Reptile & Amphibian Forums

although my main focus is west mexican tricolors, i couldn't pass up the chance to nurse this 8 year old eastern chain king back to health.

while he has some ventral scale rot, he's otherwise in good shape and has nice muscle tone (wrapped himself around my hand when i took him out for these pics) and is puppy dog tame.

A beautiful fellow with a serious problem. Good on you for trying to help him. If you can take him to a veterinarian that might be helpful, as this looks pretty deep. Hopefully it is not septic.
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Bob
Pyromaniac AKA Greatballzofire
Keeping cats allows man to cohabitate with tigers. Keeping reptiles allows man to cohabitate with dinosaurs.

that's how i actually got him; my best friend is the director for his local humane society on the central coast.

he figured i'd be the best bet for getting surrendered colubrids nursed back to health.

When I saw the photo of the scale rot I was shocked. Am glad you are the qualified person to save this fine animal. He must have been in filthy conditions to get such a bad infection.
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Bob
Pyromaniac AKA Greatballzofire
Keeping cats allows man to cohabitate with tigers. Keeping reptiles allows man to cohabitate with dinosaurs.

Nice one Brian....
That should clear up with some nice dry conditions and a few sheds.......But I would use some neosporin just in case.....
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John Lassiter
Poor planning and procrastination on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part...

thanks john.

he actually just shed out the day before last, so several ventral scales are still stuck making it look worse than i think it actually is.

still, neosporin to the rescue.

That's a beautiful snake! It looks like an Outer Banks. I hope he does well for you!
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King Snakes! Who can make a better mouse trap?
Jorge Sierra

My Site > www.Sierrasnakes.com

thanks jorge.

i was surprised when i picked him up, since he was blue in all the pics i was sent.

he does look kinda outer-banksish doesn't he?

That does look to have decent body weight. I would pour some hydrogen Peroxide down those belly scutes. I guarantee it will fizzle up a storm too..LOL!, which of course means it is doing it's job killing the bacteria. That looks to be from moisture getting under the scales, then rotting the tissue after it got more advanced.

I also agree with Jorge, that isn't a regular Eastern Chain king getula, but looks to be an Outer Banks king (L. g. sticticeps), or at least the far greater percentage is Outer Banks gene-flow. Outer Banks can be somewhat variable just like any other type of snake, or it could descend from slightly further north of Buxton too, hard to say. But it isn't a normal mainland Eastern, that's for sure.

good luck getting it well man!

~Doug

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"a snake in the grass is a GOOD thing"

my website -Serpentine Specialties

thanks for the advice doug. i was just going to keep him dry and neosporin'd up - but i'll do a little dousing in a couple days (fed him last night and want to wait a little).

he was blue in the pictures i was sent, so i was greatly surprised when i picked him up yesterday. from what i was told, he was owned by one person for nearly eight years, but in the last couple of years he's been getting scale rot in the winter/spring time. she claimed it was because he was always soaking in his water dish.

and i was wondering about sticticeps; since they're from an isolated populace are they smaller in size than other eastern getula? because he's eight years old and only about 3.5ft. while definitely heavier bodied than my 05 cal kings he's easily much shorter.

Yep..I would clean it up with hydrogen peroxide as Doug mentioned prior to any antibacterial ointment....
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John Lassiter
Poor planning and procrastination on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part...

Sure thing Brian....

Yes, they are a substantially smaller race than the mainland Easterns.

That was a great score you made!

~Doug
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"a snake in the grass is a GOOD thing"

my website -Serpentine Specialties

That sort of thing is very common with wildcaught getula. Just keep the snake well hydrated and provoide a humid box. The area will clear up within a shed or two.

Isn't it amazing that wildcaught snakes have this? Especially coming out of winter brumation. I guess their own husnadry sucks.

Just feed her and allow for a humid and dry area and she will shed it out and be perfect.
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www.Bluerosy.com

Isn't too much moisture what probably caused this? This may be one time I would remove the moist hide, but I'm not a Vet.
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King Snakes! Who can make a better mouse trap?
Jorge Sierra

My Site > www.Sierrasnakes.com

i have no idea if he's originally wild caught or not. the previous owner claimed to have had him for nearly eight years before surrendering him.

and i do have a moist hide available for him, but he's been spending all his time on the UTH since i got him set up.

you also referred to him as 'she' and funny enough, from the tapering at the base of the tail, i would have agreed with you. however, when probed it easily went down a few scales - which is why i'm calling it a 'he' - but in all honesty, this is the first getula i've ever probed. i've probed many corns and milks though; this is just the first adult common king i've sexed and maybe they're a little more different than i thought.

however, when probed it easily went down a few scales - which is why i'm calling it a 'he' - but in all honesty, this is the first getula i've ever probed.

Brian if it were a male, it would go way down. Much more than a few scales.
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King Snakes! Who can make a better mouse trap?
Jorge Sierra

My Site > www.Sierrasnakes.com

it went down four or five scales with no resistance but i was planning on checking again after the next shed.

however, my two adult female getula have considerable 'bulging' at the base of their tails. this one tapers and has no bulging either.

i'll post pictures later, if necessary, in order to make clearer.

Jorge's right about that Brian. A female will go down several scales because of their scent gland "pocket" on either side. A male of that size will probe FAAAR deeper at around 1-1/4 inches to 1-1/2 inches deep.

Yes, I have also seen many female snakes that have a bulging appearance at the base of the tail too. Some females seem to have this anatomical characteristic, and some don't, but their tails will still taper down much more abruptly afterwards than a male's will. The males will stay much thicker for a longer duration, and of course be longer by comparison.

~Doug
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"a snake in the grass is a GOOD thing"

my website -Serpentine Specialties

Make sure to probe both sides!
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www.Bluerosy.com

Hey Doug I agree 100%. If not an obk, it surely has a lot of obk influence, specifically that short, pointed snout. I would have said the pattern is absolutely obk as well...but I hatched out a Burlington Co. NJ eastern last year with as speckled a pattern as any obk. Nice snake though. I also agree with Doug that peroxide is a far better choice than Neosporin, although I would cut the peroxide w/ 1/2 water. Those ointments block oxygen getting to the wound and actually seem to slow the healing process in my experience.

Will

I should have posted a response under Doug's post.

A female will probe 2-5 scales and a male is generally much deeper. Remember, gently twist the probe as it is inserted, don't push. Good luck.

Will

Thant looks like an eastern x anery florida king.
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www.Bluerosy.com