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


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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.

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Originally Posted by The Serpent Merchant

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

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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.

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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.

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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)

Betadine is diluted 1 part betadine to 10 parts water, or whatever the instructions on the label say.

The important thing to remember with these chemicals is that you only want to apply them 1 or 2 times as they actually inhibit the wound from healing. Disinfect the wound once then keep the cage hospital clean so you don't have to continually disinfect the wound.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by BCBallPythons

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

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If the rat is malnourished, dehydrated and scared for multiple other reasons it can easily take less than an hour to do such damage. Although it's a sad situation the snake in question was not properly supervised during a live feed I don't see any contribution to the post by saying you call "BS".


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OP said the rat had been in there for a day already. Apparently the damage happened in the "one hour" that it went unsupervised.

That's why if I ever have to feed live to help get my BP start feeding again I stand there and mean mug the rat until my snake snatches it up. I don't want the rat coming to the snake I want the snake going to the rat. Since 99% of the time I'm feeding F/T small rats when I have to offer a live in never takes him more then 2 or 3 minutes for him to tag it. I agree with the suggestions pertaining to bringing the snake to the vet if you don't have experience with this sort of thing. That would give the snake the best fighting chance. If the snake is as mangled as you say and you don't have hands on experience with this sort of thing your probably going to lose your BP if you can't find a good herp vet or an experienced keeper nearby to lend you assistance. :/

I would like to request some photos of your snake and wound site first.
It's difficult to judge the severity of the injury without a visual.

I still prefer live over f/t. You just have to be responsible and vigilant about it.

Some responsible live feeding tips:

1) Feed the appropriate size food. I like smaller and more frequent meals than larger and less often. Weanlings and small rats are safe and harmless(to some extent). They're also not as conscious to danger as an adult would be. Adult rats can pack a nasty bite and are much stronger at fighting back, which is why "smaller and more frequent" is the way to go. I feed all of my adults weaned/small rats once a week. And multiple smalls for the big girls. A live medium size would be the max appropriate size for a ball python.

2) Keep the feeder well fed and hydrated. They're less likely to see your snake as food. Hungry rats are dangerous rats. They will eat your snake if left unattended for extended periods of time. This is the reason for most snake killing incidences.

3) Don't dangle the live feeder. This puts them in panic mode. A freaked out feeder is a dangerous feeder. Gently place the feeder into your enclosure. Calm feeders are good.

4) Monitor your feedings and keep a tool, such as tongs, on hand to assist your snake in case the feeder tries to bite down. I use a chop stick to stick in the feeder's mouth if its in a bad position.

5) Don't keep the feeder in with your snake longer than 30 mins max or so. Some people have a shorter time frame. If he doesn't eat within that time frame, take out the feeder and save it for next week.

I'm sorry, but take the BP to a vet. PERIOD. Would you say "Darn, can't afford it" if your arm was mangled by a (really big!) rat, or if your dog was hit by a car? Use a credit card, set up a payment plan, whatever. Take care of the animal that you committed to when you bought it.

Any updates? It's been almost 12 hours and we're all very curious on what's going on.

Why would you not use neosporin or peroxide - Newbee question
Thanks - Andy

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Originally Posted by Andys-Python

Why would you not use neosporin or peroxide - Newbee question
Thanks - Andy

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Not sure about peroxide, but as far as neosporin goes, I think the main reasons are that for one it is not sterile, and two its kind of goopy, does not absorb or evaporate, stays until wiped off.... collecting junk and harboring bacteria and stuff. I think I also remember reading that it is not good for the scales/dries them out or something to that effect.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Andys-Python

Why would you not use neosporin or peroxide - Newbee question
Thanks - Andy

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Neosporin does something to their scales, that softens them, and turns them to mush.

Anxious for an update here as well.

Sorry I haven't updated but I did clean the wounds very well and I quarantined his cage. He seemed to help me when i was cleaning him and wasn't aggressive. I just looked at the replies, thank you everyone. I did put nesporin on him but I will make sure to clean that off. And as far as the vet goes, the closet vet to me is over 4 hours away. Thanks for all the help. I will try to get some pictures later.

P.S.
I will try to start feeding him frozen thawed and I have learned my lesson.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Andys-Python

Why would you not use neosporin or peroxide - Newbee question
Thanks - Andy

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The short version: Because they do more harm than good in reptiles

The long version: Neosporin and pretty much all other oil based creams do something to scales that turns them to mush and then they flake off. Hydrogen Peroxide could be used as an absolute last resort, and generally is ok on shallow cuts. But on deep cuts it causes too much tissue damage and prevents healing.

My first instinct to a minor wound would be to put Neosporin on it. Thank goodness I read this thread! Thanks to everyone for sharing your knowedge!
Andy-:snake:

Well. Neosporin is ok if used once or twice. Too much for an extended period of time is really bad for the scales and will soften as Aaron said.
Neopsorin + Pain reliever is really dangerous to a reptile. There have been adverse reactions and even death with it.

Peroxide kills and damages the healing tissue.

Where do you live, that a vet is that far away? Just curious.. even the most rural areas I have lived in/near always have vets.. livestock, and all.