CHANGING THE SKIN. 



17 



the body, as is the case with warm-blooded animals. So, when it 

 begins to get too tight, it is discarded. With fully adult snakes, 

 it is often thrown off when it gets shabby, dirty, and injured. 



Naturally before the old skin is shed, a new skin has formed 

 beneath, and the snake on emerging from its old covering looks 

 clean, silky and bright, the markings and colours showing up to 

 perfection. The new skin, for some hours after, is thin, soft, and 

 sensitive, particularly so immediately following the casting process. 

 I tried once to assist a captive snake to shed its skin, but somehow 



Fig. 10. — A Boomslang in the act of casting its skin amongst the branches of a tree. The 

 snake's tail-end has not yet been withdrawn froni the old skin. 



pulled the skin it was casting too fast or clumsily, which resulted 

 in the new skin beneath being badly torn, and exposing the flesh. 

 The old skin, when being shed, is not actually loose. The 

 operation of shedding the skin is similar to pasting down a strip 

 of ribbon with a strong adhesive, and slowly peeling it off again 

 before it is dry. The old skin of the snake adheres closely to the 

 new one beneath, but seems to peel off very easily. Snakes in 

 captivity should have tufts of grass, bundles of twigs, or loose 

 stones in their cage to provide the necessary frictional resistances 

 in the skin-casting process. 



