Ziggy is a red corn snake that was adopted by the Audubon Naturalist Society from a family who could no longer care from him. Ziggy is an environmental education animal who meets hundreds of children each year when they visit the Rust Nature Sanctuary in Leesburg for Reptile birthday parties or for school or scout field trips. For the last two summers, we have been able to host Ziggy here at the Broadlands Nature Center while the Rust staff is off for the summer. This summer, Ziggy shed his skin two times while he was visiting the nature center. You can stop by to see the skin he shed when this video was taken on August 6th, 2014 and to see his neighbor, Sunny, our albino corn snake, who also meets many children each year. Corn snakes shed about once a month, more frequently when they are younger, and less frequently as they age. Snakes prefer not to be handled much around the time they are shedding. During the days before shedding corn snakes may have trouble digesting food, may be irritable, and you may notice that their eyes look bluer and their colors duller 3-4 days before shedding. You may also see them soak in their water bowls or rub their faces on the sides of their habitats in an effort to kick start the shedding process.  As of today our resident snake, Sunny, is in the bluish stage. This explains why he refused food last Saturday and means we should see a shed in the coming days.

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