Michael Cermak has been keeping and breeding Green Tree Pythons for many years , so he has had ample time to reflect on some intriguing aspects of their biology .
The Red Shed .
In order to grow , snakes have to shed their old , and sometimes well-worn , skin . The frequency of shedding depends on the age of the snake , and growth rates , which are affected by the amount of food the animal consumes . Sloughing can also be induced by the presence of ectoparasites such as ticks and mites , and by physical injury to the skin .
How much attention do you pay to sloughed skins ? For years , all I ever did with them was to pull them out of the cages and throw them into the bin . Until one day .... imagine my shock and horror when I went to check my juvenile Green Tree Pythons in the morning and there was this red slough wrapped around a bamboo perch . Immediately , I thought blood ! On closer examination I realised that the slough , being inverted as it comes off the snake , should also have left bloodstains on the snake . However , this wasn ’ t the case ; the snake was as clean as a whistle and happily resting on its perch . I examined it thoroughly , looking for some sign of injury or blood , especially around the mouth and cloaca , but found nothing .
than red , which really confused me . If it were indeed blood , I would expect it to turn dark red or brown after a few hours , but not pink . Each time , there was not a mark on the snakes and they all grew up into healthy sub-adults and adults . I asked around but no other GTP breeders had similar experiences , and that made me wonder if it was something ‘ tropical ’.
Finally , curiosity got the better of me , and I had some histology profiling done at the local hospital . After staining the samples , the truth was revealed under high magnification . The prepared material on the slides
1 . didn ’ t contain any erythrocytes ( red blood cells ), but rather , small , pointed rods appeared lined up on the surface of the sloughs . These structures were actually bacteria , which most probably came from the environment ( in this case the interior of the enclosure ) rather than the snake itself .
It ’ s not a world-shattering discovery , but worth noting for other breeders . If you do happen to find a red or pink slough , don ’ t worry - there is nothing wrong with your snake . Besides , it could well be a bacterium endemic to the tropics , and may not be evident in cooler climates .
3 .
In about five years following this event , I witnessed this phenomenon another five times – always with yellow juveniles up to six months of age . The occurrence has always been random , and not attributed to any particular snake , clutch , or anything that would fall into a pattern . The last five sloughs were pink rather
1 ., 2 ., & 3 .: red slough has been witnessed on six different occasions - always with yellow juveniles up to six months of age .
2 .