Eli5 do snakes or other animals get bigger after they shed and if they do how is it their old skin or shells (for crabs or other hard bodied animals that shed) come off in one piece?
In: Biology
They get bigger *first* and then shed their skin/shells when it’s getting a little too taught.
Reptile skin is more elastic like yours so this isn’t really a big issue, they can size up smoothly over time.
Animals with exoskeletons aren’t so stretchy but there are still gaps in the armor that allows them to gain weight between molts.
Reptiles (especially snakes) sometimes try to get the skin off all in one piece, but it often just flakes off over time.
Arthropods typically molt the entire exoskeleton at once, splitting the back open and wriggling themselves out. This leaves them extremely vulnerable, so they tend to find a place to hide during the process. After the molt they swell up so that the new exoskeleton hardens larger than the old one and they have some space to grow.
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