I said they were quite open about being unproven at 7 despite being breeders. I should have asked why at the time. its a possibility I should explore.
I am happy to look at other possibilities as I asked for in the first post.
I would be interested to know the other possibilities you are thinking of that might help.
1 Like
Various possibilities include (but are not limited too):
- âDullingâ I see this now and then, especially with my Albino and Candino animals. They go through an âugly kidâ phase during their cycle where they dull out and look faded. To the unfamiliar, it might look like a build up to a shed that then never goes anywhere
- Abortive shed. These can happen for no real rhyme or reason but some of the triggers I have encountered are sudden humidity changes (like happens when you switch your home from A/C to heat or when an animal is shipped from one region to another), sudden diet changes, bedding changes, and encountering new animals. The phenomenon is exactly what it sounds like, the animal starts a cycle and then just never sheds until the next cycle comes around. When it finally does shed the sloughed skin will often be thicker and may come off in patches rather than whole
- Infection. There is a constant layer of oily fluid just beneath the scales of snakes at all times. Sometimes, bacteria or fungus or yeast can begin growing in this fluid. There presence will cause the fluid to become semi-opaque, giving the appearance of a shed cycle. In some cases this is self resolving and the next shed cleans the interlopers out. In other cases this can escalate to a debilitating infection and when the animal sheds it will deglove.
- Waste exposure. Sometimes an animal sits a bit too long in its own waste (this can happen in as little as a couple hours so it is not always a matter of negligent husbandry). The ammonia build up in the tub can stain the scales such that they look like the animal is going in to shed. If you run your heat a little on the higher end and the animal has a predilection for discharging on the hot end then this can increase the odds of this happening
- Cleaning products. Some animals are sensitive to these. So if, say, you are wiping your tubs down with Clorox wipes and the animal is sensitive to Clorox, it might have a sort of allergic-type response that would resemble a pre-shed
- Keratophagy. The animal ate its own shed and because you never saw the skin you just assume they never actually shed. I have not seen this in balls but I have seen it in a number of other species so who knowsâŚ
5 Likes
Wow, thatâs an extensive list for me to think about, thanks.
2 Likes
Update:
The snake was slamming rats initially. I tried an african soft furred rat the other day and she took it.
So what I believed was a shed fast is probably not the case.
Here eyes still look a bit milky, not blue. but I guess thatâs just her or it could be something else like âugly kidâ phase mentioned. (i did not oil test this one)
I did examine t_h_wyman other suggestions.
I also copied the info for future reference, Thanks.
Vet found no problems just said she was in shed.
I am pretty good at identifying a shed cycle in albinos and my candino, I record it and then they always shed.
I cleaned a tub with very hot water, gave it a good soak to get rid of any chemicals.
That might of helped, but I only use thin bleach (the thick ones have added chemicals)
Also I check and clean tanks daily, full clean if its dirty and rinse the snake if it has a lot of wet urates in the tank or anything else on it.