Reptile & Amphibian Forums

hey guys. i have a baby california kingsnake. he has been eating great and being lively and what not. today i went to check on him and he has vertical wrinkles on his lower body and a little caved in stomach near his tail. i gave him a bath this morning and then another with half pedialyte. i will give him another later in the day, but i have no idea what to do now. any help will be great. thanks

Has he by any chance failed to shed? An old dried on skin can cause the verticle wrinkling you described.

I have not seem him go opaque or anything that would indicate shedding. I gave him a second bath and he is looking a bit better. Not as wrinkly anymore

Just keep an eye on him. Is he drinking enough water? Still sounds like a dried on skin to me. I've missed some of my snakes going opaque before. It's hard to tell without actually seeing him. Either way it won't hurt to soak him just overnight. Anyway, keep us posted.

How would i go about soaking him overnight? Wouldnt the water get cold? Also how would i guarantee he doesnt drown? About the humidity issue i poured some water onto his paper towels.

If you were going to soak him you would put him in a ventilated container with a secure lid and just enough water for him to emerse himself, no more. As far as the water getting cold, I don't know what kind of set up you have. Some people keep their reptiles in enclosures with their own heat sources, while others have their whole rooms at the desired temperatures. You don't want to put your snake in an environment where the temperature would drop. Tspucklers ideas are good.

I'd put a humidity hidebox in there. This would be a small plastic container that the snake can enter which contains damp paper towels or damp sphagnum moss. The forced air used to heat homes takes a lot of humidity out of the environment and baby snakes are prone to dehydration.

Tim

Third Eye Herp

How would i go about soaking him overnight? Wouldnt the water get cold? Also how would i guarantee he doesnt drown? About the humidity issue i poured some water onto his paper towels.

i have him in a tub with a heat pad. should i just fill the tub a bit? or would the heat pad overheat the entirety of the water?

The heat pad could overheat the water. You don't want the temperature to get much over 80 degrees.

okay ill just give him one more bath now and then another in the morning. should giving him soaks cure him of this?

It's had to say without knowing his condition. It won't hurt as long as you watch the temperature. I'm having to sign off for tonight. I'll check in with you tomorrow. I hope things improve for him.

Cottage cheese container with sphagnum moss.

Glad container with sphagnum moss.

Just squeeze out the excess moisture of the long fibered sphagnum moss (orchid moss) and stuff it into the container, with an entrance hole. If your snake thinks the moist hide is a great toilet you can substitute damp paper towels, which are cheaper than the moss.
The moist hides help with humidity and also give the snakes a sense of security.
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Bob
Pyromaniac AKA Greatballzofire
Keeping cats allows man to cohabitate with tigers. Keeping reptiles allows man to cohabitate with dinosaurs.

so i gave him a pretty long bath this morning. he looks about the same, maybe a little better. he is still active and investigative. he looked up when i approached his tub. anyway i put him into the bath and watched him for a while. he swims and is looking overall healthy, except he does still have wrinkles and his stomach near his vent is still slightly caved in. he pooped int he water but it wasnt clumped up. it was green and looked kind of oily. i have pictures below and there are circles around the areas of wrinkles or areas to look at. his main body is looking fine, but his tail part does look skinny and weird. he also looks like he has a bulge right at his vent. im not sure what that is. any other input would be great. his eyes are not sunk in which is good, but he isnt out of the danger yet i do not think. any other help would be amazing. thanks

here are the rest

Does he still seem to be the same? From your photographs it doesn't look like a dried on skin, but it's hard to tell without him in hand. Does his skin seem to have the right amount of pliability? If you have someone close by that keeps snakes you might have them take a look. Pyromaniac had some good suggestions. Keep us posted.

he seems to act the same, maybe a little weaker and less active but about the same. im pretty sure it isnt a dried on skin, it doesnt feel that way. when i pinch his skin gently it tents for a tiny but but after half a second goes back down.

I would just follow tspucklers and pyromaniacs advice, as they are more knowledgeable on humidity issues than I am. I keep black, and yellow ratsnakes, and eastern kings, and their requirements as far as humidity is pretty much the same. I don't have any desert reptiles, otherwize I'd probably need a seperate room.

so just up the humidity and put in a humid hide? based on the pictures would you say he looks okay? i should probably wait until he is looking better to feed him right? thanks again

If you give him the moist hide that should be fine. He should have a choice of humidity levels in his habitat; so if the main cage is dry but he can go into his moist hide, that should be enough. Gently introduce him to the hide and then leave him be for a few days at least. Too much handling when a small animal is unwell can cause further injury due to stress.

I don't know what is causing the concave lower belly thing. He may have a blockage further up the gut, or parasites. If you can take him to a veterinarian, even one that is not that knowledgeable about reptiles but who can at least do a fecal exam, that would be useful.
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Bob
Pyromaniac AKA Greatballzofire
Keeping cats allows man to cohabitate with tigers. Keeping reptiles allows man to cohabitate with dinosaurs.

okay i gave it the moist hide. her skin looks a bit better, but her belly is still a little concave. tommorow i will ask a vet about it and anything else i can do. ill see what i can do about a fecal

also when should it be good and safe to feed him?

Since it did pass some sort of fecal material (which hopefully you saved for that fecal exam) it likely does not have an obstruction. So feeding it a small meal would probably be okay. Make sure it has adequate warmth to digest the meal. You can put the moist hide over the UTH. Give it another moist hide in a cool spot in the cage, so it has a choice. An infrared gun is most useful in scoping out the various temperatures in the habitat. Try to not handle it any more than absolutely necessary, to avoid stress.

Is this the same little cal king you had a feeding problem with in October of last year?
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Bob
Pyromaniac AKA Greatballzofire
Keeping cats allows man to cohabitate with tigers. Keeping reptiles allows man to cohabitate with dinosaurs.

This is an entirely different snake. Unfortunately the poop kind of dissolved in the water so i was unable to save it. The cage is actually a small sterlite tub. I can add another hide but it is going to take up alot of room and the middle part will have the water bowl. I have read digestion takes a lot of water from the body. Is this true? His last feeding was 2 pinks instead of one. Could this have contributed? Thanks again

Hi- Just wondering if mite just be a little underfed? Has it regularly been eating pinks? you mentioned you gave him 2 last meal. how long ago was it? dehydration can certainly cause dry or rumpled skin, but he looks like he should be taking good sized fuzzys. just a thought. Dave

I mean, theres a chance but i feed him every 5 days. He is about as round at his dattest section as maybe inbetween a penny and a nickle

It sounds like he can easily take larger food item. Because he defacated and is not blocked, maybe try a fuzzy or 2. They can be voracious, though my cal king has gone off feed for the winter. dave

I will try a fuzzy, however his body does not look much bigger than a pinky. In fact there is a large bulge where the pinky is. I will try though

If there still is a large bulge in his belly, you mite want wait couple days while he digests. Good luck with him, hes a nice looking king