During ecdysis the dead outer layer of the spectacle is shed. Snakes lack eyelids, and instead have a clear scale called the spectacle to cover and protect the eye. This may occur from 4 to 12 times a year, with young, rapidly growing snakes shedding more frequently. Snakes normally shed their skin in one piece. This page will discuss normal shedding as well as symptoms of abnormal shedding and its treatment. Occasionally problems develop during the process of shedding. Ecdysis is natural for the renewal of skin but is not necessary to allow growth, as it is in arthropods and crustaceans. Amphibians and reptiles shed layers of old, dead skin in large, visible pieces, some molting the entire old skin in one piece.
A person with a cast on a broken arm or leg cannot bathe the area under the cast and, as a result, finds a thick layer of dead skin built up when the cast is removed. In people, tiny, almost invisible pieces of old dead skin come off with every bath. The old dead layers of cells must come off to make room for the new layers of cells formed underneath. The skin of an animal is a complex organ which periodically undergoes renewal.
