Quote Originally Posted by wilomn View Post
In general the shed skin is longer. The scales that normally overlap are separated by the loose skin that joins them but is hidden between the scales unless the snake is eating, shedding or gravid. Add that small amount a hundred or more times and you can easily increase length 4 to 8 inches per foot of skin.
Well, it's official ... it does indeed appear that the answer is B: Longer.

I recently checked the answer in The New Encyclopedia of Snakes by Chris Mattison and in the section: Morphology & Function, on page 35, he states that "Shed skins are appreciably longer than the snakes from which they have come away, by up to 20 percent."

Btw, this book, published in 2007, is really nice and worth checking out! ... lots of good, (and according to the author) credible information put together in a great format with lots of high quality pictures.