Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I was out on a motorcycle ride today and only got about 2 miles from home when I came apone a large 5’ Pacific Gopher snake squirming around in the middle of the road like it had just been hit “Another car did just pass” After slamming on my breaks and turning around and parking my bike I was amassed to see this snake escaped from death it was completely untouched. Snakes are very common were I work and they are killed on a daily basis so when I find out there I bring it home and release it on my property. To this day it is not uncommon at all to walk down one of our trails and see several snakes as well as many other reptiles sleeping, basking, eating, breeding right out in the opened so I figured hey I will add this guy to my wild collection so I placed him in the fairing of my bike “For lack of a better place” brought him home and showed him to the wify then took him out and set him free in a small dirt cavern type hole under rocks and plants. I checked on him 3-4 times today and he did not budge. I thought that strange since its so beautiful here today and just a few minutes ago I finally saw him halfway out of the hole. I noticed some wet blood on a weed and when I followed the trail to him I found blood all around his mouth. I guess he did not escape that car after all. I put him in one of my enclosures and figured I would keep an eye on him for a while and make sure he heals up nicely. Was that the right thing to do or should I just put him back out on the property and hope for the best? I have done this before and have saved snakes that were run over. Just last year an associate of mine ran over a 2 foot Cal King and after a while under my car it was set free “Again on my property” Thanks for the suggestions.

That was very cool of you to do that my friend!

Thing is..he may have internal bleeding and may pass away regardless of what is done. My only suggestion is taking him to a vet to get some xrays. Then if worse comes to worse..the vet can euthanize him. BUT....maybe things can work out for him as well...? The vet trip is my suggestion.

That was really kind of you to do that for that poor snake. Keep us posted!
Billy
-----
Genesis 1:1

If you see bleeding he obviously got whacked by the car and has some internal trauma. Unlike Billy I would not take it to the vet. There is a very good chance that snake would have become some coyote's dinner had it have stayed on the road. Since you brought it home, I would think the right thing to do is to provide it some moderate heat (speeds up healing) in an aquarium and monitor it for improvements. It'll either die soon or recover. If you leave it on the trail and it is visibly bleeding it will become prey for some hungry critter.

Good luck.
Russ

Unless youh ave a vet that is willing to understand your situation and basically help at lower than average price I would not set foot in a vets office. Your gesture is outstanding, very cool thing to do. I think you should keep him for a while. Make his cage extra specific with water available on both ends and multiple hides. I say this because if animals are like people, there's always sometime that comes around when you really hurt yourself good but KNOW it is gonna hurt a lot worse the next day. So let the snake curl up somewhere comfortable and attempt to heal himself. I think a warm spot and water is all you should concern yourself with for now, and if he pulls through offer him some very small rodents. If he eats I say let him loose and pat yourself on the back. Any which way that snake stands a better chance of survival due to your thoughtfulness. I owe you a cold one if you go to Daytona! Tom Stevens

Pituothis melanoleucus is actually part of my research interest so maybe this can add valuable information to my notes. I am not the least bit concerned about eh vet bill so I will take everyone’s advice. I will hang onto it and give it plenty of water warmth and hiding places as well as take it to the vet to have it looked at. I must also keep in mind that after an injury such as this once healing is complete this individual may never be able to go out on its own again. Currently I don’t have the facilities to house a 5’ Gopher Snake but I am in the works of remedying that as we speak. The thing that gets to me is this individual showed no signs of anything abnormal until I saw the blood “A good 3-4 hours after its collection and re-release”. It hissed and struck at me as any healthy snake would to. It did let me pick it right up with no fight when we got home but after holding it for about 2 minutes it started putting up a huge fight. I wander if something “Feral cat maybe” didn’t get it in-between my rounds down the trails today??????? Very good possibility I would imagine. In and all around the property we have many feral cats, bob cats, Mountain lions coyotes and several other things that would just love to tear up a snake like this. Red tail and Spencer’s hawks. The list goes on and on. My wife said maybe the gopher den I let it go in had a gopher that game home and nailed the snake. I find this highly unlikely. You know what a 5 foot gopher snake would do to a gopher clearly this is doubtful.

Just wanted to let everyone know my efforts were for not. It was just like everyone warned. I woke up extra early the next morning to check on the snake just to find it had passed away over night. Oh well I guess it happens. Thanks for all the help with this ordeal

.

I am so sorry to hear about the snake my friend. Thank you for taking the time to try to help the poor guy out. It is nice to know that he passed away in the care of someone who cared for him enough to try to help him.

Take care!!!

Billy
-----
Genesis 1:1

I know I gave it a better chance than it ever would have had if I had left it alone however I am a little disappointed still. As I said the last individual I acquired was a Cal king that got nailed by both drivers side tires of a Dodge Neon and that snake survived just fine so I had high hopes for this one. Oh well I guess it happens.

I have to agree with the two previous posts about upping the heat, multiple hides, and water. Checking on it every once in a while to make sure it is still alive, and feeding it very small meals prior to release once it is healed enough. Snakes are a very very hardy animal and can survive some nasty injuries. Too bad there arent more people like you man!! Keep up the great work and keep us posted!! If it doesnt survive, it was a great attempt.
Brian
-----

RATS
1.0 Corn snake "Warpath" (KY locale)
1.0 Black rat snake "Havok" (KY locale)
1.1 Black rat snakes "Reaper and Mystique" (MO locale)
1.0 Albino Black rat snake "Malakai" (Dwight Good stock)
1.0 Everglades rat snake "Deadpool" (Dwight Good stock)
0.1 Greenish rat snake "Rogue" (Dwight Good stock)
1.0 Yellow rat snake "Wolverine" (Dwight Good stock)
1.0 Grey rat snake "Punisher" (White oak phase)(Dwight Good stock)

Good luck and Happy Herping
Brian