ecdysis

n. molting, shedding of skin (in snakes, etc.)

Ecdysis is the moulting of the cuticula in arthropods and related groups (Ecdysozoa). Since the cuticula of these animals is also the skeletal support of the body and is inelastic, it is shed during growth and a new, larger covering is formed. The old skin is called an exuvia.After moulting, an arthropod is described as teneral; it is "fresh", pale and soft-bodied. Within one or two hours, the cuticle hardens and darkens following a tanning process similar to that of the tanning of leather. It is during this short phase that the animal grows, since growth is otherwise constrained by the rigidity of the exoskeleton.
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Ecdysis shedding of the external layers of the skin—only the epidermis participates. Is controlled by the endocrine glands. [more]Ecdysis - Community and Resources

Noun
1. periodic shedding of the cuticle in arthropods or the outer skin in reptiles
(synonym) molt, molting, moult, moulting
(hypernym) shedding, sloughing

(n.)
The act of shedding, or casting off, an outer cuticular layer, as in the case of serpents, lobsters, etc.; a coming out; as, the ecdysis of the pupa from its shell; exuviation.