Concerned about a possible retained shed...

[EasternGirl]

I'm starting to wonder if Cee Cee has retained her shed. I was telling you guys about how she was having trouble getting the process started...it was taking a really long time for her to shed. Now, it usually does take her a while, but it seemed to be taking longer than usual this time...this has been going on for two weeks now. All this week her eyes were opaque and she was all dusty looking...she kept soaking and hiding and acting like she was getting ready to shed. I kept misting her and waiting. Then all of the sudden, night before last her eyes looked normal again and last night she ate...but no shed. Could she have retained the shed?

[chris-uk]

When the eyes go clear you can expect the shed to happen in the next few days. She'll probably do it very soon.
It sounds like she was opaque for a long time though (how long were her eyes blue for?), but our Vlad was opaque for the last two days, cleared this morning, and we're waiting for his first shed with us.

I don't think I'd be overly worried right now, but I'd be checking for the shed frequently. At least that's where we are with Vlad at the moment.

[EasternGirl]

She seems to do this...takes a long time to shed. This has been going on for over a week now that she has been preparing. Her eyes were foggy from probably last Thursday or Friday until Monday night. She soaked for a long time in her water dish last night. Selena usually gets the whole process over with in a couple of days...that's why Cee Cee always concerns me...but she does get the shed off in one big piece when it finally comes off. She also does not shed very often. Selena definitely sheds more frequently...but she's younger and smaller.

[BUSHSNAKE]

everything sounds normal

[chris-uk]

Larger snake, slower growth, less frequent shedding. So that sounds normal.
As for the length of time she's opaque... I can't comment, but I expect it varies quite a lot between species and individuals. If Cee Cee sheds in one single piece in the end you've nothing to worry about. Just keep notes so that you can build up a picture as to how long she takes to shed and the frequency and over a longer period you have a record that will help you spot anything that isn't normal.

[EasternGirl]

Okay...Thanks!

[ConcinusMan]

everything sounds normal

Ditto. Sounds normal to me. The period of time that a snake is opaque varies widely. It can be what seems like a very long time or it can be only a day or two. And the eyes always go clear again before they shed. Once they go clear, you can expect the shedding to happen within a few days. If the eyes go clear and you don't get a shed within 5 days or so, then I start to get concerned. I doubt it's a retained shed. It becomes quite apparent when it's a retained shed. The skin will get a "crinkly" look and sometimes the snake will have trouble moving normally and/or have trouble breathing.

[EasternGirl]

Okay...she seems okay, and she's soaking again. Hopefully she will get the shed off soon.

[katach]

I don't know if this will help, but here goes. This is the time frame that our snakes take to shed.

Belly gets milky white for about a week prior to cloudy eyes, then eyes go cloudy for about 2-3 days, eyes clear up, then 2-3 days later they shed.

[kibakiba]

Snap is a bit of a slow shedder. She goes milky for a week, partially cloudy for 4 days, milky for 4 days... and then she goes clear for about 3-5 days before shedding... Sometimes it's quite a bit quicker, though.

[EasternGirl]

That does help you guys...judging by that, she's right on track...thanks.

[infernalis]

A little late, but I have seen retained sheds, within a period of time a retained shed cracks apart and the snake will look really tattered.

Doubt that's the case here, but it gets real obvious if there is a dried out slaugh covering your snake.

[chris-uk]

Could a retained shed cause problems with the spine? Just occurred to me that our girls with a spinal problem retained a shed just after we got her, and being new to snakes I didn't realise straight away, took until her skin was tattered and splitting before I knew what I was looking at.

[infernalis]

I would be more inclined to think the spinal issue got in the way of a clean shed.

[EasternGirl]

She definitely doesn't have any signs of a retained shed based on what you all are saying...she is still soaking a lot and looks dry like she does before a shed...hopefully she will shed in the next couple of days.

[EasternGirl]

She finally got the shed off but she had a horrible time with it....in fact, I ended up having to help her in the end. She kept going in and out of her water dish and rubbing all over everything in her viv trying to get the shed to come off and she just couldn't get it off...so finally I just helped her pull it off. I don't know why she had so much trouble this time...but she seems happy now that it's finally off.

[ConcinusMan]

Sometimes if they've been soaking a lot and it's saturated, they can have trouble getting it off in one piece. Especially if last cycle was short and the skin is thin. That long cloudy period this time tells me the new skin is probably much stronger and thicker. Should go better next time.

[EasternGirl]

Thanks, Richard...I was wondering if all the soaking had something to do with it.