Reptile & Amphibian Forums

My boyfriend left the tank of his year old greybanded girl open last october, and she disappeared. A day later, seeing as we live in Montana, the temperature hit -13. We didn't think she could have survived. Now have at this for lucky: We move TOMORROW. We get up from watching some TV and Shad almost steps on her, 10 months to the day later! Needless to say, I was absolutely ecstatic. She doesn't seem to have grown at all, and she didn't even have enough in her to musk on me (though she tried). So we got her old tank down and butchered a hopper so that it would fit (my snake used to be just slightly larger, but on the same large pinks as she was when she got lost, but he's bumping up to adult mice in the next order) and she took it greedily and had a soak in her water bowl. She looks rather thin, but otherwise pretty healthy. She obviously got in some kind of scrape because there are four spots near the end of her back that the scales look pretty damaged, and the last one seems to have scraped the skin completely off. It isn't near fresh though, it looks like she's just recently shed, and the area doesn't seem to be tender at all, but I'm still waiting for her to digest a bi to examine more closely. My question is: I know there's a good chance that she'll heal flawlessly in the nest few sheds where the scales just look a bit messed up, but what about where they're completely scraped off?
posted this on the greybanded forum too, but she's a king, so...

Glad to hear you found it!

Yes, the area where there aren't any scales will gradually fill in with scales, although they tend to look a bit different after trauma like that. In other words, it will be just fine.
Be careful not to feed it too much, or too big a meal, as many folks think this would benefit the snake. In all actuallity, a snake that hasn't fed for a long time needs to get it's gut functions back in order and GRADUALLY get accustomed to eating again like it did before. The very LAST thing you want, is to have it regurge at this point, when it's system is ALREADY weakened substantially from lack of food. This can cause HUGE problems in quick order, so just go slow, easy, and small for a few meals, then gradually increase the size.

good luck!, ~Doug
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"Better to be silent and thought a fool, than to open mouth and remove any doubt!"

That IS the single most coolest post I have read on here all year.

She'll heal as long as she eats and is properly hydrated.

congrats ..

and thanks for sharing!

Post some pics in a month.

My boyfriend left the tank of his year old greybanded girl open last october, and she disappeared. A day later, seeing as we live in Montana, the temperature hit -13. We didn't think she could have survived. Now have at this for lucky: We move TOMORROW. We get up from watching some TV and Shad almost steps on her, 10 months to the day later! Needless to say, I was absolutely ecstatic. She doesn't seem to have grown at all, and she didn't even have enough in her to musk on me (though she tried). So we got her old tank down and butchered a hopper so that it would fit (my snake used to be just slightly larger, but on the same large pinks as she was when she got lost, but he's bumping up to adult mice in the next order) and she took it greedily and had a soak in her water bowl. She looks rather thin, but otherwise pretty healthy. She obviously got in some kind of scrape because there are four spots near the end of her back that the scales look pretty damaged, and the last one seems to have scraped the skin completely off. It isn't near fresh though, it looks like she's just recently shed, and the area doesn't seem to be tender at all, but I'm still waiting for her to digest a bi to examine more closely. My question is: I know there's a good chance that she'll heal flawlessly in the nest few sheds where the scales just look a bit messed up, but what about where they're completely scraped off?
posted this on the greybanded forum too, but she's a king, so...
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