Reptile & Amphibian Forums

There was a large brush fire in a marsh near my job on Friday.
I went back the following day with my wife to look around and take some pictures.
We found a 4+ foot black racer with some really bad burns and cuts.
She (not sure) has burns on her back and sides running down 3/4 of the length of her body.
The tip of her tail was burned clear off. She also has several cuts and a deep puncture wound about 3/8 of an inch deep.
It looks like a Hawk tried to eat her while she was recovering from the burns.
I brought her home to try to help.
The first day I soaked her in a mild solution of Chlorhexidine and water, then finished cleaning her wounds with full strength Chlorhexidine and put some triple antibiotic ointment (Bacitracin) on the deep cuts and puncture wound.
Today I repeated the same process and used Liquid Bandage on the burns and cuts.
She is in a large Sterlite tub, with a heat lamp the warm side is set to 85. It is still winter here in NJ, so I tried to warm her up slowly.
It was about 60 when I found her, uncommonly warm for this time of year.

Is there anything else I can do for her right now?
She is alert and moving around, with a little difficulty, but she is very slow for a racer.
How long should I wait before trying to get her to feed?
I would like to release her in the same place once she is healed and it is warmer, Is that a good idea?

Please help,

Tom

Snakes can be real tough so sounds like the treatment was good. Just give the snake a hide space when the snake is comfortable or hungry it will come out of the hide space and look for food that is when you feed.
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"Life without risk is to merely exist."

Sighthunter,
Thanks for your reply... I've enjoyed reading your posts for some time now. I really like the "girls like pink" picture.

She has a card board box as a hide and a small water bowl.
Here's some pictures of the snake.
I'm calling her Smokey for obvious reasons.
I guess she is one tough snake... fighting off whatever attacked her... after being all burnt up.
She's been really gentle with me though, and very tolerant of me cleaning and dressing her wounds

If anyone else has advise, please reply.

Thanks,
Tom

Good Job
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"Life without risk is to merely exist."

man i would say feeding it is well down the list of what it needs for now;in the pics it does'nt look extremely emaciated or anything,so just let it rest and heal....try to give it a temp. gradient,as well....(you may have already,i don't remember reading that though)...like you said you have,hide box(es) are crucial...when it does show 'stalking' behavior(pacing about,exploring a lot,etc.),keep the prey items really small,i would think-e.g. 4-6 pinkies instead of a small mouse,etc.-to keep the skin from getting stretched more than necessary while it's recovering.hey it sounds like a good thing you already started there,with the wound dressing,etc.i would have just considered hydrogen peroxide,or a diluted version of it....i don't know,i'm not a vet,lol....good luck,hope it continues on the right track...peace

n/m

Snakes do have amazing healing properties but in certain instances, they need additional help. You have done everything just right, and, if you have access to a good herp vet in your area, you might consider getting some Silvadene Cream; this stuff works great on ventral thermal burns and cuts/lacerations. If the snake sustained deep puncture wound from the hawk, it might also need a course of antibiotic injectsion (I keep raptors in addition to many herps at my facility and raptor wounds are great vectors for bacterial infections). Just something to think about but you are on the right track and I commend you for taking the time to give this snake a chance to survive.

Rob Carmichael, Curator
The Wildlife Discovery Center

>>Good Job
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>>"Life without risk is to merely exist."
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Rob Carmichael, Curator
The Wildlife Discovery Center at Elawa Farm
Lake Forest, IL

Hi Rob, nice to see you over on this forum...........Bill
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"Life without risk is to merely exist."