When the cloaca is reached, it is usually necessary to free it from the skin by cutting around the opening with the knife. Continue skinning to the base of the rattle. The attachments to the muscles that control the rattle generally make the hide harder to pull off. A knife must be used in this area if the skin is too tight to peel off, as the skin is rather delicate in this section. {“smallUrl”:“https://www. wikihow. com/images/thumb/7/7d/Skin-a-Snake-Step-4Bullet1. jpg/v4-460px-Skin-a-Snake-Step-4Bullet1. jpg”,“bigUrl”:"/images/thumb/7/7d/Skin-a-Snake-Step-4Bullet1. jpg/aid246655-v4-728px-Skin-a-Snake-Step-4Bullet1. jpg",“smallWidth”:460,“smallHeight”:345,“bigWidth”:728,“bigHeight”:546,“licensing”:"<div class="mw-parser-output">
License: <a target="_blank" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener" class="external text" href="https://creativecommons.
org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.
0/">Creative Commons</a>
\n</p>
<br />\n</p></div>"} After the skin is completely freed from all but the rattle itself, cut through the tail as close to the base of the rattle as possible. If the skin is to be saved with the rattle attached, it helps for the piece of flesh attached to the rattle to be small. {“smallUrl”:“https://www. wikihow. com/images/thumb/b/bf/Skin-a-Snake-Step-4Bullet2. jpg/v4-460px-Skin-a-Snake-Step-4Bullet2. jpg”,“bigUrl”:"/images/thumb/b/bf/Skin-a-Snake-Step-4Bullet2. jpg/aid246655-v4-728px-Skin-a-Snake-Step-4Bullet2. jpg",“smallWidth”:460,“smallHeight”:345,“bigWidth”:728,“bigHeight”:546,“licensing”:"<div class="mw-parser-output">
License: <a target="_blank" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener" class="external text" href="https://creativecommons.
org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.
0/">Creative Commons</a>
\n</p>
<br />\n</p></div>"} Don’t fret too much about totally removing the flesh below the cloaca and above the rattles (basically the black and white banding on rattlesnakes). It is almost impossible to completely remove the skin from the flesh in this area. It will dry up easily. {“smallUrl”:“https://www. wikihow. com/images/thumb/a/af/Skin-a-Snake-Step-4Bullet3. jpg/v4-460px-Skin-a-Snake-Step-4Bullet3. jpg”,“bigUrl”:"/images/thumb/a/af/Skin-a-Snake-Step-4Bullet3. jpg/aid246655-v4-728px-Skin-a-Snake-Step-4Bullet3. jpg",“smallWidth”:460,“smallHeight”:345,“bigWidth”:728,“bigHeight”:546,“licensing”:"<div class="mw-parser-output">
License: <a target="_blank" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener" class="external text" href="https://creativecommons.
org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.
0/">Creative Commons</a>
\n</p>
<br />\n</p></div>"} Constrictor snakes such as bull and rat snakes cannot be “peeled”. Their skin is attached with many muscle attachments over the full length of the body. Cutting through them is tedious as it is hard to get the skin free from the flesh and very easy to cut or tear the skin.
