Hormonal component to shedding?

[d_virginiana]

Hm... IS there a way to measure airborne hormones from reptiles? Hormones in a blood analysis would probably echo a hormone increase intense enough to be airborne, but that would be risky considering garters' small size. The thing that got me started thinking about all the different stages in shedding and what may trigger them was that first shed after Harley's skin issue. Where she hadn't been producing the outer layers of skin for months, you could actually see the new skin forming in detail. Very interesting stuff.

mine are cross viv also and your right i just wasnt sure how to word it for most to understand.
i would love to do research on any and all herps i have always loved them, even when i was scared of them and thats why i never really messed with them. i was always afraid of being bit or running across the wrong kinds mainly copperheads but im fairly confident i could handle an encounter with one with either a stick to move it (not smash it to pieces lol) or just leave it be and move on. the internet is a very powerful tool for anyone wanting to learn at least a basic knowledge of anything(as long as its not bomb, explosives, or drug making lol)

Unless they've already been upset by a dog (or an idiot with a shovel) they're some of the most chill snakes I've ever dealt with. That's been my experience anyway; I'm not advocating anyone else to go out and try it. IMO they're probably so chill because they know they could really mess you up if they wanted to.

[chris-uk]

Hm... IS there a way to measure airborne hormones from reptiles? Hormones in a blood analysis would probably echo a hormone increase intense enough to be airborne, but that would be risky considering garters' small size. The thing that got me started thinking about all the different stages in shedding and what may trigger them was that first shed after Harley's skin issue. Where she hadn't been producing the outer layers of skin for months, you could actually see the new skin forming in detail. Very interesting stuff.

I was thinking maybe gas chromatography (or maybe the atomiser type of kit that are used for detecting traces of drugs or explosives, I'm sure the kit is available to configure for different substances) analysis from swabs inside the viv. If you were going to extremes in experimental design you could drive airflow between vivs and use some filter media to try to trap whatever you want to analyse. If the hormone is airborne it should be detectable from the air or surface swabbing... assuming of course you had a vague idea as to what you are looking for and the equipment is sensitive enough to detect it at the levels that influence shedding in the snakes.

All very much a thought experiment, because when you consider the equipment requirements, the time period and space requirements to keep the subjects for the duration, it's not an experiment that has any chance of being considered practical.