Sloughing/shedding
Sloughing/shedding
All reptiles shed their skin and corn snakes are no exception. From time to time they need to shed their old skin in order to grow. Mammals (us included) shed their skins too but in smaller pieces so it’s not really noticed. Snakes on the other hand do it on one piece and a shedded snake skin can look quite impressive.
Shedded snake skin from my largest corn snake.
Younger snakes shed more often than older ones, they can do it every few weeks whereas adults only do it every few months. This is obviously own to the reduced growth rate of adults. Snakes never stop growing so they never stop moulting (shedding), they just do it quite infrequently as adults.
The first sign that a snake is going to shed its skin is its skin colour, it will dull down and the snake will have a slightly greyer appearance. The snakes eyes will also go a milky colour (they shed the cuticles too). It is usually a good idea to slightly decrease humidity when the snake looks like its about to shed its skin, just spray the tank lightly every other day until shedding is complete. Snakes require a rough surface to start shedding on, this will usually be a rock, the entrance to as hide, a rough piece of wood, etc. Make sure you have something a bit rough in the tank to aid shedding.
The whole process from the eyes going milky to the snake actually shedding can take anything from 3-12 days.