Why Do Snakes Shed Their Skin?

Snakes do periodically shed their skin. The primary reason for this is that the snake grows, but as it grows, the outer skin does not, so it has to shed the skin and then reveal the new skin which has been grown to fit it.
It never sheds the whole skin, just the outermost layer. Prior to the skin being shed it grows dull and tight around the snake's body. The snake first rubs its nose against a hard surface such as a tree trunk to crack the skin and loosen the old skin around its lips. When the old skin starts to break away, the snake attempts to hook it onto a twig or a small rock. then it simply slides out of the old skin, leaving it in one piece and perfectly 'inside out'. This process although seemingly complicated (for the snake) actually takes only a few minutes.

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