Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I'm the editor of a small newspaper in South Georgia, and I have a pretty good relationship with our local law enforcement officers. Today just before lunch, I received a call from a deputy that a large eastern diamondback had been discovered about six miles from where I was. I told him to call the responding officer and tell him not to kill the snake. I had a photographer with me, and we tore out for the scene. When we arrived, here's what we found. The house was an old mobile home littered with junk. In an old rubbermaid trash can was an EDB around 4 1/2 feet long. The snake had been kept in captivity for several months, witnesses said, and had been eating rats. The "owner" had moved out and left the snake in the trash can. It was covered with a plastic grate of some kind with a block on top for "security." I took the top off the trash can and saw a very irritated rattlesnake. It had a wound that had healed behind its left eye as though it had been hit with something, presumably in an attempt to kill it. The wound was mostly healed, though the snake appears to be blind in that eye. I've contacted a member of the forum who is going to get the snake and give it a little TLC to nurse it back to health. It needs some water and a meal, but it should recover. The bottom of the can was littered with shed skin; the poor critter had been in that trash can for a long time. One of the witnesses on site wanted to kill it; thankfully the police officer didn't listen to her. I'm going to try and upload a few photos later.

Thanks for saving the snake. Hearing a story like this every now and then instead of a "Hey, I killed this big rattlesnake down at such and such" shows that there are at least a few people out there that have a good head on their shoulders.

Here is a what the wound looks like. It was pretty nasty at one time, but appears to be healing.

Good work, Robert!
-----
Venomous snakes---best hobby on earth!
Bill Huseth

Can you see the picture? It's not showing up on my computer. If so, what do you think about the wound?

Nope, no image showing for me.
-----
Anja Buffalo
Crotalus & Company
Venom-Center
Wisconsin Reptiles Site
Free PC Inspection

I'll work on it later. The snake has been through quite a bit of trauma, yet still ate a fresh pre-killed rat yesterday. I'd say that's a good sign.

Hope it works this time.

While a nasty wound, it does look to be healing well. Keep us posted on the rehab, okay?
-----
Venomous snakes---best hobby on earth!
Bill Huseth

He ate another prekilled rat yesterday. So that's two rats in two days. Not bad for an adult wild caught EDB.

Be very careful to not over feed the animal, even if the animal is willing to eat.

Often times an animal will eat more than it can take, which will result in regurgitation in a few days. Sometimes once they start to regurge, it'll take a few days (or sometimes longer) to get everything back to normal and for the animal to get its appetite back up. On a rehab animal that doesn't have a lot of extra energy to spare it is very important to not this become an issue.

I was debating whether or not to even offer it food. However, it reportedly had eaten in captivity, though it had been a while since it had eaten. I had to get some rats for a retic I have, and I figured I'd offer the EDB a meal to see what would happen. I wanted to give the retic another rat, so I went back and got it one more. I usually don't feed on successive days, but the retic was mad for food. I figured I'd offer the EDB another one to see what happened. It's been kept in poor conditions, and is in a very bad mood. Everytime I open the door in my snake house, he starts rattling and rears up. I thought maybe a meal might help ease its state of mind. I did think about regurgitation, and tossed the idea of feeding it around for a few hours. But since it's used to eating in captivity (supposedly) and hasn't eaten in a while, I thought it would be OK. Thus far, he hasn't gurged anything, though I'm making it a point to stay out of the room as much as possible to keep him from stressing out. I want him to keep those rats down and calm down. Right now, he's off the wall aggressive.

Just wondering are you going to release him? And good work on rescuing him!

No, I'm turning him over to a breeder in middle Georgia who has a nice big female looking for a mate. Since he has the injury, and because he's eating so well, he'll get to live a life of luxury with the female of his dreams. Not a bad gig, eh?

RP

cool