Reptile & Amphibian Forums

So I came home today to find the tank completely rearranged, which I assumed correctly meant my little corn had shed.

Here's the problem, I could see right off the bat that the skin lying on the floor was incomplete. It ripped where there was minor scale damage from her being stuck on duct tape weeks ago. So she had roughly half of the skin still on her which for a second looked like she had ripped her guts out for a second (and I had a mini heart attack).

I took her out and soaked in warm water for a bit and then tried to remove the rest of the skin. When I gently grasped at the head of the unshed skin she began to press very hard against my fingers and helped me peel back most of the skin. It broke again where another piece of duct tape had been so I soaked her some more and then was able to peel off the rest all the way with no problems.

The bigger problem is that the initial, upper portion of skin is so torn up that I cannot see if her eye caps came off with it. I've studied her head and I cannot see an edge where old skin encroaches on new and her eyes look crystal clear (I realize they turn clear right before the she) and have no old skin fringing them.

My question is how can I tell if the eye caps have remained?

P.S. she looks gorgeous right now!

are not a major problem, if it is only one shed's worth. Next time she sheds, make sure that they come off, and she should be all right.
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phflame
kingsnake.com host

Yeah, you did great. Just leave her alone. And get rid of the duct tape. If you need to patch something, do it right or replace the part.

Good luck!

Walt

Thanks for the responses. You know how it is. You have a pet of any species and any time they do something for the first time it's scary as heck.

It's funny, when she got stuck to the tape I looked it up and it turns out to be a really effective trap for any snake (or any aniaml smaller than a rat) who would've figured. We're accustomed to our own strengths (and skin) and don't realize that other animals may be very different.

Going to throw a pinky her way tomorrow. She must be really hungry. She's been in a shed phase for 10 days now.

Thanks again.

After a few days the eye cap will become wrinkly or cloudy. But just do what everyone else said, next shed make sure it comes off right though.
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0.1 Snow Corn "Hope"
1.0 Redtail "Kilo"
1.0 Ball Python "Wilson" (Castaway)
1. Orange Albino Black Ratsnake "Chunk" (Goonies)
.1 Orange Albino Black Ratsnake "Peaches"
0.0.1 Mexican Black Kingsnake "Onyx"

Here she is this morning right before I fed her. The photo doesn't do her colors justice, but it was hard to get her to stand still (she gets pretty excited in the feeding box).