Do Your snakes Synch Shedding?

[punkinhead]

Just after whether it's a common thing, but my three guys of different ages always seem to shed within a week of each other.

I used to live in a houseful of girls and they also used to synch.

Just one of natures little smiles i guess.

This is this morning, two out of three, Whodat is still blue eyes, blue gaze.





Wind ornaments

 

[Sdaji]

I don't think they synchronise with each other, but they respond to the same environmental stimuli - humidity, air pressure, temperature fluctuations etc, so you'll sometimes have them shedding around the same time due to the shared environment. It's pretty common to see this in collections, but I don't think it has anything to do with them smelling each others' pheremones like women synchronising their menstrual cycles etc.

 

[punkinhead]

Interesting. They do all usually shed within a week or so of each other. I didn't know it was environmental, always thought it was related to growth.

 

[Sdaji]

Interesting. They do all usually shed within a week or so of each other. I didn't know it was environmental, always thought it was related to growth.

All animals shed their skin, humans included. For vertebrate animals (such as reptiles like snakes or mammals like humans) the primary reason is to replace the skin as it gets damaged, no to accommodate growth. Animals with exoskeletons do primarily moult due to growth, but their skin is a skeleton so it is designed to last, while animals which have internal skeletons have disposable skin.

If snake skin shedding was mainly about growth, adult snakes would only shed every few years, and often wouldn't shed at all after about 5 years of age, but even when they're not growing or feeding at all they generally shed their skin a few times per year. As with humans, it is primarily about skin maintenance.

Yes, snakes are very heavily influenced by their external environment, particularly temperature, whether it's natural or when we change their enclosure settings and bring them into or out of winter cooling etc (that's usually synchronised in a collection, so their hormonal cycles are too). It's a good idea for snake keepers to learn about this. The shedding synchronisation is also often due to feeding schedules, which tend to be synchronised within collections.

"But, Sdaji! If humans shed their skin, why don't we see it? Where is all this human skin?"
You can find plenty in your vacuum cleaner after you clean the house. It's not the majority (it's a common myth), but there's still a fair bit of human skin making up that dust in the carpet. A lot gets washed down the drain when you shower. If it gets caught in your hair it gets called dandruff. Humans completely shed their outer layer of skin and replace it about every 2-4 weeks, from the top of our heads to the soles of our feet, some parts even more quickly, but it's constantly happening in tiny pieces so we don't tend to notice it.

 

[TwistedBambi]

Not sure what snakes shedding has to do with menstruation honestly but the whole women syncing thing is a myth/coincidence... js lol..

Seems to be mostly men who state this also, which always confuses me

Cool sheds though

 

[Sdaji]

Not sure what snakes shedding has to do with menstruation honestly but the whole women syncing thing is a myth/coincidence... js lol..

Seems to be mostly men who state this also, which always confuses me

Cool sheds though

The vast majority of people I've heard talk about it have been women, and I've certainly never heard men discussion their personal experiences with it. Science has difficulty testing it because it occurs in groups of women who live together as a kinship group, and it's extremely difficult to do a scientific study with a control in a scenario like that. The studies which go against menstrual sychronisation usually look at groups far too large to be relevant, and over time the impact seems to be dwindling in large groups, probably because of the increase in exogenous hormonal influence such as dietary phytoestrogens, the pill, etc.

In any case, even if you do not believe in menstrual synchronisation, you should understand the reference, which is that sloughing synchronisation does not work according to the same principle as menstrual synchronisation (whether or not that actually exists in the real world, the concept exists as an hypothetical, and that is not the same thing causing sloughing synchronisation).

 

[punkinhead]

It was a bunch of girls i lived with who explained it to me, and it was a true thing in that household at least.

Don't know where you get the whole men thing, but I've never had another man explain it to me, although i have heard other women reference it since then.

But in any case, as explained, one is hormonal and one is environmental.

Happy to learn, in either case. But i don't think just being female qualifies an opinion as fact.




This idiot likes to line all his rocks up in rows. The other Bredli throws them around at night.

 

[Bluetongue1]

If snake skin shedding was mainly about growth, adult snakes would only shed every few years, and often wouldn't shed at all after about 5 years of age, but even when they're not growing or feeding at all they generally shed their skin a few times per year. As with humans, it is primarily about skin maintenance.

You make a valid point in that skin replacement is a tenet of terrestrial vertebrate physiology, in order to maintain the integrity of the integument. This is a primary function in evolutionary terms, having been a necessary attribute to allow vertebrates to transition from an aquatic existence to a terrestrial one. However, what was not mentioned is this is not the only function that skin shedding performs. The nature of the other functions, and their relative importance, varies according to the group, and can also vary according to circumstances. The role of skin shedding in the growth of snakes is exactly such an example. It is a major factor in actively growing snakes and to omit explaining this could lead to a misinterpretation of what you are saying here.

The skin of a snake gets stretched as the snake grows. However, the degree to which it can stretch is limited. To allow further growth to occur, a snake must therefore shed its skin. The faster it grows, the more often it needs to shed. Then, when growth slows to almost zero, the rate of skin shedding is determined virtually solely determinedby the need to maintain its integrity by replacing the hardened outer layer.

 

[Sdaji]

I said skin shedding isn't primarily about growth, which indicates that it's partially about growth. I took for granted that everyone would be able to understand that, and also I took for granted that everyone would obviously know that growth is part of it. My point was not to say that growth is irrelevant or unimportant (we all know that it is relevant and important), but that other things were also important, which is not widely known - clearly some people do mistakenly think that it is only about growth, providing a new skin the animal can fit into. I think it's pretty obvious that new skin of a new size is necessary when the animal becomes larger and no one seemed confused about that, and obviously rapidly-growing snakes will need new skin replacement more often, but non growing snakes (and other lizards) still slough every few months.

I really don't think anyone was confused or mislead, but hey, any doubt has now been removed

 

[punkinhead]

I dunno, different size and species, all the same now.

Grey eyes, blue gaze.

 

[dragonlover1]

I think that everyone has missed an important point here, they do not shed just because of growth, although this is an important part of their life cycle. Humans shed daily but it isn't noticed because we shed in in tiny particles. ( some might call it dandruff) so snakes and lizards also shed excess skin as they go through life, sometimes more noticeable than others