Corn looks alarmingly weird. Folding skin

One of my normals seems very strange. It has refused two meals (spaced 5 days apart) which is fine. However, it looks strange.

1) It seems darker color than usual.
2) the skin is strange. When it bends, it is like the skin is folding, not smooth. The folds are not along the snake, not from head to tail as would be the case if a snake is dehydrated. They are vertical, like from the back of the snake to the belly, whereever it is bending. It almost looks like the skin is too hard and can't curve when the snake bends. For example, when the snake bends to the right side, the skin at the bend will have folds sticking out like little peaks and valleys, while the left side of that area is stretched smooth. and vice versa It is very strange. The snake is still very very fat, as it has eaten well until the last two meals, so it is not because it is too thin.
3) It feels quite weak while I hold it. It is not limp or anything but when it fights me, it is much weaker than any of the other corns. However, it is actually the biggest corn I have.

I only noticed this today. Can you help me?
What is the problem?

sounds just like it's about to shed to me?

I've only seen this once, but the corn in question had shed her head, but nothing else. Turned out the humidity was way low, and I had to assist the shed. I would probably find a container large enough to hold the snake and a bunch of damp paper towels. Keep the snake in the container, in a warm place, for a few hours. After that, open the container, but leave it in the warm part of the snake's enclosure so it can access the container.

If the snake doesn't shed on it's own this way in a day or so, you may want to try gripping it firmly in damp paper (or terry cloth) towels and letting it crawl through. Hopefully, the skin will loosen and start coming off (probably raggedly). Good luck.

I'll do that, thanks.

But are you sure its "inability to shed"? I am worried it is something a little worse. All the snakes are kept in the same area and they are all shedding like crazy. I'm throwing away all the other shed skins of my other snakes so often its like nuts.

In fact I had (before I read your reply) suspected it was shed problems and put the snake into a plastic container with about 5mm high of lukewarm water. for 30 mins. When I took it back out, it looks like the skin had smoothed out a bit... very strange...

I had put it in a shallow warm water tub for like 30 mins. But then, this morning, the folds are GONE!! There was no shed in there though. This is very strange.

However, the snake is still kind of sluggish and feels weak when it is fighting me in my hand. Usually when I pick it up it will try to dart away. Now its like a little worm squirming a little bit and weakly.

I currently have it in a tub with wet paper towels as you say.

She is still probably trying to shed. The weakness you speak about is probably originating from her trying so hard to shed the skin but not being able to. Like Roy said, you may have to help the snake shed. Also, the wrinkles went away because you soaked it and enough moisture probably penetrated the dead skin and loosened it. She should shed soon.

OK I'll take your word for it. Will try the wet towel trick if he don't shed by tommorow.
Thanks.

It is possible that the folds are really dehydration and they are just folding oddly. The soaking in the water may have helped give the snake something to drink that was right at hand and allowed it to hydrate some. It probably wouldn't hurt it to have the water handy for another day.

If the snake has not obviously begun to shed on its own, I would be very cautious about helping it get started. I did that as a teenager to one of my first big rat snakes. But I was premature and managed to kill the poor thing. Once you see some shreds coming off of it (without any help on your part), you should be able to safely help. Until then, I would keep some very damp moss in the hide box and maybe soak it for a few hours whenever you think it is needed.

Good luck!

Alright thanks to you all I will let it to see if it sheds or start to shed before I help it shed then.

As far as the weakness, should I be concerned? My other snakes do not get weak when they are in shed. Anything I need to do there?

I am honored to get a response from you Ms. Kathy Love. I live in Hong Kong and I am a personal friend of your former pupil, Simon Fung. In fact, I got most of my snakes through him!

Alright I'm getting really worried. It is really lethargic.

Vet. In short order I'd say. Although in blue, mine get quite lethargic and won't come out of their hides. Does it feel flaccid when you hold it, or does it have normal muscle tone but it just doesn't want to do anything?

It could be trying to shed...or it could be a weak hatchling about to die...Some hatchlings thrive for weeks or months and then just die for no good reason...Older ones as well...

Since you got it set up to shed just keep it that way and see if the shedding solves the lethargy...Just give it some quiet time to sort it out...

