When a Texas snake sheds its skin, this is called molting. The molting process continually happens every time the snake gets bigger and larger for him to be contained in his old skin.



Snakes often shed their skin by first rubbing their head against a hard, solid object such as:
• Rock (or two)
• Wood

This rubbing causes the Austin reptile's skin to split open, peel, and sooner or later, allow it to crawl out of its own skin (literally!).

What to do?
If you were to find a Texas snake's shedded or molted skin somewhere, do not panic! The most likely scenario is that the snake that molted has already left and is long gone.

Snake Skin Identification
Shedded Austin snake skin, if you haven't seen one (in pictures or in real life yet), is colorless or pale-ish white in color. Aside from being it very thin, there is little to no trace of pattern left on it. So can one identify a snake skin? In the US at least, venomous snake sheddings are much easier to identify because of two things:
• Their body types are much more distinct than other snakes
• Their scale patterns are much more recognizable

The way the Texas experts examine shedded snake skin is by:
• Scale pattern - these are like finger prints for snakes. No one snake has a pattern like another snake and no one type of snake has the same, exact pattern as another type of snake. The best place to examine snake scale patterns is at the head rather than the body.
• Size
• Diameter

The problem with trying to identify an Austin snake by it's shedded skin is it proves to be even difficult for experts! You have more of a chance identifying a snake while the skin is still on the snake! There isn't really any eminent danger if you ever stumble upon a snake's shedded skin. The snake is most likely not in the area anymore. The best thing you can do is to just throw it away or if you are the type, keep it as a cool piece or try to figure out what kind of snake shedded that particular skin. But like as was mentioned, it will prove very difficult for some who isn't a Texas expert. Other than that, there's not much you can do with it.

Hopefully, this article was able to enlighten you a little about Austin snakes and their molting process. Snakes are really fascinating creatures!

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