Walking out the door to take out the trash tonight, I accidentally stepped on a small speckled kingsnake--about 15", probably a hatchling from earlier this summer (I'm in southeast Louisiana). It seemed to have some locomotion problems at first, but after picking it up and inspecting it, I couldn't see any physical damage--head was fine, the snake was alert, even constricting a bit around my fingers. The only thing I notice is a strange "clicking" feeling, and almost a weakness in its muscles, when it runs through my hand, about 2/3 down the length of the body. I put it in a 10-gallon enclosure with a water bowl, a hide area, and aspen chips as substrate. It didn't seem to have any locomotion problems, and burrowed quickly into the aspen.
A couple of questions, then:
--If it broke some ribs, what are its chances of survival? What's the best way to help it heal?
--What should I feed it? I'm comfortable with reptile care (we have a ball python, tegu, bearded dragon, and some box turtles, all very healthy), but I've never kept a small native constrictor. Are pinky mice too small? If not, do they need supplementation?
--Can it be released back into the wild after healing? What are the ethics of keeping a wild-caught snake, especially in this situation where it has been injured?
Thanks for any advice and help you can give. It's a gorgeous little animal--most of the time we just see ribbon snakes around here, or racers (which would never have let me step on them!).
Jonathan
