Aborted sloughing? (resolved)

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Sir Pentious

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I'm a first time snake owner (jungle carpet python), and while proudly presenting my new pet to my friend after not handling her for several days, I immediately noticed that her eyes were milky and cloudy, and her skin was looking very dull and ill-fitting in places. Obvious signs she was preparing to shed for the first time.

After some brief handling and then a feeding of a normal adult mouse, I left her alone for a further two days (leaving a large dish of water available to bathe if she wanted it) before checking in again. I was surprised to notice that her eyes were back to normal, and her scales back to their normal sheen. I've looked all over her enclosure and can't find any trace of a shed skin, intact or partial.

I'm wondering if by feeding her while she was preparing to slough, I somehow interrupted the process and she decided to put it off while she processes her food. Is this even possible?
 
Yep, this is completely normal. The new skin forms under the old one, and when it's about ready, the body secretes oils the separate and lubricate the new and old skin, making them easier to separate and for the old skin to come off. At this stage the oils and separation between the skins forms the cloudy appearance. The oils are a valuable resource so the snake reabsorbs them, making the snake look almost normal, and then the old skin is sloughed off.

Once a snake is at the cloudy stage it can not abort the process.

Everything you're seeing is completely normal :)
 
I feel very foolish, she shed this morning. Incomplete, had to help her take the rest off in a lukewarm bath, which thankfully came off easily (I'm not going to let her ringbark her tail). I need to work on the humidity of my enclosure as part of an upgrade I'm planning.

From the books I read, they indicated that the eyes would stay milky until the shedding had started, not that they'd be milky for a day, go back to normal, and then the actual shed would come three days later. But glad to hear this was the normal process. Thanks for everyone's help!
 
Once Isee any of my snakes showing signs of sloghing I spray the substrate with a water atomiser each day. (Like the one people use when ironing clothes)
 
Lymph from the circulatory system, not oil, is the fluid that separates the old outer layer of skin and the newly formed epidermis below it. The lymph contains enzymes or white blood cells capable of destroying the layer of cells connecting the old and new outer layers.

The most common cause of dysecdysis, but by no means the only, is insufficient hydration of the snake. It just does not have enough lymph (from body fluid) to go round. If this is the suspected cause, ensure that fresh water in a clean bowl is provided three times a week. Python will not drink water that has stood for much more than a day or so. For those individuals that are reluctant to drink regardless, thawing their food in water and serving it to them dripping wet is a good way to increase their water intake. Providing hides that have a relatively small opening that the snake can effectively block off, and ensuring that the required humidity levels are met and maintained can also help.
 
Lymph from the circulatory system, not oil, is the fluid that separates the old outer layer of skin and the newly formed epidermis below it. The lymph contains enzymes or white blood cells capable of destroying the layer of cells connecting the old and new outer layers.

The most common cause of dysecdysis, but by no means the only, is insufficient hydration of the snake. It just does not have enough lymph (from body fluid) to go round. If this is the suspected cause, ensure that fresh water in a clean bowl is provided three times a week. Python will not drink water that has stood for much more than a day or so. For those individuals that are reluctant to drink regardless, thawing their food in water and serving it to them dripping wet is a good way to increase their water intake. Providing hides that have a relatively small opening that the snake can effectively block off, and ensuring that the required humidity levels are met and maintained can also help.

Lymph fluid is oily, so... oils do separate the skin layers. The lymph doesn't come from the circulatory system. The lymphatic system and circulatory system are two different systems.
 
I don't wish to be argumentative, however it would seem that somewhere along the line somebody, or something, has misinformed you about lymph and the lymphatic system. Just do some quick research. This will confirm that the lymphatic system is an accessory drainage network in veterbrates that returns fluids from the tissues to the blood. While the composition of lymph varies, it is essentiallly blood without red blood cells.
 
I don't wish to be argumentative, however it would seem that somewhere along the line somebody, or something, has misinformed you about lymph and the lymphatic system. Just do some quick research. This will confirm that the lymphatic system is an accessory drainage network in veterbrates that returns fluids from the tissues to the blood. While the composition of lymph varies, it is essentiallly blood without red blood cells.

If you don't want to be argumentative it's odd that you'd resort to misinformation in order to argue.

Oil is indeed used to separate the old and new skin.

The lymphatic system is not the circulatory system.
 
https://www.britannica.com/science/lymphatic-system states the following:
Lymphatic system, a subsystem of the circulatory system in the vertebrate body that consists of a complex network of vessels, tissues, and organs. The lymphatic system helps maintain fluid balance in the body by collecting excess fluid and particulate matter from tissues and depositing them in the bloodstream…
Lymphatic Circulation
The lymphatic system can be thought of as a drainage system needed because, as blood circulates through the body, blood plasma leaks into tissues through the thin walls of the capillaries. The portion of blood plasma that escapes is called interstitial or extracellular fluid, and it contains oxygen, glucose, amino acids, and other nutrients needed by tissue cells. Although most of this fluid seeps immediately back into the bloodstream, a percentage of it, along with the particulate matter, is left behind. The lymphatic system removes this fluid and these materials from tissues, returning them via the lymphatic vessels to the bloodstream, and thus prevents a fluid imbalance that would result in the organism’s death.

You can argue the toss with Encyclopaedia Britannica, or for that matter, any one of the plethora of medical/ anatomy sites or texts, or even dictionaries.
 

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