Why so blue?

Last week whilst I was changing water and doing my checks on The Gang, I noticed that Milo was in ‘deep blue’. I don’t know about you guys, but I love how a snake looks when it’s going to shed. There’s just something really interesting about how grey and dull their skin goes; a massive contrast to how they usually look. Anyway, this got me thinking that my next blog post should be on shedding… so here we are!

The process of a snake shedding its skin is called Ecdysis. Snakes shed their skin entirely in one piece, however this is only achieved if the right conditions are provided. The whole process can take up to two weeks for a snake to shed its skin, and I will be describing this process below. 

Day 1-2: You're looking a little dull..

You’ll be able to notice if your Royal Python is going into shed by how dull its skin looks. The colours will look less vibrant, their eyes may look slightly cloudy and sometimes they can get a pink belly. This is perfectly normal in the shedding process but varies from snake to snake. Royal Pythons will often become more shy when they are going into shed, and may stay in their hide and even go off their food for a couple of weeks.

If you notice that your Royal Python is going to shed, you should try to raise the humidity in their vivarium, either by periodically spraying it with water or supplying a sphagnum moss hide. Also make sure your Royal Python has a fresh bowl of water everyday as they may use this to soak during this process.

Days 3-7: I’m blue (da-ba-dee da-ba-die)

If you didn’t notice that your Royal Python was going into shed before, you definitely will now! Their skin becomes increasingly dull and faded, and you will notice they have very blue/grey opaque eyes. When your Royal Python is in blue, you should try not to handle them. This is because during this time your Royal Python’s vision is impaired and handling them can lead to them striking at you as they are more vulnerable. As mentioned before, Royal Python’s will usually go off feeding when they are going into shed, so it is best not to try feeding your Royal Python as it may cause them to become stressed.

Day 7-10: I can see clearly now the blue has gone… 

At this point in the shedding process you will notice that the opaqueness of the eyes clears up. The body will also clear up slightly, but may still look a little duller than usual. This is because your Royal Python is preparing to shed its skin! When they get to this stage you may think that they have already shed, because they look pretty normal except for being a bit darker. However if there’s no shed skin in the vivarium yet… you know their getting close!

Day 10-12: Get this old thing off me!

The final stage of the process… shedding the skin! If you catch your Royal Python shedding their skin you’re very lucky indeed! It is quite a quick process and something that keepers don’t usually get to witness; and it is very fascinating to watch. Firstly, your Royal Python will start rubbing its nose against items in their vivarium (like their hide or water bowl) to try to loosen the skin on their head. Once the skin has been loosened, they will then use the items in their vivarium to help peel off their skin. I’ve only witnessed my Royal Pythons shedding about three times in the 5 years that I’ve owned them.

Finally, once your Royal Python has shed their skin make sure you remove it from their vivarium. Check your Royal Python to make sure they have had a full shed and there is no old skin remaining on their body. If this does happen you can give them a slightly warm bath and slowly ease the remaining skin off.

I will be doing another post on what can happen if your Royal Python has a bad shed, so look out for that! If you’ve had any experiences with your snake shedding (good or bad) please leave a comment below!

xoxo