all snakes get like this during the shedding cycle. I have been through many shed cycles, but have never seen anything this dramatic. Thank you

i think all snakes get sluggish in shed. but the difference in some is that they are actually hand tame. for instance you take a normal adult that jerks when u touch it anyway. and put it in shed where it cant see if freaks out even more. but you take a snake thats been handled daily since it hatched. its just going to keep on being sluggish.
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Jeff Stringer

I agree. My snakes never really come out of their hides when they're in shed, and the tame ones are sluggish if I have to handle them. I try not to mess with the others, lol.

Yea she is definitly one of the ones that are tamer than the rest so I guess this would explain her sluggishness. Thanks and anymore inof would be appreciated.

Is her skin very wrinkly or just pale w/that blue "I'm going to shed" look? If she's super wrinkly she may be dehydrated.. Where are you located? Where I am (Northern MA almost NH) it's been super dry this autumn & I've had to mist 3x what I normally do. As long as she continues to "wake up" with handling she's probably ok. Just make sure her skin isn't gathered in wrinkles more than a normal shedding snake.. that could flag dehydration!

-Tami*

Sometimes I see this type of behavior right before they shed. I had one like that tonight and ten minutes later when I checked on her she was cruising looking for food and I found a perfect shed.
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Happy Herping,
Jody Barnes
Royal Kreationz

My snakes aren't fat, they're big boned.

If you heat and temps are correct, then you don't have anything to worry about. She is just in blue. She will shed soon, and be back to normal.