Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Help!

I have a 3-or-4-year-old female corn snake who somehow managed to get loose in my apartment for about 10 days - with my 2 (declawed - phew!) cats. I did finally find her but I noticed recently that she has a sort of gash on her side about 6 inches down from her head. The cut is about an inch long and 1/8 inch wide - sorry no pics - I don't have a digital cam. Anyway, I didn't take her to the vet because it wasn't actually bleeding and she seemed mostly okay except for being sensitive in that area. Now, however, she has several areas along her body, the biggest one being above the cut, where the scales have turned white and when she shed last night, the skin got stuck on the cut. She's also cut down her eating to one mouse a week instead of her usual 3. Basically my question is this: what if anything could a vet do for this, and/or is there something I can do at home; i.e., bandage it myself. I hate to be cheap but I'm really low on cash right now and I was wondering if this is something I could take care of myself, at least temporarily. Thanks for any help!

First of all, don't stress too much...these things happen and snakes heal remarkably well!! From what you described, I'd feel most comfortable treating her at home. Unless the wounds are severe or become infected, there's no need to take her to the vet.

The first thing you should do is give her a warm water soak to rinse out the wounds. Then, put some neosporin (or other antibiotic ointment) on them. You'll need to keep the wounds clean but moist with ointment at all times.

Until they close up, you'll need to keep her on newspaper so she doesn't get pieces of substrate stuck in her wounds.

Also, do NOT feed her until they close up and stay closed for some time. You don't want them to reopen from being stretched by the food inside.

That's it...in a few weeks to a month, you'll be surprised at how good she looks.

I agree with everything so far said about treating your snake, except for not feeding her.

You can continue to feed her to make sure she doesn't lose weight. Just feed small meals that don't make any lump. Since you said she was previously eating 3 mice, 1 mouse may be just the right size, maybe a hopper or a large fuzzy would be good. You will be the best judge.

Also, if she normally soaks in her water dish, you need to take it out, so she can't soak. The water dish is just a breeding ground for bacteria. Just introduce water for a few minutes every day or every other day. If she's thirsty, she'll drink. And actually, as long as she is eating, she should be able to get some water from her food.

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alstiver@hotmail.com

1.0 '01 Hypo snow cornsnake (Tesla)
0.1 '02 Ghost (pastel) cornsnake (Banshee)
1.1 '02 Bloodred cornsnakes (Desi and Luci Too)
0.0.3 Goldfish (Kabuki, Isamu, and Yuki)
1.0 American Eskimo mutt (Rusty)

You could put a little betadine in a dish of luke warm water (enough betadine to make the water look like weak tea) and if you think you can place her body in it without letting her dip her head, great do that. Other wise just splash the betadine solution across the wound several times. Try not ot let her get her face in it at all, but don't panic if she does. I had a ball python squirm right out of my hands and go for a good long swim in a betadine solution before I could get a hold of her again! Didn't seem to hurt her at all, but it CAN't be good to ingest it!

Then do the neosporin twice daily until next shed and see how she is doing.

Also, for the water. If you have removed her water dish to keep her from soaking, just take and twice a day hold her head over a dish of water, and if she is thirsty she will dip her head in and you can actually see her drinking. (Kind of fun to watch too!)

She's 3-4 years old. If she's been eating regularly it will not hurt her one bit to go without food for 4 weeks (or even 6) while the wound heals.

It really depends on the severity of the wound and the placement of it. If the wound is by her neck, it is much better to let it heal first then to try to feed her. If the wound is by her tail, it wont make a difference if you feed or or not.

If it were me, and the wound were anywhere on the front half of her body, I would absolutely withhold food until the wound has been closed and clean for at least a week. Then, give small meals to start. A wound that reopens takes that much longer to heal and is prone to infection.