That doesn't sound right at all. is the snake still feeding regularly? How long has it been lethargic, what are the temperatures? I think Meg is right on the nail there, unless there's a serious problem with temperatures etc that can be fixed straight away, and even then it sounds like the vet will be needed

I am sure there is no problem with the conditions. All my other 17 snakes are kept in the same way and they are all thriving, except one that is reluctant to eat but has been since it was born.

This one had been thriving fully until just short of 2 weeks ago. I feed at 5 day intervals. Two feedings ago, it didn't eat, but it was very strong still and active. She has refused to eat during shed periods before so I assumed that it was going into shed and would feed it after it did. But it didn't. The next feeding time came and it didn't eat again and I noticed it was very weak and had wrinkles in the skin. I let it go for a half hour swim and the wrinkles disappeared.

It usually sheds on approximately the same schedule as the other two snakes that I got with it. The other two just shed yesterday, and two days ago respectively.

I have been soaking this one and putting him in damp box and raising humidity, pretty much losing hope. It was really limp this morning, like not just that it didn't want to do anything. It just was limp and weak, no muscle strength. It was DANGLING. I thought it was as good as dead. However, I took him out just now, (because someone suggested it could be mites or ticks sucking its blood away, weakening it, so I inspected its skin, nothing wrong), and while he still seems quite weak, he seems better. It seems noticeably better. I have no standard to judge or measure its wellness but I can feel a significant difference in its energy. At least he's fighting me again and he is crawling around now and more alert and looks about. However, it is still nothing close to as active as it was 2 weeks ago. I hope it keeps getting better. I suspect that whether it is shedding issues or not, it is related to water, because I soaked it, misted it, and now it is better. Perhaps it was dehydrated?

As for the vet, let me tell you I live here in Hong Kong. Last time I went to the exotics vet clinic (there is only ONE in all of Hong Kong, and only two vets there), I brought my argentine black and white tegu, which had injured its tail. The top vet DID NOT EVEN KNOW WHAT SPECIES IT WAS. Kept asking me. Seemed to view her job as letting people bring things in so she can see exotic animals. She admits that she herself has bearded dragons with all broken toes due to inability to shed from low humidity. Basically I gave them $280 HKD for her to say "Oh what a handsome lizard, keep an eye on it". Wouldn't give me any medicine, wouldn't give me any creams, no neosporin to put on it. Didn't even tell me to get any myself. I ended up curing the thing myself with medication meant for people and he is fine now. So I am afraid I will not go to the exotics vet again.

Any help is welcome and appreciated.

I thought from your earlier posts that you didn't sound like you'd miss something easy to sort out, so no offense was intended. 2 weeks without food souldn't be too much of a problem, but dehydration would be, so maybe if you continue to put the snake in it's 'bathtub' every day it will pck up. Sorry to hear about your vet situation, are there no herp societies or forums in hong kong? failing that is there a good local herp shop where someone knowledgable could take a look at your snake and help directly?

No, basically in Hong Kong, I am the only person (or maybe a few persons) who care enough to try to save their pets rather than dump them in the wild when they get sick. There is nothing. The pet shop owners told me to feed my tegu DRY dog food pellets, like alpo pellets. That should answer about whether there are people who can help me.

The knowledgeable person whom I can talk to is Simon Fung. He suggested it is skin ticks and mites weakening it by sucking away its blood. Checked the skin, nothing. Then he suggested either dehydration or internal parasites or a combination. I tend to think it is dehydration because obviously the water made it better (at least somewhat) and there was the whole wrinkle in the skin that goes away when soaked, which doesn't sound like internal parasites. I feed onliy frozen thawed and that should be pretty clean?

So no chance at all of a fecal being done, obviously. Maybe you could have a look at a smear from a sample under a microscope and compare with any images of herp parasites from the web? Have you tried adding something like grape fruit seed extract or nutribac to the water? I got my gse from a human health-food store, but you could probably get it or nutribac on-line, and while they might not definately help, they wouldn't hurt to try

I already had put nutribac in its water a few days ago.

I've been calling around to people I know who could possible help me and it is just SOOO amazing how people show their true faces when you need them. You learn quickly who are really your friends and who aren't when you have issues in your life.

Short a vet visit, you're doing everything right, so I wouldn't stress it too much...Having Simon for a point of reference over there is awesome, btw :*)