Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hello people,

My female boa, from 2005 is shedding for the 3rd time in 8 weeks... this makes me wonder, is there something wrong?

She eats, grows fine.

She is very aggressive, and rubbing her nose, so she has a big nose all time.

Why is she shedding all the time?

Is multiple shedding a indicator for IBD or PMV?

JJ from Canada

Shedding can be growth related....

or...

It could indicate stress, this stress could be caused by an illness, inadequate caging, wrong environment, and mites. Normally mites causing this problem will be seen on the snake, but it is possible to miss them if you don't look....

Good luck, and pay attention to all husbandry practices and adjust as necessary.
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Robert McPhee
www.BBCExotics.com

Have you been supplementing some vitamins to your boas? Sometimes an overdose of Vitamin A can cause constant shedding. And since Vit A is a lipidic vitamin, it´s not that easy eliminate through feces/urate
just a guess
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4.7.7 Leopard Geckos
0.1.0 B.C.I.
0.1.0 AFT
0.2.0 Homonota Darwinii (Talus & Gracilis)
0.0.1 Hemidactylus Turcicus
0.0.1 Tarentola Mauritanica (Pickles)
0.1.0 Cham Caliptratus (Clotilde)
1.0.0 Golden Retriever (Cafu)
1.0.0 Black cat (Felipe)
0.0.2 Acanthoscurria Musculosa
0.0.5 Eupalestrus Campestratus
0.0.1 Gramostola Rosea
16 Hatched(Leopard Geckos)

Sounds like you have mites. Does your snake soak a lot? Does it have an opportunity to soak?
jsc
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"As hard as I've tried, just can't NOT do this"
John Crickmer

I have seen what I call "Rapid shed syndrome" in a Boa two times. I have no idea what caused it, but in each case when I did see it, the animal continued it for about two years. Even when not being fed. They eventually got run down and would refuse to eat, ultimately resulting in the death of the animal. No telling if your animal has it or not. The two that I have had that did it, did everything else like normal except that rapid shedding for more than a year shedding about every 18-22 days. One was a male that died from it about 17 years ago. He was a great breeder. The other was a completely unrelated female that died after two years of rapid shedding in around 2000.

I have zero diagnostic advise as to how to treat it or to tell if your animal has it or not. I have talked to other Boa guys who have had animals do the same thing.

People don't want to discuss when they have animals that get sick, because they think it will reflect negatively on them. But, I have news for anyone who does think that reflects negatively on anyone. Boas are animals. Animals get sick. Animals die. That's real life. I am not talking about wholesale die off of a collection. I've actually never even heard of a specific instance of that.

Any of you other people who read this, and are willing to admit it, can certainly do so especially if you have any other observations regarding this that might be good for others to know.
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Boaphile Home
All Original/Boaphile Plastics
The Boa Network

I have not experienced it to that degree. However, I have seen it for short periods.
My understanding is it is from some toxin in the body the Kidneys can't manage alone. It goes to the "Color Shedding Syndrome" discussion I have participated in here, previously.
Back to the toxic rats discussion. Systemic Toxicity in the blood ==> Exess Toxicity eliminated by Kidneys as Urates ==> Excess Toxicity of food in gut eliminated by Regurgitation or Vomiting ==> Excess Systemic Toxicity eliminated through sloughing skin.
Premature shedding of the epidermis, ie.) an abbreviated shedding cycle frequently removes the iridiopores and other dermal cells, thus the shedding of the color.
Continual and frequent shedding may be a chronic problem related to impaired/inefficient kidney function.
My experience has been with environmental situations as in mites, as stated in previous post. That can be remedied. Remove the source.
I have also noticed premature shedding in an accidental overdose of Baytril. The color was shed and the resulting epidermis became very dark with melanin. I figure the melanin was a natural skin protector produced by the body as in scar tissue over the damaged dermis/epidermis.
The snake survived, after it worked out the toxicity from the Baytril with a couple of quick sheds. It retained the darkened skin condition for as long as I had the snake. The original "color" never returned.
jsc
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"As hard as I've tried, just can't NOT do this"
John Crickmer