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Pueblan Milk Snake - Loose "veiny" looking skin2007-11-24 2:01:55

We just got a small (8 in.) Pueblan Milk, and in the past 2 days she's gotten a very loose appearance to her skin. When she's curled or bent (not laying out straight) her skin looks wrinkly, like she has veins running down from her back to her belly. I'm not sure when she's going to shed next, and we tried feeding her last Friday night, wasn't interested in a pinkie mouse. Any ideas? Temp is 70-80F, water/soaking dish provided, aspen substrate and ample hiding/burrowing spaces, UV bulb being used.

Answers:

That doesn't sound too good I'm afraid. When a snake looks like that it is either severely dehydrated or seriously underweight. To save her you need to find someone who knows how to force-feed a snake. You should contact the person you got her from and insist that they help you out. If they can't or won't help then you need to look around for a herp specialist. That means either a specialist exotics vet or an enthusiast if there is a local herp society.

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she's probably just molting.

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Either she's shedding, or she's dehydrated. Give her a bath in slightly warm water to help hydrate her. Do NOT have her force-fed, forcefeeding is always an absolute last resort.

By the way, snakes don't need UV.