Retained Shed

[EKS56]

I have a couple of new Black Necked garters and the female has a dark line along her belly. Is this a retained shed. If not what would be an indication of a retained shed? Are retained sheds dangerous to the snake and will it correct itself at the next shed?
Thanks,
EKS56

042.jpgRetained shed.jpg

[infernalis]

It is difficult to tell by the photos.

Personally, I have never seen any retained shed skin form a nice straight line like you seem to indicate, every retained shed skin I have seen is tatters or bands all around and tail tips/eye caps.

[chris-uk]

It looks odd, but doesn't look like a retained shed. Is your concern that the discoloured stripe IS the retained shed (in which case I'd be very surprised if that is the case), or that the discoloured stripe is a sign that the whole shed has been retained?

[guidofatherof5]

I can't tell from the photos either but you need to error on the side of safety.
Did you witness the snake in opaque(shedding) phase?
Retained sheds are deadly. Left unattended the snake usually dies.
The retained shed will cause breathing and circulation problems.
I suggest using a shed box immediately. After 30 minutes in the box you should be able to start the shed at the upper or lower lip area. Worst case you start at the vent/cloaca and remove the shed backwards.
A retained shed will have a crinkly look to it. The snake in most cases will have labored breathing and have trouble moving correctly. They will appear to be stiff.

http://www.thamnophis.com/forum/husbandry/11703-retained-shed-indentication-treatment.html

[aSnakeLovinBabe]

if you're talking about that gray line that runs down the middle of her belly, that is just her natural coloration.

If you're talking about that weird patch of scales in the 1st photo, that looks like an old scar to me.

Either way I see no indications of retained shed.

[d_virginiana]

I need to clarify this thread; I saw this snake in person the other day and referred EKS56 to the forum. The line down her belly was not what made me think she may have a retained shed. She had a ring of dried scales just below the vent area. I had limited time, but a warm soak did get some of them to peel back and got a few more scales to peel off. There were also some dried scales coming off down near the tail tip. The female looks a bit... odd all over, for lack of a better word. Many of her scales, especially the belly scales, have an almost shriveled look to them. However, she is also REALLY showing her age, so I was not sure if that was an issue or an indication of age.
The reason I asked EKS56 to post on here is that I know just below the vent is a common place for sheds to get stuck, and he has no info on this snake's last shed, other than it was more than two weeks ago (when they were shipped to him).

Additionally, the male this snake was shipped with has an odd place on his forehead that has the 'fused' look I've heard of facial scales getting if they are retained. This makes me wonder if maybe both snakes had been in an environment with very low humidity or something before they were shipped.

[guidofatherof5]

Sounds like a dehydration issue over an extended period of time to me. If this is the case
bi-daily warm water soaking can only help. Leaving them in the shed box for a few hours would be very beneficial.
Updated photos of the overall snakes would help us help.

[chris-uk]

Lora, if you've seen the snake in the scale I'd go with your assessment. We can't see in the photos what you were able to see in person. I'd like to see some more photos, especially the odd patches on the female.
It sounds like if there is any retained shed it could be old, but a shed box won't do any harm and may clear up some of the patches. It also sounds (from the brief history) that these are old snakes who may not have been kept in ideal conditions.

Didn't Steve have a snake with some shrivelled scales recently? I don't think we found any answers to that.

[guidofatherof5]

Lora, if you've seen the snake in the scale I'd go with your assessment. We can't see in the photos what you were able to see in person. I'd like to see some more photos, especially the odd patches on the female.
It sounds like if there is any retained shed it could be old, but a shed box won't do any harm and may clear up some of the patches. It also sounds (from the brief history) that these are old snakes who may not have been kept in ideal conditions.

Didn't Steve have a snake with some shrivelled scales recently? I don't think we found any answers to that.

No answers yet. Still the same situation. I've got some new treatment in the mail(unrelated to our talk)

http://www.thamnophis.com/forum/gene...atch-skin.html

[d_virginiana]

The female looks pretty rough in general. Definitely on the thin side too. Like... I believe she's 7 years old, but she looks and acts older than my 12 year old snake. A complete sweetheart though.
Other than the one scale on the male's head, everything about him looked good. I believe he's much younger though. He's also very tiny; probably about 16 inches if I had to guess. But according to the seller he was definitely full grown (I've never worked with blacknecks, so idk, maybe that's normal).
Neither of them have eaten anything since they were shipped either. The male doesn't seem too affected, but it'd be good if the female would start eating ASAP. They've tried everything but fish so far, and I believe they're getting some silversides soon. I recommended getting a basking light and bumping the temps up a little.

If I talk to the owner and they haven't seen the thread, I'll ask them to post up some more pics.