So, with my King snake... I had a weird experience with him shedding the other day.

Fafnir [the snake] had his usual signs that he was about to shed. He turned a very dark, almost 'fecal' brown color, all of his patterns were nearly invisible, and his eye caps were glazed over nearly white. So, I was patiently waiting for him to shed.

After a few nights, I woke up and noticed that his eyes were clear, his patterns were showing up, and his color was back, but darker than usual. I looked in his tank, and there was no skin sheddings whatsoever. I looked everywhere. But when I picked him up, I could tell he still needed to shed because of how his skin was textured slightly differently and wrinkling.

And then in the middle of the night a few days later, I heard Fafnir shedding. [Which can be a little creepy when you're half asleep]. And indeed, he shed.

So, what was with the 'fake' shedding act? What exactly happened for him to go slightly back to normal in his skin coloration and patterns? I thought that at first maybe he bathed in his water dish, but how would that work exactly?

I've never had this happen before. Any ideas?

Don't worry and welcome to the club! You are not the first to be fooled by this. That's the normal shedding process for snakes. They go "blue" for a few days (can be longer) as they excrete a substance that loosens the old skin, then that goes away and their coloring seems normal again, then (usually that night) they will shed.
It's normal, so you have to wait until you actually see the skin to know he's finished with the shed cycle. They don't fake it.
Your snake will probably be hungry now, so watch out if you reach in to take him out for a photo-shooting!

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Andrea

That's relieving. Thanks for the info!

I've never had that happen with my corn, or any other snakes that I've fostered or baby-sat before, so I was a little alarmed.

And his feeding day is tomorrow, so I'm sure he'll enjoy every minute of it.

It happens with all snakes. It must have just slipped by you due to the coloration.
I don't know how any times I have been asked if snakes would eat their shed skin.

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Merlin,
What's Life Without A Little Magic!