Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hello,

I have a 2 year old california kingsnake. I was looking for information about a snakes ability of develping internal bleeding or broken bones from a horrible accident that happend today. While I was cleaning his terrarium in my bathroom I placed him in the sink with the sink drain closed. By the time I was finished with the cleaning of the terrarium I went to get him and he was stuck half way in that hole that is generally between the drain and faucet which is so small I never would imagine he could get in. Once I saw this I tried to pull him out gently but nothing would work so I had to pull harder and he started coming out yet there were cracking sounds in his vertebrate while I was pulling him and some skin damage. I was sure he was going to die but he isnt dead and doesnt show any signs of problems although I feel there is a problem in his body which he just isnt displaying. Does anyone know what the possible affects of such an incident could be? I live in Rome Italy and there are no reptile veterinarians that I have been able to locate.

I doubt if a vet could do much for it anyway. You'll just have to let the snake be for awhile. They can usually handle a broken rib or two.

Once I had a ratsnake get stuck in my oven and getting it out about 2 inches of skin tore off just like you peel a bannana. The muscle tissue was showing it was very bad. I kept the snake in a clean dry cage with newspaper substrate and rinsed the wound every couple days with diluted water/Betadine. I got the Betadine from the veterinarian with dilution instructions. The dilution does not have to be very specific, just add about 1 teaspoon Betadine to 1 or 2 cups of water. Also I fed smaller meals and raised the hotspot from 83 up to 87 farenhieght.
The snake healed fine after about 2 months but it left a big scar.

I think you can get Betadine at the pharmacy or almost any drugstore.

I had a similar experience years ago. I put antibiotic ointment from the drugstore on the abrasions, and then let the snake be and observed it w/o handling it. The snake did fine. Yours likely will too.