Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I've just obtained a highly-stressed, 18" Canebrake that had been kept for several hours in a bucket, along with about an inch of what appeared to be standard hydralic fluid. Believe it or not, the youngster is very alert, and seems to be in pretty good shape other than being coated with oil. I'm wondering if a mild solution of Dawn dishwashing liquid would be an appropriate treatment? Obviously, water, alone, has had absolutely no effect on "cutting" the surface coating of oil. BTW, I rubbed the underside of my arm with a sample of oil from the bucket, and, so far, I haven't experienced any burning sensation or irritation at all. At this point, I'm reasonably sure that it is, in fact, just oil.

There are several different types of hydraulic fluids...some are a lot more harmful than others. Many are basically just mineral oil which probably won't cause any serious problems. Others contain organophosphates and could be much more harmful.

A soak in a shallow diluted dish soap mix sounds pretty reasonable to me but hopefully others with more experience will give their advice. Does the snake seem to be ok otherwise?
Chris

For starters, it would be a good idea to find out what is in that bucket and whether or not it might be toxic. If the animal did not drink any of the fluid, skin absorption in snakes is fairly slow.

Washing the snake with lukewarm soapy water would probably be a good idea, again making sure the animal does not drink any of the liquid. You can squirt the water on his head using a syringe and stroke his body with wet cloths held on long forceps.

Until you have identified the chemical in the bucket there is not a lot that any veterinarian could do. Take the fluid to an auto parts store or garage and ask for help from an experienced mechanic in identifying it. Then you can phone a vet or your local poison control center and ask about the toxicity of that chemical in animals.

The best supportive nursing care you can give to this animal while you are identifying the chemical and getting instructions from the Poison Control Center is to get the chemical off of hi skin, then keep him warm and hyrated.

Good luck,

TT

Thanks! So far, so good, with the little Canebrake. I tried a mild solution of dish-washing liquid and warm water, but it's hard to tell the results. The "pin and swab" method seemed pretty stressful, so I quit after a few swipes. I contacted the farmer who brought-in the Canebrake, and he told me the bucket had contained "just standard,NAPA hydraulic oil" that he uses in all his equipment. As I mentioned in my original post, the specimen is alert, coils and rattles without hesitation, and seems pretty normal other than having a very dull and dingy coloration, with obscured chevrons. In fact, from a distance, he looks a lot like a typical, Prairie King Snake except for his head and tail. Thanks again.

If you can feel any oily residue on the skin, I'd get more aggressive with the cleanup.

Try this: put the guy in a closed container with an inch of barely lukewarm soapy water. Gently swish him around in it, then rinse him off in clean water. Repeat this until he's sparkling clean. It will definitely stress the animal but you really don't want any of that stuff left on him long term. The little fellow will survive a little cleanup stress better than he'll survive a prolonged exposure to potentially toxic oil.

I did a brief check on the toxicity of hydraulic oil, and some of the formulations are definitely not good to have on your skin and are considered toxic. Other formulations are pretty well harmless. I couldn't find what NAPA is using. I'd suggest calling your local poison control center (it's free, find the 800 number on the Web for your area) and asking specifically about the NAPA brand.

Snake skin is less permeable, less exposed and consequently absorbs toxins at a slower rate than mammal skin. That doesn't mean it's a good idea to leave this stuff on for any length of time.

Chatted with my vet this morning to see if he had any input. He did. If you can get about 1% of the little guy's body weight in an activated charcoal slurry down him, it might be a good idea if there is any toxicity to the specific formulation of the NAPA product. A single dose will do fine.

Oral gavage on a snake can be a bit tricky; don't shoot the stuff down the windpipe or you'll kill the animal. Check the product formulation before putting the animal through this amount of stress. Obviously if the oil is totally nontoxic and you could pour it on your salad greens without harm, don't bother.

Snakes express toxicity *slowly*. It can take weeks or months for a fatal poisoning to start showing any symptoms. This is both good and bad. Good because you have some time to use the activated charcoal, and bad because if the formulation is toxic we really won't know if the little guy is okay for quite some time.

Good luck,

TT

Do you have an update?

Could you give us an update on your little guy? It has been about a week to 10 days now. How is the caney doing?

Hope all is well.

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