A really noob feeding/shedding question

[skilletsteve]

Tuesday is the day my banded water snake gets fed each week, but her eyes are clouded blue like she is going to shed soon. Should I go ahead and offer food or just wait for the shed and then feed after?

 

[Rabid538]

Wait for the shed and feed her afterwords. Once I had tried to feed my snake before a shed and the shed came off in small pieces. Ultimately I had to give him a bath to completely remove the skin. It was a mess. I always wait until after to feed, and the sheds come out perfect. Snakes can go for a long time without food so don't worry about her missing a meal for a week or two.

 

[skilletsteve]

Wait for the shed and feed her afterwords. Once I had tried to feed my snake before a shed and the shed came off in small pieces. Ultimately I had to give him a bath to completely remove the skin. It was a mess. I always wait until after to feed, and the sheds come out perfect. Snakes can go for a long time without food so don't worry about her missing a meal for a week or two.

thanks for the advice. Also I just noticed now that her eyes are no longer clouded over but I don't see an old shed around? is this normal?:?:?:?

 

[fangsalot]

first they cloud over,and right before the shed they clear up.its totally normal

 

[skilletsteve]

first they cloud over,and right before the shed they clear up.its totally normal

ok cool. Looking forward to the shed

 

[pitbulllady]

Most snakes won't eat while they are in shed, until the actual process completes itself, so you'll just be wasting food by offering it to them. It will often be several days after the eyes clear up before the snake sheds. You will really want to pay attention as to whether the eyecaps come off with the rest of the shed(you will be able to see them, like contact lenses, on the head piece of the shed skin), since those are the usual problem areas of a shedding. A retained eye cap can be bad news if left in place, and Water Snakes are pretty bad about retaining them, not as bad as Ball Pythons, but it's still something to look out for.

I've had some Water Snakes that would eat while shedding, with no problems later, but those are a minority, so I just leave my snakes alone until they finish. It might take a day or two after shedding before they'll start eating again, just so you know.

pitbulllady

 

[skilletsteve]

alright thanks for the advice.
If the eyecaps stay on how do I go about remove them?

 

[pitbulllady]

alright thanks for the advice.
If the eyecaps stay on how do I go about remove them?

If you have never had to do that before, it's best to take her to a vet who has, or find a local snake keeper who has, so they can show you, otherwise you can wind up blinding your snake! I can usually work them loose with my fingers, but I've had many years of experience doing this, too. Sometimes I have to use blunt tweezers/forceps, though, after soaking the snake in a wet pillow case. I originally had to have someone show me how to do this, though, and it does help to have someone else hold the snake.

pitbulllady

 

[bitzy1]

wait for her eyes to clear. they get really spookish when in the blue

 

[GiantVinegaroon]

If you have never had to do that before, it's best to take her to a vet who has, or find a local snake keeper who has, so they can show you, otherwise you can wind up blinding your snake! I can usually work them loose with my fingers, but I've had many years of experience doing this, too. Sometimes I have to use blunt tweezers/forceps, though, after soaking the snake in a wet pillow case. I originally had to have someone show me how to do this, though, and it does help to have someone else hold the snake.

pitbulllady

I like the soaking in the pillowcase idea. I've soaked my python in a sterilite with rough objects to rub against.

I haven't tried this method(I've only had one eyecap stuck on either of my two snakes whom I've had for almost a decade now) but I heard just waiting for the snake to cast it off in the next shed works fine too. Again, what I've heard from a friend of mine.

 

[skilletsteve]

The shed seemed to have come off nicely on its own. I just encouraged her to take a quick soak and then she went into her hide and took it all off. She then proceeded to push the old skin out of the hide and then had a big meal.