Please help i dont no what to do!?

My spider bp had a rat in his tank for less than a day. I leave for about an hour and come back to mangled snake. You can see the muscle. I killed the rat and I dont know how to treat such large wounds. Right now I cant afford a vet bill. I just need some help, please anyone help.
:please::please::please::please::please::please::please::please::please::please: :tears::tears::tears::tears::tears::tears::(:(:(

This is why live rodents should NEVER be left unattended with a snake.

Can you post a picture? we need to know what we are dealing with here.

Do you have anything like chlorhexidine or betadine on hand?

Whatever you do, do NOT apply Neosporin or hydrogen peroxide.

Here is a list of things that need to be done:

1. Make sure that the wound is clean, and the snake isn't loosing too much blood.
2. Remove the snake from its cage and strip down the cage to the bare minimum (paper towel substrate, 2 hides and a water dish)
3. Keep the cage hospital clean. The biggest risk at this point is infection.
4. Make sure that the cage temperatures/humidity are perfect.
5. Apply a safe disinfectant to the wound (like diluted chlorhexidine or diluted betadine)
6. return the snake to it's cage, and keep a close eye on the snake until the wound completely heals. If you see any signs of infection you really need to get your snake to a vet.

If it's bad enough that you can see muscle and/or he's got large wounds that you don't know how to treat, get him to a vet. Borrow money from someone, ask your family, ask your job for a pay advance, call an emergency vet and ask if they can bill you instead of paying upfront. Do what you need to do to get him to the vet.

As The Serpent Merchant said, posting some pictures so we can see how bad it truly is would be nice. Make sure you stop the bleeding, once he's stable disinfect his cage and use paper towels as bedding. Keep that cage clean! You can't risk infection, that's gonna rack up a big vet bill. But honestly, if he truly is mangled and he's that bad you may need to bite the bullet and get him to the vet.

Sterilize your animal's living conditions as best you can, and find a way to get it to a vet. I really hope you've learned a lesson from this carelessness.

I call BS on it only being in there for an hour.

Pics would help but id advise you to just go to a vet and SOON


Http://www.BCBallPythons.com
Http://www.facebook.com/bcballpythons

Everyone else has already given good information. I do think you need to get him to a vet.

As for the next time you feed live, DO NOT leave the rat in the tank A. unattended and B. more than 30-45 min. If they don't eat in that time frame, they aren't going to eat period. By leaving the rat in the tank for longer than that time frame, you are allowing the rat to get hungry and hungry rats can hurt your snake.

Hopefully you can get your snake feeling better.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by The Serpent Merchant

5. Apply a safe disinfectant to the wound (like diluted chlorhexidine or diluted betadine)

---

For future reference, how much should the chlorhexidine or betadine be diluted? 1:2, 1:5, 1:10...???

I would also take it to an emergency vet.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by bcr229

For future reference, how much should the chlorhexidine or betadine be diluted? 1:2, 1:5, 1:10...???

I would also take it to an emergency vet.

---

Well it depends on what strength chlorhexidine you are starting with. Chlorhexidine is usually sold in 2% and 4% concentrations. (2% is the most common whereas 4% is usually something only vets/professionals can readily get ahold of)

2% chlorhexidine is normally diluted to 1 floz per gallon of water. I'm not 100% sure on what the safe dilution for the 4% solution is as I have never used it. Most manufacturers will print the proper dilutions on the label or on the MSDS (Material Safety Data Sheet)