Skin folds and not eating

[mukus]

Hey guys,

I posted in here a few weeks back concerned about my newly purchased ball python, and the way as he was balled up, literally had his head like on his side.
Anyway, since settling into his new surroundings he is as inquisitive as ever, whenever I enter the room he is always facing the side of his tank nearest to where I am stood having a good nosey. So in spirits, he is totally fine. His name is Trevor.

I have a couple of other concerns for Trevor. Firstly, something I have noticed since day one...his skin folds.
Now, I have done quite a bit of research and I am pretty convinced he is not dehydrated (although I have not actually seen him drinking)...his skin looks in super health, the only problem is the amount of folds he has when he twists and turns. Even to the point of, the other day I was handling him and he turned and attempted to give me a little nip as he was trying to move forward...what actually happened was, his skin is so loose that as he slid over my hand his loose skin must have got stuck and he must have got the impression I was pinching his skin and trying to hold him back, bless him.
When I bought him a few weeks ago, the 'breeder' said she was feeding him on one mouse pinkie a week...which I instantly thought, hang on a minute.... I have only ever owned corn snakes, and I know BP's are a whole different 'ball game'.....but seriously....one pinkie a week!! Surely I thought this can't be enough.
Anyway last thursday I moved him up onto a rat pinkie (although chunkier still looked about right for his body size) and he took it fine. He is used to being fed on Mondays and Thursdays, so yesterday (Monday) I offered him another rat pinkie which he didn't take (although seemed very interested).
I checked him this morning, and he has done a fair sized poop which is making me think (rightly or wrongly) that he will probably be ready for another rat pinkie now that he has 'made space' on Thursday).

So what do you guys think? Judging from the pics, would you put his folds down to malnutrition?
I have checked out what an underfed BP looks like and he is very similar; what with the spine showing and not much meat on there...

On a real quick note but a slightly different topic, I just had to go back and purchase the BP that Trevor was housed next to from birth, I couldn't leave her there in that shop, with that 'breeder' also probably being underfed... so I went back and bought her too...her name is Xena.....Xena Warrior Python.
The breeder told me she does not feed properly, and has been putting a credit card in her mouth and been force feeding her pinkies every week.

I have checked out Youtube at various 'assist feed' videos, but just wondered which method of assist feeding you guys prefer and/or what seems to work best.
Thanks everyone
-Mark, Trevor and Xena.

[Craigaria]

looks like he is about to shed. did you notice his eyes cloud up recently? Its hard to tell in the pic, but it looks like they might be cloudy now. increase your humidity to help the shed if that is the case. As far as feeding, I think a pinky is too small. looks like he can handle a mouse every 5 days. just noticed you said rat pinky, in that case, probably ok but you could maybe go a little bigger.

[Archimedes]

He may very well be dehydrated, and looks like maybe possibly gearing up for a shed. Do you have a humidity gauge? You may not see your snake drinking, but they use the environment around them to pick up a lot of their moisture, which is why it's ideally between 40 percent and 60 percent, bumped to 70 during sheds.

Secondly, bump him up a prey size after his next meal. He can take rat pups easily (fully-furred fuzzy rats). You'll see him grow into his skin rapidly.

As far as assist feeding, it's a last resort thing. The credit card thing isn't unheard of, but to me it is way too forceful on their mouths. Pinkies are fine when assist feeding, you don't want too big of prey when you're doing that, so it's better to go smaller.

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[Pyrate81]

1. Welcome to the forums.

2. Your snake does seem thin, I'd be more worried about shape and seeing spine; the folds are less of a concern.

3. That snake looks big enough to eat a medium-sized mouse so I would personally up foodsize to rat pups or mice.

4. Your "breeder" sounds like an idiot and I would stop giving him/her money.

5. Lay low on handling your snakes for awhile and make sure your husbandry is up to par.

6. Xena(love the name) should not need to be force fed. It stresses them out and will cause more harm then good. Let her settle then offer her something of which she can actually sink her teeth into like a rat pup.

7. I assume both of these snakes are under a year old. They can be fed every 5 days. Feeding Tuesdays then Thursdays is is stressing them out more than necessary.

[Slim]

I also think you might have a shed coming on. Sometimes a change in environment will trigger a shed.

And, in my opinion, you need to be feeding that kid fuzzy rats or crawlers.

[Slim]

4. Your "breeder" sounds like an idiot and I would stop giving him/her money.

This is an excellent suggestion!

[mukus]

Hey people... Yeah.... that breeder I went to, I wouldn't normally go to, as these babies were well over priced, but when I heard she was shoving a credit card in it's mouth every week, and there were constantly kids in there tapping on Xena's and Trevor's glass, I just had to stick my hand in my pocket and bring them to a safe haven!!

Now that you have mentioned it, yes! I have noticed his eyes going a steel grey colour, although I have no idea why I didn't bring this to the front of my mind and realise he may well be gearing up for a shed!
It's absolutely crazy if he does, because my other two corn snakes have both gone into shed on exactly the same days the past few days, so to have three out of my four snakes shedding at once will be a bizarre occurrence for me.

I do have a hygrometer in Trev's tank and right now it's in the high 60% range...

Will keep an eye out for any other changes.

As for Xena's feed day on Wednesday (tomorrow)...if she doesn't take a mouse pinky willingly should I just leave her to settle in more for another week?

Thanks guys.

[Craigaria]

I'd forget the pinky and get her a small mouse and see if she takes it. My snakes eat rats now, but at first they weren't interested in rats but would hammer a mouse. The mouse pinky is too small

[coldbloodaddict]

it sucks but the store will just buy more snakes to replace the ones you bought...and the cycle continues.
Do you have them housed together?


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[mukus]

No I don't keep them together, however, they are next door neighbours in separate tanks....not sure whether letting them see each other or not is a good idea...

The 'breeder' said when they were young they were kept together, but Trevor used to try and muscle in on Xena's food. I think this may have something to do with her timidness and not eating properly...
This is why I am still unsure whether to reveal them to each other or not...
Right now the tanks are simply side by side but with paper towel between them.