Like any other reptile, hognose snakes shed their skin regularly as they grow and age. Young hognoses shed the most often, but older hognoses shed to maintain their scale health and make sure their skin “fits right.”

Symptoms

• Dull/faded color
• Bluish/semi-opaque eyes (“in the blue”)
• Loss of appetite
• Lethargy
• Hiding more than usual
• More defensive than usual

Cause

• Shedding skin to accommodate growth or weight gain/loss

Treatment

As long as your humidity is correct and your hognose is well hydrated, the skin should come off in one piece with no problem. As a safeguard, check your snake afterward to make sure that the eye caps and tip of the tail came off successfully.

If your hognose has difficulty shedding, mixing water into the substrate for additional moisture should help prepare and/or finish the process.

H. nasicus “in blue.” Photo contributed by Tom Hastings.