Rescue question...

[Kom@tose]

Hey all~

The other day I picked up a BP from a teacher at the school I work for, she said that a friend of hers found it on the side of the road. I'll post pictures up, but aside from the "typical" rescue problems (dehyrdation, jacked up shed) she had a long, fairly deep gash down her side, starting about 2 inches back from the head and going for about 4-5 inches in length. It's closed up now, but my problem is, if I feed this guy a rat, isn't it just going to open the gash back up once the skin stretches out? I mean, it remains to be seen whether or not he'll even actually accept food, but I don't want feed anytime soon just in case. I was going to wait about 2-4 weeks, but then again, who knows when the last time this thing ate was. It's a little underweight, but I'm sure it won't starve to death within 30 days.

I'll put some pictures up later so you can see what I mean.

[MeMe]

awwe...that is sad.

I hope he does well now that he is in your care!

sending warm get well wishes his way!

[xdeus]

Kudos to you for helping out this snake. To answer your question, you might want to try a couple of smaller prey items such as rat pups until enough scar tissue has formed. After it has healed sufficiently, you should be able to feed larger items such as weaned or small rats without problems.

[MeMe]

btw....how big is this guy?

[KIBPLOVER]

i know what you mean, its like i said in my post, we are on our sencond rescue of the year... its sad..

[frankykeno]

Personally I wouldn't even worry about feeding quite yet anyway. Priorities I'd deal with are getting this snake into a very stable environment (temps/humidity), on plain paper towels so you can watch for mites, constant available clean water, two tight dark hides and lots of quiet time with no handling and minimal movement/vibrations in it's enclosure area. At some point you might want to collect a fecal and have a float done. Also watch the closed wound to make sure you don't have an infection under the skin brewing.

I'd let the snake rest quietly for a couple of weeks with close but non-intrusive observing then try a very small first meal, something like a fuzzy rat or very small pup rat and see how it goes. If it starts eating you could then very slowly work it up to a "normal" sized meal if you are seeing good aggressive feeding responses and no regurges over the course of three or four weeks of feeds.

All of this is just the common sense stuff I'd do but please remember only your herp vet can determine this snake's true health status and how to address any needed medical issues. Don't hesitate to see your vet if the snake seems, in your opinion, to need medical intervention or a health assessment.

It's wonderful you are doing this rescue! Remember to protect your collection with good quarantine procedures.

[Kom@tose]

Hey thanks for the replies all.

As far as the size, I can't really tell how big it should be since its a little underweight, but my biggest female BP is about 1950g, and this one is just as long, obviously not as well-fed, but the heads are about the same. It's kind of sad because obviously, this is a snake that someone took care of for years and then either it not only escaped its enclosure, but also the keepers house (yea right), or someone just let it go. I don't even want to start speculating on how it got that long gash, but it kinda sorta seems like it could've been done on purpose. Like I said, I don't want to speculate, but whatever.

Frankykeno- Yea I'm gonna hold off like you said and try a pup in a few weeks. I actually don't mind if I have to feed it smaller meals for the rest of its life, a couple extra dollars on my feed bill won't kill me, even if I have to go back to mice. As far as the gash though, how would I check for an infection? I imagine the area would be discolored somehow, but is there anything specific to look for?

Jeffnme-He/she (I figured with all the other crap the snake has been through in the past couple weeks, it probably doesn't want some jackass popping it's sex organs right now, so I'm not sure of the sex) is prolly a little over 3 and 1/2 feet.


Thanks again.

[frankykeno]

To be quite honest, were I faced with this snake as a rescue, I'd have it seen by a vet. You don't know how this snake was hurt, if it received any medical treatment, if the conditions it was in when the wound was open were unsanitary (which is probably very likely). I'd just be worried about what might be festering under that closed skin, and I tend to worry until I know what I'm dealing with good or bad. I know I'd likely gently palpitate the area feeling for anything that felt "odd" and not normal for a snake, check for discharge, that sort of thing but realistically I'd have the snake seen just to be very sure. Better to deal with anything as quickly as possible when it comes to these lovely creatures and a good herp vet can be your best friend when you take on rescues.