Thanks for the help. I'm going to try the washcloth method in a bit. I just took another look at the tail tip, looks like it is all gone from there... He just has a "patch" around his eye and on the top of his head now.
As for the snake not being able to swallow, its def. not the size of the prey. When he first got it he fed him a small rat (looked too big for him) and he took it fine. then the next week he fed him a mouse that was much smaller than the rat but the same size as the one he couldn't swallow, maybe even bigger.