dropped his hide rock on him!

Hey whats going on! i dropped his hide rock on him by accident now hes not really moving like he normally would go right back in his hide box now hes just laying there.... hes not dead far from it, but could that of seriously injured him i didn't drop it from that high

Take it to the vet. Personally thats what I would do. Sounds serious.

i just took him out of the tank and he was slithering and stuff, put him back and he went back in the rock, think hes fine?

I would really consider taking him to the vet. Just because you can't see a difference doesn't mean there's not something wrong. Not to be a downer..Im just saying he could or couldn't be injured but why not go to the vet to check. :)

Update: judging by the size of the hide rock in your other thread..it could be pretty serious.

just my 2 cents.

ahh dont have the money for the vet right now.... the rock is one of those rocks from pet co pretty heavy but he realy seems fine. should i soak him in warm water or something?

no you should bring him to the vet- buying a pet is also taking the responsibilities of its cost onto yourself

Really shocking to see the number of people that will just run to their vet, for the slightest thing.

Not sayint dropping a rock isnt serious. But jeez-louisse people.

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No you should bring him to the vet- buying a pet is also taking the responsibilities of its cost onto yourself

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Though I am sure more than most of the time people take that into consideration, things do happen. Not being able to afford a Vet visit does not make a person irresponsible. You should be more careful with that word.

With this economy, we should be banding together in a mutual uderstanding of the hardships we are forced to go through, not flogging someone who is in those said hardships.

To the OP: I am not suggesting AGAINST a vet visit. Your snake should be brought to a vet asap, though if you are not able to afford a visit, then there is not much else you can do. People who are in that type of situation and cannot pay for a vet visit, should be extra careful with their snakes. I mean, strictly serious. Don't play around with your snakes life.

No, not being able to afford a vet visit does not make a person irresponsible, unless they were unable to afford the vet visit at the time they acquired the animal. That would be extremely irresponsible.

Failing to provide medical care when an injury or illness is suspected DOES make a person irresponsible. If you cannot afford the vet, then the responsible course of action is to surrender the animal to a reptile rescue, or see if you can find a vet who will take payment plans. There is absolutely NO excuse for failing to get proper treatment for an injured or sick pet--doing so is more than just irresponsible, it is illegal. It is animal neglect, and is classed in some States as animal cruelty. There is no wiggle room on this one--neither moral nor legal.

Am I saying the OP is irresponsible if they don't take their animal to a vet?

No--I can't see his snake, and I don't know whether or not it is injured. If he genuinely believes it is not injured--that no ribs are broken, no bones cracked--then there would not be a reason to take it to a vet.

But if the OP DOES suspect for a moment that the animal has been injured, and fails to take it to a vet for monetary reasons? Yes, that's monumentally irresponsible, and cruel.

The selfish mentality of someone who will not give up an animal even though they cannot afford to take care of it speaks for itself. They care about themselves and their possession, not about the animal's welfare. I'm speaking not of the OP, but of others who are so willing to excuse someone from providing vet care simply because they cannot afford it.

take your chances if you think he's fine.. everyone here says to take him to a vet but i dont think they realize that a vet cant just put a cast on him and send you off.. so basically your gonna go there and pay him $150 for him to tell you that he has broken ribs but theres nothing he can do!

i would first monitor his breathing, if he's making funny breathing noises then the rock could of damaged his breathing tubes.. also you might want to feed him smaller portions now.. if he's in pain then you dont want to make it worse with a HUGE rat.. so you might have to backtrack his feeding cycle..

if he still seems really messed up after a week or so then you might want to get him checked out but really theres not much they can do for broken bones!

hope this helps

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Originally Posted by zackw419

Update: judging by the size of the hide rock in your other thread..it could be pretty serious.

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I saw that picture too. Unless those hides are super light, they sure look solid and heavy! We don't know the size of the snake and the height the hide fell from, though, so no one can really say, but I sure hope snakey is OK.

A vet can administer anti-inflammatory medication if swelling threatens the spinal cord, and can also diagnose and treat any potential internal injuries. Just to name a few things a vet can do, that you cannot do at home.

