Measure snake shed?

[Tigergenesis]

If you measure a fresh snake shed, how accurate/inaccurate of a measurement of your snakes length is it?

[iceman25]

Ya, I wanna know too.

[freakoverdose1]

well someone do it and find out. Measure your shed and then measure your snake.

[Wizill]

the shed comes off wet, then as it dries it shrinks. it will not give you a propper measurement of your snake.

[Ironhead]

I just got done watching Monty complete a full shed. It took him 30 minutes to complete. I immidiately took the shed out and measured it. It measured 45 inches. I will measure it again after it shrinks to see how much it shrinks. I will TRY to measure him tomorrow to see what his length is. The last couple of times I have tried to measure him he has been quite uncooperative.

[Tigergenesis]

Very interested to see what you find out Ironhead.

[Tigergenesis]

Well, my Mexican Black Kingsnake shed on Sunday. Immediately after he shed I measured it = 20 inches. I pulled it as straight as I could w/o tearing. Today (3 days later) I measured the shed again and it is the same length. I haven't gotten a chance to measure the snake to compare, but I'll try tomorrow.

[Marla]

Good to know. What were your results, Carl?

Measuring a snake's length by its shed is inaccurate. Skin shrinks when dry and expands when wet. I can easily stretch 6-8 inches more out of one of my ATB's sheds.

[Ironhead]

Measured his wet skin at 45 inches. Twenty four hours later it measures 42 and it is dry so I dont think it is going to shrink anymore. Now........How the heck do you measure a snake when it wont stay still? He is the most uncooperative snake I have ever dealt with. Monty and I played Red Light Green Light for a half hour last night while I tried to measure him. :lol: Needless to say, it never got done.