What type of reptile sheds its skin as it grows and includes species such as the Rat Snake and Copperhead?

The correct answer is snakes, which are reptiles that grow by shedding their skin, a process known as ecdysis. As snakes grow, their skin does not stretch, so they periodically lose their old, outer skin to allow for further growth and to remove parasites or damaged skin. This shedding can happen several times a year depending on the species and environmental factors.

Species like the Rat Snake and Copperhead are examples of snakes that undergo this natural process. Unlike lizards, which also shed their skin but do so in different ways and more often in parts rather than in one complete piece, snakes shed their skin in a single, continuous piece. Tortoises and frogs do not share this characteristic; tortoises have a hard shell that does not allow for skin shedding as a means of growth, and frogs undergo metamorphosis rather than shedding as a growth process.