Why is my corn snake turning grey?

Question

Bought her as an adult in the spring, sold to me as an amel, nice bright orange. Over the last few days she has gone dull and washed out, almost milky, and her…

blue_eyes_phase · Accepted Answer

That is the pre shed, and the cloudy eyes are the clearest evidence you could have asked for. Fluid builds up between the old skin and the new one, which dulls the whole animal and clouds the spectacle, the clear scale over each eye, because that sheds too. Usually several days. Then the eyes clear, the colour comes…

one_piece_sock · Answer

Make sure there is a humid hide in there now rather than after it goes wrong. A hide with damp sphagnum moss or damp paper towel, substrate dry everywhere else, and something rough she can rub against to get it started.

A good shed comes off in one piece, inside out like a sock, eye caps included. When you find it, check it for the eye caps specifically, because that is the bit that gets retained and you want to know before the next cycle rather than after.

anery_owner · Answer

Also worth checking the morph. Anery corns are naturally grey and some snakes shift colour as they mature.

eye_caps_stuck · Answer

Since she came without history, the version that is not a pre-shed: staying grey a long time without ever shedding, patchy discoloured areas especially on the belly which can be scale rot from damp dirty substrate or a burn from a heat source, bubbles or mucus around the mouth or nose, weight coming off, or sheds that keep coming away in pieces.

And do not peel a stuck eye cap yourself. A humid hide or a short shallow lukewarm soak, and if it stays on, that is a vet job.

Why is my corn snake turning grey?

6 answers