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I received a snake that got tangled up in a shipping tape inside the box. She broke free of her deli cup and somehow got wrapped up in the tape that was holding the heat pack down. When I opened the box she had the tape balled up around her head and about 2 inches down her body. She was upside down and motionless. I honestly thought she was dead. When I went to touch her she moved and at that point this became a rescue mission. We got the tape off her nose first to she could breathe and began working on getting it off the rest of her. Unfortunately during this a bunch of her scales got ripped off from the tape. Will they grow back? We arn't sure if she will pull through and even survive I just want to try to make her as comfortable as possible. I've never heard of anything like this happening...can anyone give me suggestions??

Thanks,
Deidra
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0.8 normal female balls
1.0 Bumblebee
0.1 Butter
0.1 Pinstripe
0.1 Black Pastel
1.3 Pastels
1.0 Yellowbelly
0.0.1 Sulcata Tortoise
1.0 Iguana

Most importantly
1.0 hubby that shares my hobby

The snake should recover, assuming the tape has no nasty chemicals that it injested. The scales should grow back, but don't expect them to look pretty or to happen overnight.

If a snake gets caught up in tape, the best thing to do is us either mineral oil to soften it, or warm water baths. It takes a while but works.

Warren
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Dr Warren Booth / Director USARK
North Carolina State University
Department of Entomology

When we got the snake out of the box there wasn't really any way to soak the tape off due to it being balled up around her head and nose, it was suffocating her. Thanks so much for the info about the scales though and the quick response.

Thanks,
Deidra
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0.8 normal female balls
1.0 Bumblebee
0.1 Butter
0.1 Pinstripe
0.1 Black Pastel
1.3 Pastels
1.0 Yellowbelly
0.0.1 Sulcata Tortoise
1.0 Iguana

Most importantly
1.0 hubby that shares my hobby

If you think that she can breath OK giving her a soak will make it so that the tape lifts of. Also, mineral oil does a good job loosening sticky stuff (our green tree python got one of those hydrometers that stick to the side of the terrarium stuck to him and it worked great). I'd put a little on a Q-tip and start at a part of the tape that is lifted from her body. Gently work off the tape while rubbing the mineral oil between her and the tape.

I'd try a gentle soak first. At leat 10 minutes in luke warm water to un-sticky the tape.

Best wishes. Let us know how it goes.
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Cheers,
Jessica Gibbs
Ball Pythons; Corn Snakes; Green Tree Python; Jungle Carpet Pythons; Bci; Bcl
3.0 Crazy Dogs and 2.0 cats
Some Tropical Fish
...........and growing!

The best thing you can do for her right now is give her a warm dark snug hide, have drinking water available, and let her rest. She is probably very stressed and exhausted.
Paul

That's what she is doing now..she is in a snug hide and resting. I really hope she makes it through this...Thanks for the advice!
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0.8 normal female balls
1.0 Bumblebee
0.1 Butter
0.1 Pinstripe
0.1 Black Pastel
1.3 Pastels
1.0 Yellowbelly
0.0.1 Sulcata Tortoise
1.0 Iguana

Most importantly
1.0 hubby that shares my hobby

Who was the shipper? I had a box delivered by UPS that looked like they played kickball with it. I had two deli cups in that box and both snakes where lose and the containers where crushed. Good luck.

Bill
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0.1 Het Albino
0.1 Spider Het Albino
1.0 Albino
0.1 Spinner
2.1 Super Pastel
0.1 Jungle Pastel
0.1 Het Pied
1.0 Pied 50 percent
0.1 Clown
1.1 Het Lavenders
1.1 Het Caramel Albino
0.3 Normal
1.1 Kids
0.1 Spouse
1.0 Chocolate Lab

It was shipped by UPS but the deli cups where not crushed and the other snake in the box was fine. It was not the shipping companys fault at all...just a freak accident now to just try to help this girl survive.
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0.8 normal female balls
1.0 Bumblebee
0.1 Butter
0.1 Pinstripe
0.1 Black Pastel
1.3 Pastels
1.0 Yellowbelly
0.0.1 Sulcata Tortoise
1.0 Iguana

Most importantly
1.0 hubby that shares my hobby