Anyone ever known a Carpet to eat its shed?

[GeckoJosh]

Hey guys,

One of my Jungles went into shed last week, her eyes cleared up 2-3 days ago, this morning when I checked on her she looked exactly how I would expect freshly shed (nice and shiny with no milkiness, vibrant colours etc).
I checked her enclosure thoroughly and I can guarantee there is no shed in there.
I also gave her a bit of a rub to double check as when snakes are in slough mode rubbing their skin causes it to come off, this was not the case.

So pretty much the only explanation I can come up with is that she ate it...
I was thinking although highly unlikely maybe the smell of a rat was on the skin from her last feed and as she hasn't eaten for a couple of weeks she was hungry enough to try eating it?.

Has anyone heard if this before?


Cheers Josh

 

[abnrmal91]

I have heard blackheads & womas will occasionally eat their shed. Maybe they think the shed is another snake or reptile due to the smell, so the have a little snack lol.

 

[Gibblore]

I haven't, Double check the inclouser sometimes they roll up small as

 

[GeckoJosh]

I haven't, Double check the inclouser sometimes they roll up small as

LOL, trust me, its not there, I have ripped out every thing I could and all that was left was a branch and an empty melamine enclosure

 

[jham66]

Give it a few more days...... it is on it's way

 

[Cold-B-Hearts]

have you misted him, he might be holding off the shed due to low humidity, give him a mist and you might have a skin in the morning.

 

[bredli]

Had a inland carpet hatchie do it once, was in slough mode then one morning looked like it shed. So I went to clean it out but there was no skin, Thought I was tripping out and she was never in shed. But a week or so later there was a poo in there completly made out of skin.

 

[GeckoJosh]

Thanks Bredli, I am now convinced this is what has happened.
So when you say the poop was made out of skin do you mean it hadn't broken down at all?

 

[bredli]

it was some what digested, But the bulk of it wasn't. you could clearly see that it was skin, just imaging a snake skin the shape of a poo but with fecal mater coating it.

 

[GeckoJosh]

it was some what digested, But the bulk of it wasn't. you could clearly see that it was skin, just imaging a snake skin the shape of a poo but with fecal mater coating it.

Thanks for that mental image :lol:.

Cool, I am a bit worried though that it may not pass easily, hopefully it wont cause any issues...

 

[Lizzy90]

I could imagine in the wild that snakes could possibly do this if food is scarce, and due to snakes getting a constant feed in captivity that this wouldn't be a normal occurrence. Since you said your snake hadn't eaten in a couple of weeks I think it had a little snack :lol:

 

[K3nny]