Shedding Snakes

Most animals (including humans!) shed their skin. As humans, we usually shed our skin in small pieces and we hardly ever notice it, but snakes sometimes shed theirs in one piece – kind of like how we take off our socks! As humans grow, our skin stretches with us and continues to grow as well. As a snake grows, it’s skin stays the same size and eventually, new growth is not possible and the snake is forced to shed. Snakes also shed their skin to get rid of any parasites on their skin. Parasites are organisms that steal their food from the organism they are living on or inside of. 

How can you tell when a snake is going to shed? A snake’s eyes will turn a blue/milky color when they are ready to shed. Why do their eyes turn this color? Snakes have a protective scale over their eye and when the old eye scale starts to separate from the newly formed scale it has fluid buildup and causes the blue/milky color we see (Image 1). During this time period at River Legacy, we try not to handle our snakes because they cannot see and this can sometimes cause distress in the snake. When snakes are in the wild and are close to shedding they usually hide to avoid being attacked by predators. 

Snakes shed for their whole life, but as they get older it slows down. How often a snake sheds depends on the type of snake as well as their age. Young snakes may shed 1 to 2 times a month and older snakes may only shed 2 times a year. If you’re interested in learning more about snakes, please join us for our Spring Break Activities: Reptile Day, during the week of March 9-13! Stay tuned for more information about specific times.

This post was written by Samantha King, River Legacy Living Science Center naturalist.