retained shed - compound shed?

[infernalis]

Had I not seen this with my own eyes, I would have never thought it was possible.

Earlier this evening, My female Infernalis was having a tough time with her slough, so I moved her to a smaller shoe box size tote with some small rocks and about a half inch of water in the bottom.

after about 10-15 minutes, there was a complete shed in the box, so I put her back in her enclosure.

Roughly an hour later I looked in on her, and she had another shed in progress!

So I put her back in the wet box to finish...

That's two complete sheds within about 90 minutes time.

Has anyone ever seen this happen before?

The only logical conclusion I could even come up with would be she had two sheds on top of each other, one of them simply retained.

She did look a bit rough and "crackly" before, but now she's that stunning red/black/turquoise colour I adore about this species so much.

[kibakiba]

Mama shed once, with two shed that came of at the same time. Not sure why she did, because she hadn't gone into shed any time before that, and unless she's godly, she didn't retain her shed. She didn't show any signs of it before that.

[PINJOHN]

do the feds know you have a still, there in back woods New York Wayne?...and that you have been using it quite liberally judging from the above post.:rolleyes:

[guidofatherof5]

Never heard of a double shed. Very interesting.

[Selkielass]

Interesting that that can happen. I would think that it would be quite uncomfortable for the snake.
I have taken to keeping a wet hide filled with spagnum moss in the Butlers cage at all times. My house is quite dry in the winter, and they seem to enjoy having a choice of humidities as well as temperatures to choose from.

[EasternGirl]

That is freaky. Of course we need post-shed pics to determine the exact cause of this. Okay...not really...we just like pics ;). I have absolutely no idea what would cause that...the only theory I have is that it was a retained shed loosened by the water that you put her in.

[chris-uk]

Interesting. But without video evidence I think we should just assume it's early onset dementia. ;)

We're both sheds normal? What's the regular gap between sheds for this snake?

[infernalis]

No, I have to make changes here. She's on aspen, and I think it's too dry for that particular species.

She was looking crackly?? tough to describe, but the dead skin was thick.

What I am assuming is that she had a shed that never came off, and her system went into shed again, allowing an old shed to cover the newer shed.

Like I said, had I not seen this myself, I would have never known it was even possible.

I have seen partial stuck sheds before, but never a complete nose to tail shed that was retained long enough for a second one to be under it.

[PINJOHN]

Despite my earlier flippant reply i do find this thread fascinating and would never have thought this possible it goes to show the garters never lose their ability to surprise us.

[garterchick]

I had a female blackneck that went into "blue" but never shed. About 2 month later she had a double shed with both skins comming off at the same time.

[EasternGirl]

Very weird...

[aSnakeLovinBabe]

I peeled two complete sheds off a carpet python once about a week after I received it. I was shocked. It had been in blue when I got it, but it didn't seem excessively dry or appear to be in bad shape. But I suppose it is not impossible!