"Gimmee Some Skin" a locked-room mystery

maybe better suited to the Hardy Boys, even - I'm confounded.

Benny left a huge log in his cool hide. This i discovered upon returning home from work this evening - and knew he must have thrown off his shed sometime in the previous 8 hours. After cleaning up and swapping out his water for fresh I checked on him, marveling at how rich and dark he now appeared.

But where was the skin?

KaliMa (our Red Blood) had finished shedding by the time I left for work, so I checked for p00 (none) and removed the skin with what time I had. Her skin was sitting on the top of her enclosure, mocking the illogical absence of Benny's shed. I dug around looking for it, checked every place it could be (and not too many of those). Nowhere to be found.

What's that, constant reader? Thrown out with the p00? Nay, nay, I say. The p00 was magnificent and straight and unmistakably NOT covering or tangled in the shed. Was p00 and p00 alone that went into the trash.

So this I pose to thee - namely, where exactly could his shed be?

I mean supwiddat!?

My BCI will sometimes appear to have shed, I mean, great looking color, all glossy and clean looking. I look for the shed all over and can't come up with it. Then almost without fail he'll shed the next day.

That was my first thought too, but even the remnant of a previous shed that would not rub off was gone from his head. I'll buy a hat and eat it if he does, though - just to wash down the crow.

Ya missed it in tha p00. :lol:



Did you check with the boys?

this was an insanely funny post. thank you skeezy boy.

Nooo. The p00 was perfect - a perfect cylinder german engineers might calibrate their equipment to, I say, like a fat brown crayola! It even broke apart on removal and nary a sign of shed! Egads!

That has to be a post worthy of Randy. Two tails up. Seriously, did you ask the kids? Mine have been known to be overly eager when spotting a p00-less shed that they could show off to friends.

Maybe the snakes are conspiring against you and hide thier sheds when your not looking. Maybe they switch sheds sometimes to completely confuse you. (Twilight Zone Theme Song)

Snake owners beware there is a revolt happening right before our eyes and we dont even know it. Both my snakes went into shed at the same time. (X-files Theme Song)

Or most likely some aliens took it and they work for the government and they aranged the sheds in embarresing positions. They will send you pictures later. (Ran out of theme songs lets try ummm...Whip It)

An unlikely answer is that he hasnt shed yet but i think the all of these are happening in unison. (looking around to make sure no one is watching)

This is so obvious, I can't believe you missed it.

The snake is simply evolving and taking on lizard-like qualities. It ate the shed. Duh!

And you call yourself a reptile keeper.

:wink:

Ken

I think that the snake got the last part of shed stuck around his mouth, inflated it and it floated up to the top of the enclosure.. now you were so eager to get the poo that the shed floated out of the enclosure as you were changing the water- and out of a window or through the air conditioning system. I've seen this all bofore.. :)

Aw man - I thought that was another flashback - all the bright twinkling little floaties . ..

I got this from www.boa-constrictors.com

Occasionally, it occurs that for no apparent reason, a snake does not shed. The housing conditions are correct, and the snake goes through all the different phases of the shedding cycle, except it does not actually shed its skin, nor does it even attempt to cast its skin. By the time the keeper finally realizes this, the old and the new layer of skin are already hopelessly stuck to one another. Some long-time keepers with large collections are familiar with this phenomenon. The cause of this is unknown. Luckily, these “refusers” usually go through another shed cycle shortly afterwards, which then progresses normally.

Here's the link...
http://www.boa-constrictors.com/com/com.html

Oh he shed alright - no mistaking that new skin look (or feel). I bet he ate it just to mess with me.

Maybe it was warm from the cage's heater, and he thought it was edible? I would look for some strange-looking snake crap in a few days. :)

Sounds like an i-d-ten-t error.