Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi all, I'm new here! I just found yor site and I'm hoping you guys can help.
About 6 months ago I bought my first corn snake, a little male okeetee. He's just the sweetest snake ever, and I totally fell in love with corn snakes.
So of course, my husband and I are at a pet store one day last week, they have baby corn snakes,and I end up with an adorable little anerythristic.
The problem is she's got some sort of skin problem I think. Her skin looks wrinkly, and she appears to have little pieces of skin stuck to her, like she did not have enough humidity and had an incomplete shed.
What is the least stressfull way to remove the dead skin, and what could the wrinkly skin be? It's not wrinkly when she's layng out straight, only when part of her body bends, it creates a "fold" by the bend.
I'm fortunate enough where I live to have an excellent Veterinary teaching hospital with a great exotics dept., and several vets that specialize in reptiles.
I have an appointment to take her to the vet next week for an initial base health screen, so if it's something they should look at, it's not a problem. I just thought I'd see if anyone here might be able to help.
Thanks!

Hi there,
You can soak her in a bath of warm water with epsom salt - this will help loosen the dead skin. You will need to carefully peel away the dead skin after it becomes soft.
Good luck!

the wrinkly skin is most likely due to being dehydrated and/or under fed. A nice soak in water will help loosen the skin and give teh snake an opportunity to drink. Deffinitely make sure you have a large water dish in the cage for the snake to soak itself as well.
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PHLdyPayne

Just make a "shedbox" (very similar to the nestbox described in the Cornsnake Manual, but smaller). Just cut an entrance hole in a cottage cheese container. Fill 3/4 full with damp (but not dripping wet) sphagnum moss, and put it in the cage. Once your snake hangs out in it for a day or two (they usually LOVE to spend a lot of time there), the skin will probably come off by itself, or will be very easy to remove. Give the snake the shedbox whenever his eyes go "blue" and take it away after he sheds. Replace the moss each time. That way you will avoid a damp place where mold, bacteria, etc, can grow unchecked in the cage. You can use damp paper towels if you can't find the moss (look in a garden store, even in Wal Mart garden centers), but they are not as fluffy for him to crawl through, and tend to make a soggy mess.

If the humidity inside your house is higher in the summer, then the shedbox probably will not be needed then.

Good luck!

Thanks everybody, you guys are so helpful.
She does have a large water dish in her cage, and I do see her drink, but never soak in it. I will create a shed box for her tomorrow, and hope she uses it!
She did look a little on the thin side to me when I bought her, but she's been eating very well since she's been here (so eager actually that she's tried to grab at the pinkie before it even hits the ground!), so hopefully weight will not be too much of an issue for very long.
Thanks again everyone, and Luna thanks you too!