Loose skin at neck.....dehydrated?

[dar]

I rescued a young boa from a pet shop. He feeds well and has just had a shed but it was very broken with still a few bits stuck to him. He also has loose skin on his neck (like creases) which leads me to believe he is dehydrated.

Do I need to take him to a vet or is this a normal thing on a boa? Can I feed him a solution or just plain water?
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[eddie]

Hey Dar,

The easiest way to tell if it is dehydrated, is to pinch the skin and see if it readily springs back into normal or if it stays in the pinched shape for a bit.
If it springs back, then usually fine, if it stays in the pinched position then yes, it is dehydrated.

The best thing for the snake is to drink on it's own, either plain water or a 50/50 mix of water and pedialyte.
A long soak, 45 minutes to an hour, every day will also help rehydrate.

I'm not sure if pedialyte is available in your area or not, though.
If not, then you may be able to make something similar. I will look for a recipe just in case and I'm sure some one else here has a formula also.
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[Dr.Oviparous]

hey dar, any way you can post a pic? that might help to really see what it looks like. -Juggalo
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[dar]

Where should I pinch his skin. On his back halfway down his body ok? I will try to post a pic for others to learn from as soon as I can get one. Thanks guys.

By the way - I use a heatpad inside the cage but it is stuck to a floor tile which lies under carpet and newspaper. Hermann Stoeckl of boa-constrictors.com reckons I am just about killing my snake by using a heatpad. Do you guys think this can be the case cos it really is not hot to the touch but the immediate vicinity's humidity is quite low?
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[eddie]

You pinch the skin along the back, any where behind the head to pretty much
almost to the tail. You can do several spots along the back like this, but not too hard of a pinch, just enought to get the skin up.

Now as for the heat pad killing your snake, hmmm, I don't think so.
I have ran across quite a few that feel the heat on the bottom is not needed. Their argument is that snakes and other reptiles don't have heat pads in the wild.
Actually, they do! Reptiles bask on warm surfaces, such as rocks, concrete, asphalt, dirt, basically anywhere they can feel warmth and MANY things in nature discharge warmth when under direct sunlight.

The argument you heard about the humidity or lack of, killing the snake, yes, it can, but very easily corrected as to be non-negligeable.
You can get a spray bottle and mist the snake and its home several times a day, in order to keep the humidity up.
In other words, keep the pad, mist and soak, like the rest of us do, and you will do absolutely fine.

I am a member of Clay English Redtail boas.com.
You will notice that the sections on snake care ( quick lessons ) is locked down from replies unlike here on Redtailboa.Net. where everyone can add to all the forums.
I have found several of the quick lessons there that I dissagree with, but I cannot respond on those threads, since they are locked down!
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<TABLE BORDER=0 ALIGN=CENTER WIDTH=85%><TR><TD><font class="pn-sub">Quote:</font><HR></TD></TR><TR><TD><FONT class="pn-sub"><BLOCKQUOTE> From Eddie... I am a member of Clay English Redtail boas.com.
You will notice that the sections on snake care ( quick lessons ) is locked down from replies unlike here on Redtailboa.Net. where everyone can add to all the forums.
I have found several of the quick lessons there that I dissagree with, but I cannot respond on those threads, since they are locked down!
</BLOCKQUOTE></FONT></TD></TR><TR><TD><HR></TD></TR></TABLE>
I am a moderator of Clay's site. true that that particular thread area is locked down...BUT you failed to mention that there are forums just like here that are NOT locked down and are one's that everyone can add to like here at RTB. [img]modules/Forum/images/smiles/icon_eek.gif[/img] The specific area of forums that you are refering to are placed there for people to utilize that can't wait around for an answer to be posted in a thread. The info on 'em is Clay's advice from his experience and such. NOT everyone would agree with everything no matter what site you are on.
CLAY's Site
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[eddie]

Ok, thanks Lori!
I knew there was a reason for their lock, but wasn't sure if they take other peoples experiences and would add to their lessons.
Clay has a pretty good crew there and a great forum and all around site.
I just wish they would give us 48 hour days so I would have time there like I do here!
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[Pizzaboy]

dar, I like to keep my enclosures around 82 degrees farenheit. Sometimes if the temp .is to high my snakes dehydrate. Try to find a way to cool the enclosure if to hot. If the cage doesn't offer the animal a place to escape excessive heat it may continue to dehydrate no matter how much water you soak it in or give it to drink. P. S. Be careful when soaking you boa not to make the water to deep that it has to continuosly swim(you don't want to exhaust it so it drowns ).
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[east_stingray]

Depending on the size of the snake, I have a good way to soak him/her. Take a coolwhip bowl and a paper hole punch and punch holes all around the lid and rim of the bowl. Fill with warm water and let soak for a while! Make sure that it's not so much water that the snake has to swim, and don't leave it in there too long because the water gets cold pretty fast when it's a small snake like that. This works for me b/c the boa I use it for is small... you said young but not how big.
Good Luck
Bueno Suerte!

-East
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