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Originally Posted by Patrick Long

Really shocking to see the number of people that will just run to their vet, for the slightest thing.

Not sayint dropping a rock isnt serious. But jeez-louisse people.

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I agree with you to some degree... but if anything is "not right" for more than a day or two, off to the vet I go, no matter how broke I am. As it was already said, owning a pet is accepting the responsibility of caring for their health - even if it means sacrificing something else, making payments, etc.

I was NOT happy when I spent $480 at the vet for my dog, for something that turned out to be a stomach flu. Had to split the charges on three credit cards (including my mother's "emergency card" she lent me), which took a while to pay off... but that's part of being a responsible pet owner. :oops:

P.S. To make the OP feel a little better, I've dropped a hide or two on a snake before... only from maybe 1/2-inch above, so they just looked at me like "thanks a lot!" and moved on. :P But if you notice anything weird, especially after the next 24-hours, a vet visit couldn't hurt.

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Originally Posted by WingedWolfPsion

A vet can administer anti-inflammatory medication if swelling threatens the spinal cord, and can also diagnose and treat any potential internal injuries. Just to name a few things a vet can do, that you cannot do at home.

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So is there anything the vet could do to TREAT any possible broken bones?

You can't really put a snake in a cast...

I am legitimately curious as to what a vet would do to TREAT broken snake bones. Is there anything they actually can do other than administer pain killers and anti inflammatories?

Credit cards, as opposed to them as I am, being formerly in substantial debt to them as I was, are a good use for an emergency when you don't have cash on hand but something serious comes up. They're great for emergencies, just not for everyday purchases (unless you can pay the whole bill every month).

I had some of those rock hides, and yeah, they're definitely heavy.

also, they turned out to be what was causing the tan, crusty face on my snake too. paint dust would come off of them if you rubbed your finger on them hard. see this thread about that. http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showthread.php?t=103179

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Originally Posted by Kaorte

So is there anything the vet could do to TREAT any possible broken bones?

You can't really put a snake in a cast...

I am legitimately curious as to what a vet would do to TREAT broken snake bones. Is there anything they actually can do other than administer pain killers and anti inflammatories?

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no they cant do anything for broken bones... eventually a calis (hard skin? i'm not sure how to spell it) forms around the broken bone(s)

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Originally Posted by johnny wobble

I had some of those rock hides, and yeah, they're definitely heavy.

also, they turned out to be what was causing the tan, crusty face on my snake too. paint dust would come off of them if you rubbed your finger on them hard. see this thread about that. http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showthread.php?t=103179

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Oh thank you...I noticed that on Elizabeth and she has one of those as well. And I too was thinking...is she going to shed?? Looks exactly the same. Think it might be time to ditch the rock....and go with something else. I did make my first hide this week. (Im very proud of myself...as I am not a handy type of person). Something else I found was going to the dollar store and picking up a pitcher....Henry LOVES the top of it as a hide. But then again....he is a little koo koo ka choo!:rolleye2:

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Originally Posted by Patrick Long

Really shocking to see the number of people that will just run to their vet, for the slightest thing.

Not sayint dropping a rock isnt serious. But jeez-louisse people.

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I'm definitely not the type of person to run to a vet for a snake immediately. I have a budget and really would not prefer going to the vet for snakes..none of my snakes have ever even been taken to the vet for a checkup or anything because for some reason I don't feel as obligated do go as I do with, say, my dog.

BUT

I would take a look at his thread where he posted his 40 gal tanks set up. That hide rock is not light, I'm pretty sure It's one of those overpriced exoterras you get at petstores. Those hides are very heavy,they could easily more heavy than his snake, although I don't know the snakes weight. I guess it depends on how high the drop was but one of those hides could easily kill a snake if dropped in the right area.

Anyway I dont think dropping one of those rocks on a ball python would be considered a 'slight thing'.

I imagine the best person to ask about how a vet would treat broken bones...is a VET. I'm not one, and I've never had a snake with broken bones.

In general, I would think broken ribs would be evaluated, in case surgery is required to prevent nasty things like punctured organs.
The vet would also look for any internal damage that might have been caused along WITH the broken bones.