Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi,

I was wondering if anyone knew anything about the MSU Veterinary school. Not that I plan on going there or anything, its just that I have a snake with an eye injury and I have called every vet around here and none treats herps. But they did say I could take it to MSU and talk to them. I just wanted to know if anyone out there was familiar with them or if you knew of an actual herp vet within reasonable driving distance from West Point, MS 39773.

I cant believe what happened to my Black Mexican Kingsnake.... I feel terrible and its all my fault. He had been knocking over his water bowl pretty frequently and I had what I thought was a good idea at the time but apparently turned out to be the stupidest thing I have ever done with one of my animals:

What I did was I applied double sided tape to the bottom of the bowl in the hopes that it would stay down. Well, snake was fine this morning but when I went to check on the snakes after dinner I noticed he had what looked like dust on his head. I took him out and what he had done was knock over the bowl and somehow must have gotten the sticky stuff off the tape all over the top left side of his head including the rear portion of his left eye which has got his eye slightly out of position in the eye socket... I immediatley soaked him in some warm water and got some Q-tips and some baby oil and did what I could but I was not able to get all the sticky stuff off his eye and it is still out of position (his left eyeball is stuck in position like he was looking toward his left rear). Anyway I know I have to take this snake to the vet ASAP and will call MSU tomorrow morning. (hopefully someone will be there Sunday morning) But was wondering if anyone knew anything about MSU or another vet in my area that I could contact now.

I have kept snakes on and off since I have been old enough to remember (I'm 37 now) and have never done anyhthing so freakin dumb like this.. But I swear, I have done that so many times and nothing like this ever happened. It just sucks..

I'm sorry for the long post........

Scott W. Goodwin

Scott,
I don't know the vets in that area, but I do know a Herpetologist in Clinton, MS that may know of someone. If there's a herp vet around he'll know about it. If you need me to, I'll check with him. But in the meantime, have you tried calling the Jackson Zoo and asking who they use for a vet?

That adhesive is going to be tough to remove without using something that is irritating to the snake. Probably the least irritating thing I can think of that may get the adhesive off is plain old 71% Isopropyl Alcohol. Maybe you could just use a Q-tip and a little alcohol and just take your time and gently wipe it away? Of course after you get it off, you will want to thoroughly flush and rinse the area with water.

Well, after much soaking in warm water and about 10 different go rounds with baby oil on a Q-tip the snakes eye is clear and back into the correct position. He still has a few specks of it on the top of his head but I think I will leave him alone for the rest of the day, the snake and myself both need a little respit from the stress.

I would still like for you if you dont mind to contact the herpetologist in Clinton and see if he could recommend someone near the Tupelo-Starkville-Columbus area. (the Golden Triangle).

I am still going to drive over to MSU Monday and just see what services I could get from the veterinary department over there. I know they specialize in catfish production but who knows, someone over there must be familiar with herps.

Even if I had to go to Clinton I would. Its only 180 miles and I could do that in 3 hours no prob.

Oldherper-Chrish, I was hoping one of you would be the one to see that post... Thanks a lot for your help. I am just getting back into snakes after my kids begged me. I am no expert by any means, I am doing all the research I have time for right now and hopefully in a few years I will be able to help people like you do. But it sure does help when you have people like you two that will gladly step in with some good advice.

My Email

Scott W. Goodwin

Ok..no problem. I'll give him a shout, but I have to wait a bit. He's in the field in West Texas for a couple of weeks. Do me a favor...shoot me an e-mail in two weeks to remind me, because if I sleep between now and then I''ll for sure forget about it.

Oldherper is correct. All the vet is going to do is find some solvent and try to wipe it off with a Q tip and charge you $100. You could just as easily do a little research into solvents and get it off yourself.

Goo Gone is a great stuff for removing sticky residue and will certainly fix your problem, but I don't know how toxic it is. I think it is derived from citrus oils, but I don't know what the carrier is. I have gotten it on my skin and it doesn't irritate or dry out skin. I would be inclined to try that before I tried any other solvent (but I would read the label first, of course).
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Chris Harrison