Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Well, I ran this snake over yesterday, I came over a little crest in the road and there he was, just starting to cross the road. I didnt have time to swerve or brake or do anything. I ran his head and neck over. When I went back to him he looked ok at first except the area right behind his neck was real limp. I put him in a box and took him home. He seemd to be getting slowly better. After about an hour his jaw pulled way to the right and I noticed a little blood in his mouth. His jaw has since has returned almost to normal. He appears to be awake and aware of his surroundings, when I approach him his eye moves to focus on me. He doesn't move around much and when he does he's real shaky. So my question is, what can I do??? I called the emergency vets in my area yesterday but none would see a snake. It ticks me off that an emergency animal hospital would act horrified that I wanted to bring an injured snake in for help. I cant believe that the first snake of spring I see I had to run over

Jason

I posted this originally in the kingsnake forum because I didnt know what he was, any advise is greatly appreciated.

Vet is the only way to be sure. keep us posted

He looks a lot like a black ratsnake (thinking it's pantherophis obsoleta obsoleta but might be wrong), they're really cool snakes, I hope you find a vet to see him.
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Eryx - All the fun of a boa in a convenient pocket size!

I have a feeling that you aren't going to find a vet. Even if you did, what could he do for it?

From the picture, you have a very nice looking black rat snake in a good size cage. What you need to do at this point is to give him a hide box to reduce his level of stress. You also need to put a pan of water in there for him. Try not to disturb him except to clean his cage and give him fresh water. When you see him searching for a way to get out of his cage, you know that he is on the mend. Another good sign would be for him to vibrate his tail when you put your hand in the cage to change the water. This is normal behavior for a wild rat snake. After he has been acting normal for a few days, offer him a live grey mouse. He should kill and eat it right away. If all goes well, and he is able to keep the mouse down for two days, you can let him go in the area where he came from, or you can try to make him into a pet.

Just remember to keep him warm, watered, and quiet while he is healing. It may take a few weeks, but doing that will give him his best chance at returning to full health.

You are a kind soul for taking him in. Good luck with your snake.

He's definitely more active now. I held him for a while when I got home last night. He was crawling all over me and scenting with his tongue so I guess thats a good sign. He's also moving around in his cage a lot more. It seems like he fades in and out of conciousness though, I put his head in his water bowl to try to get him to drink and he just sat there for at least a minute not doing anything. All of a sudden he snorted hard enough to blow bubbles and jerked back out of the water. I may try to give him water through an eye dropper tonight. His jaw is almost completely straight now but he still moves around with his head at an angle and doesnt seem to have complete control yet.

here's another shot of him from this morning, once I hold him he becomes very active and keeps trying to get out of his cage.

It does my heart good to see people caring about a run over snake. On my road several beutiful blue racers are run over every year and I grieve to my family and neighbors and at best I get a weird look, mostly it " the only good snake is a dead one". I keep trying to change folks one at a time. Good luck with the snake, looks like he'll make it.

It sounds like his jaw is injured. Don't feed him yet and don't try to force water down him. It could cause more injury to his jaw, and it will stress him a lot. Give him time to heal. Has he tried to bite you yet? Does he musk when you pick him up? Did you give him a hide box to reduce stress?

Give him time to heal.

He looks like a black rat to me. Black racers have white only under their chins and not 1/3 of the way down their underside.

Black Racer

He hasn't tried to bite me at all and he hasn't musked either. He did vibrate his tail a little yesterday though. I was thinking his jaw was pulled to the side due to some type of nerve damage because it didnt do that till a few hours after he was run over. He did have one drop of blood in his mouth when I first noticed his jaw though.

Vibrating his tail is a good sigh. The odds are that his jaw is just very sore. Give him some time and see how he does. I would bet that in about two weeks. Remember not to try and feed him until he has time to heal.

You are a good soul for doing this for that poor snake. By the way, Black Rat Snakes tame quickly. They do make great pets. Keep me posted as to how he is doing. I have two Black Rats myself, and I just love mine.

Well, I don't want to be the voice of pessimism, but he might come around, and still not make it. I had the exact same thing happen to me about 3 years ago, except with a corn snake. Same reaction to the hit to a "T". He recovered, would drink, but was never able to eat again and died several months later of apparent starvation, no matter what I tried to do to get nutrients into him. I stayed away from force feeding, or pinkie pumping because I was afraid of any jaw/neck injuries that the snake may have sustained in the hit, which had been recommended to me by several people...I tried my darnedest, but in the end, nothing worked. I'm hoping that things go better for you. Just don't want to see someone go through the same heartbrake that I did...I felt terrible for hitting him in the first place, and then not being abot to do anything to help him made me feel that much worse. There's always hope though...keep up the good work in nursing him back, and keep us all up to date as to how things are going.
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Conrad
Too Fast Reptiles
www.toofastreptiles.bravehost.com

He looks more like a black racer to me, what with that pointed snout. A black rat has a squared snout. Good luck with him.

It's 100% a black rat. Racers have no pattern on the back. I hope he/she does well and heals very fast. I see great black rats dead on the road here every year. If I ever see a live one anywhere I automayically keep them because 1-They are one of my favorite snakes and 2-I know they will not be killed. Are you going to try to keep him/her?

I'm not sure if I'll keep him or not yet. If he doesnt fully recover to the point that he can fend for himself then I'll keep him or find someone else who wants to take care of him. I already have a midland and a king that I've rescued last summer.

Well if you decide that you don't want him then I wil gladly take him. I have other black rats that he can go with depending on the sex. Of course it will be kept alone until he is fully healed and then I will give him a cage mate. I will pay for shipping if you decide to let him go. Thanks...

I just thought that a snake who had his head run over would be, I don't know, a lot less alive? Or did you not run him over with your car? *shrugs* He's a great looking snake though, I love black snakes, they're all so beautiful.
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People Who Say Money Can't Buy You Happiness Obviously Didn't Know Where To Buy A Herp

2.0 Cornsnakes
0.0.1 Ball Python
1.0 Cal Kingsnake
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1.0 Bearded Dragon
0.0.1 Marbled Gecko
0.1 Texas Brown Tarantula

I definitely ran him over, and it was with a 2800 pound car. He seems to be doing a bit better today but I'm concerned that he may be brain damaged for life. He holds his head and neck at awkward angles (sometimes upside down or in curley cues) and sometimes moves in circles. I really hope he recovers