[Anatomy] Are skin folds in body curvatures normal?

[BonBon8]

Hello, I am new to the boa world. I have a few questions....

When my boa curls , he has loose skin folding going on in the curved parts of his body. Im just wondering if skin folding is normal or if this is a sign of dehydration? Should his body be smooth and taught in the curvatures? I guess it makes sense that the folding would be there just like when I put my thumb and forefinger closer together, the extra skin kind of folds in between.

Thanks!

[acephantom903]

Re: Are skin folds in body curvatures normal?

The folds might be a sign that your snake is about to shed. They do have folds all the time, but they become really noticeable before a shed. Do you have a water bowl in the cage? How often do you change the water?

[Noelle7206]

Re: Are skin folds in body curvatures normal?

Without seeing your snake, in all likelihood, those fold are normal, just like ours. He shouldn't be dehydrated if his cage is kept at the proper humidity for the kind of snake he is AND if he has constant access to a
fresh bowl of clean water to drink from. You may not see him drink, they often drink at night when we aren't watching them. (they are shy about being watched when eating or drinking, as they instinctively feel
more vulnerable to predators at that time) As was already mentioned, you will see a difference in the way the skin folds look shortly before a shed, but it's normal for them to have folds no matter what. (Please,
don't take him in for Botox! LOL)

[Pandorasdad]

Re: Are skin folds in body curvatures normal?

Probably, yes they are normal scale creases. It happens.

If you know you're temp and humidity is spot on and there is plenty of fresh water available, I wouldn't worry about it.

[BonBon8]

Re: Are skin folds in body curvatures normal?

He does have fresh water. I have been having some difficulty keeping the humidity up, however, he did just finish a shed and it pretty much came off in one piece. His first shed was not as smooth, he shed in many pieces so I made sure once I knew he was going to shed again, I spritzed the enclosure a few times a day. I have seen him drink previously, I was even holding him a couple of times and offered water, which he voluntarily drank...pretty cool! When I first got him, he spent most of his days out and about. Now he mostly likes to hide but Ive heard this is a normal behavoir as they get older.