How Do I Treat a Snake's Soft Skin?
A snake's soft skin is probably the most important part of its body. It serves as protection from predators and prey, prevents snakes from drying out, acts as a shield in rough terrain, provides camouflage, aids in motion, and helps prevent infection. Because a snake's skin is so functional, maintaining the proper living environment is imperative in ensuring the skin's health. To best treat a snake's skin and to ensure your snake's overall health, you must provide suitable surroundings. The right conditions mean a happy snake that properly sheds its skin, avoids parasites, and stays healthy and soft.
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Things You'll Need
- Tweezers
- Disinfectant
- Bleach
- Dish washing soap
- Water
- Vinegar
- Proper snake enclosure (size and conditions determined by species of snake)
- Soft, damp, warm cloth
- Parasite pesticide
Instructions
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Providing the Right Environment
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Research your snake species and build a proper enclosure with an environment that simulates as closely as possible the natural environment of your particular snake.
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Disinfect the enclosure and everything you put in it, including rocks and branches, to remove bacteria and avoid contamination.
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Regularly clean your snake's enclosure. Wipe it down once a week with a solution of water and vinegar, and fully clean it once a month with ammonia-free dish washing soap combined with a few drops of bleach. Be sure to fully remove any trace of the cleaning agents, as these can fatally harm the snake.
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Keep the enclosure in an area away from potential hazards such as heaters and air conditioners. Heating pads can cause thermal burns if set to the wrong temperature.
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Provide the snake with plenty of clean drinking water.
The Best Skin Treatment
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Regularly check your snake to make sure it fully sheds its skin. An unsuccessful shed (known as dysecdysis) is usually the result of a snake's enclosure being too dry, especially if the species of snake is from a tropical climate. If you notice that the snake is not fully shedding, or pieces of skin are left on the snake's body after a shed, wet the snake down with a mister of water to soak the remaining skin. Then gently rub the skin with a warm, damp cloth until all the pieces are removed.
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Check and remove any remaining skin on the "eye caps" very gently with the damp towel, or if necessary, a pair of tweezers. The "eye caps" are the transparent caps covering the snake's eyes. These should come off during a shed, but if they remain, they will eventually build up and hamper vision and so must be removed. Note that you will need to restrain the snake's head to do this, and so may need to enlist the help of another person who can hold the snake while you remove this skin.
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Feed your snake regularly with the appropriate food, which is again dependent on the species. Irregular and incorrect diet will contribute to the snake's poor health and hamper its ability to fight off skin infections.
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Check and maintain the moisture balance in your snake's enclosure, adding a humidifier if necessary.
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Use pesticides created specifically to safely eradicate parasitic infestations in and on snakes. Food items like mice and lizards often carry parasites like mites. When you feed your snake, you introduce these parasites into the environment, and these parasites can easily get under the snake's scales and cause infection. Any accredited snake breeder can tell you which pesticide is best for your specific snake.
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Tips & Warnings
Always make sure your hands are washed with unscented antibacterial soap before handling your snake.
Before cleaning its enclosure, always take the snake out first and move it to another safe, secure place. The snake should never come into contact with any cleaning agents.
Do not attempt to remove excess skin or in any way handle your snake unless you have plenty of experience with handling these animals, especially if your species of snake is venomous. Remember that even professionals are sometimes bitten, and that you must be completely alert at all times when handling your snake. If you aren't yet comfortable handling your snake, call in an expert to help you.
References
Resources
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