Since my last post of 3rd May Victoria has been off her food. I have presented her with a mouse several times, but with declining interest. Her eyes were slightly clouded, so I didn’t worry at first, thinking that she was getting ready to slough. However, as the time passed by without any sign of it, I started to worry.

The temperature has been fine, I have been spraying the viv occasionally to keep the humidity up and hep her slough, but nothing came of it. She became very listless and I really thought I was going to loose her.

Then, last night she started to slough!I had her out of the viv, trying to find out if anything was wrong and she started to rub her nose against the rough fabric of my jeans. She kept it up for a good couple of hours and managed to break the skin on her nose and work it back over her head. I went to bed and left her to it, but in the morning found she had had a very untidy slough. The skin was still stick to the top of her head and along her back and sides for about 8 inches. The rest of it had come off in tiny pieces - the largest was barely an inch long.

Tonight, I let her rest up. I think she was exhausted with the effort. There are some white patches on her sides I’m not altogether happy about, but we’ll look at those tomorrow.

Tags: Royal Python, Snakes, Victoria, Slough