Smelly shed?

[Jeannie]

Hi, I thought there was another dead rat in the ceiling but apparently
it's Bebe the Florida Kingsnake getting ready to shed. She usually
doesn't smell bad, but this time it's nasty. She seems healthy, goes
in and out of her hut easily (although she's blind right now), and ate
last Friday. There's a wet sponge in her cage to increase humidity,
and I'll probably give her a bath later today. No lumps or bumps and
no open sores to be seen.

Should I worry about the smell, or does this just happen sometimes?

Jeannie

[N Jill Marsh]

On Thu, 27 Dec 2007 11:08:17 -0800 (PST), Jeannie

Post by Jeannie
Hi, I thought there was another dead rat in the ceiling but apparently
it's Bebe the Florida Kingsnake getting ready to shed. She usually
doesn't smell bad, but this time it's nasty. She seems healthy, goes
in and out of her hut easily (although she's blind right now), and ate
last Friday. There's a wet sponge in her cage to increase humidity,
and I'll probably give her a bath later today. No lumps or bumps and
no open sores to be seen.
Should I worry about the smell, or does this just happen sometimes?

Huh, I've never heard of that, Jeannie. I just went in and did a
sniff test on the Best Beloved's rosy, who is looking close to a shed
(he doesn't exhibit the classic signs, but we've learned), and he is a
bit whiffy. I'm wondering if this is a smell of the lymphy stuff
between the old and new skin layers? ew shed, when still wet, can be a
little gamey.

I can't think of why it would be so noticeably different for your girl
this time, though. Could she have musked and it's staying on the skin
to be shed a little more than it might have otherwise?

I looked on the web and couldn't find anything immediately, though
this link is extra cool:

http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2007/12/17/squirrel-predator-scent.html

Squirrels eat snake sheds, and then smell more like snakes, which
makes them less tasty to rattlesnakes. Kingsnakes might have a field
day, though!

nj"no, no, I'm really a mammal!"m

[Ulrik Smed]

Post by Jeannie
Hi, I thought there was another dead rat in the ceiling but apparently
it's Bebe the Florida Kingsnake getting ready to shed. She usually
doesn't smell bad, but this time it's nasty. She seems healthy, goes
in and out of her hut easily (although she's blind right now), and ate
last Friday. There's a wet sponge in her cage to increase humidity,
and I'll probably give her a bath later today. No lumps or bumps and
no open sores to be seen.
Should I worry about the smell, or does this just happen sometimes?
Jeannie

I've noticed that if a snake sheds and the shed is laying for a few days and
stay moist, then it can smell really bad when you unroll it. But it never
smells while still on the snake.

Could it be a starting mouth rot, perhaps (if it's a rotten smell)? Or some
poop or vomit laying somewhere in the cage, which the snake has crawled on?

[Jeannie]

Post by Ulrik Smed

Post by Jeannie
Hi, I thought there was another dead rat in the ceiling but apparently
it's Bebe the Florida Kingsnake getting ready to shed.  She usually
doesn't smell bad, but this time it's nasty.  She seems healthy, goes
in and out of her hut easily (although she's blind right now), and ate
last Friday.  There's a wet sponge in her cage to increase humidity,
and I'll probably give her a bath later today.  No lumps or bumps and
no open sores to be seen.
Should I worry about the smell, or does this just happen sometimes?
Jeannie

I've noticed that if a snake sheds and the shed is laying for a few days and
stay moist, then it can smell really bad when you unroll it. But it never
smells while still on the snake.
Could it be a starting mouth rot, perhaps (if it's a rotten smell)? Or some
poop or vomit laying somewhere in the cage, which the snake has crawled on?
--
Ulrik Smed
Aarhus, Denmark

Thanks to both of you...she hasn't shed yet, but she has "cleared up"
in preparation for it and the smell has gotten much less. Weird.

Jeannie