snake+tape wht do i do!??!?

i did something stupid yesterday and used duct tape to attach a digital thermomater to one of my snakes cages. i woke up this morning and she must have knocked it down and got one of the little pieces of tape stuck to her about 2 inches down from her head. when i checked on her she hissed at me and has never done that so i am guesssing she is very very scared. this has never happened to me before so i have no idea wht to do. right now she is soaking in a cool whip container. somebody tell me what to do i am desperate!!!:(

I have used mineral spirits to remove duct tape before. However, last time I posted about that, Adam said he had used vegetable oil before. The veg. oil is probably a bit safer. I would dip a Q-tip in vegetable oil and wipe it on the sticky part of the tape. Continue to let the oil soak in and slowly and gently peel the tape off slowly. After that is done remember to remove all tape from the inside of an enclosure. My suggestion on attaching your thermometer would be to go get a piece of velcro, and stick it to the enclosure, and that should do the trick.

before i read your repy i called a friend who is a snake expert. i asked him what i should do and he said to very gently pull the tape off starting from the front and going to the back. this took a very long time as she was not happy but i did it and then applied neosporin to the area where she lost some scales and there was also a small cut which i applied the neosporin to. she is in her cage right now in her hide and i feel sooooooooooooooo awful.:sigh2: but today is feeding day for her and i doubt she will eat so i think i will just wait a week only handling her to apply the neosporin and then feed her after the week

oh yes and i will be getting velcro

Hope she settles down for ya. Good idea to just leave her alone for a few.


Don't feel too bad, your the second tape victim this week.

Velcr,velcro,velcro. If she's determined to take it off, try getting a sheet of velcro from a hobby store, Wally World might have sheets, and cut it to fit the whole back side of your therm.

We ALL make crazy mistakes, your not alone.

Happy 4th to ya!!!!

I wouldn't worry too much about it; she should be OK soon. I had the same experience with Polly -- she was upset for a few days and shed shortly afterwards to replace the damaged scales, but that was all.

happy 4th to u to. and what surprised me most about the whole incident was that she didnt bite me at all she didnt even try. maybe she was too scared but shell be ok im sure ill just keep puttin little dabs of neosporin on her for a couple days. thanks for your help everyone

Quote:

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Originally Posted by muddoc

I have used mineral spirits to remove duct tape before. However, last time I posted about that, Adam said he had used vegetable oil before. The veg. oil is probably a bit safer. I would dip a Q-tip in vegetable oil and wipe it on the sticky part of the tape. Continue to let the oil soak in and slowly and gently peel the tape off slowly. After that is done remember to remove all tape from the inside of an enclosure. My suggestion on attaching your thermometer would be to go get a piece of velcro, and stick it to the enclosure, and that should do the trick.

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Tim, you meant Mineral OIL not Mineral SPIRITS, right? I can't imagine paint thinner would be too good to use.

Actually, I did mena mineral spirits. My best friends Dad when I was younger was a vet, and he recommended it when I got some duct tape stuck on a six month old garter snake. It worked great. However, with the knowledge I have now, I would not recommend it, but it does work, and did not affect my snake. I would probably try the vegetable oil thing now, if I ever encountered that problem again.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by muddoc

Actually, I did mena mineral spirits. My best friends Dad when I was younger was a vet, and he recommended it when I got some duct tape stuck on a six month old garter snake. It worked great. However, with the knowledge I have now, I would not recommend it, but it does work, and did not affect my snake. I would probably try the vegetable oil thing now, if I ever encountered that problem again.

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Gotcha..I should stop presuming to know what people are intending to say. Wait, what? :)