Snake stuck on tape

Ok guys and gals, here's the story.

I just brought home a rough-scaled sand boa (adult about 2 1/2 feet long and quite thick) from Tinley Park this weekend. I had her set up in a sterilite tub with a snap on lid. Apparently I didn't realize just how strong these snakes can be. I've never had one of my boas escape from one of these tubs before though I use them regularly, but she managed it last night. She made it about 10 feet from the tub before she ran into trouble. She managed to get tangled in a roll of duct tape I'd left out (please keep in mind that this tape was NOT in her enclosure and frankly I have no idea how or why she managed to find the dumb thing - she may end up being my accident-prone girl).

The good news is that it prevented her from becoming totally lost, but the bad news is that she has a piece of that duct tape positively glued to the underside of her neck (throat area). The tape is about 1 1/2 inches wide. I've cut away the excess and the piece does not seem to be bothering her too much and does not interfere with her movement.

I will be trying vegetable oil shortly, but I am concerned that she won't let me spend time working on this (she's quite gentle, but it IS near her head). If I cannot remove the tape, would it come off with her next shed?? Is there anything detrimental to leaving it alone until she does shed??

Many thanks for any help!!

Cue tip and olive oil working in from the edges works best.

Just be very slow and gentle with it and watch out for her suddenly pulling away in case it rips the skin.

Best of luck getting it off. :please:

Oh, poor babe! x2 on the olive oil/Q-tip, hopefully she'll be patient with you. It really is better to get it off if you can, I think.

Get as much off as possible. The next time she sheds you can pull it off. I would only feed her very small meals until then though, as I would assume the tape would rip her skin if it was forced to stretch over a larger prey item.

Good luck, and so sorry for this! What a stressful homecoming for the both of you.

I GOT IT OFF!!! :banana:


Thank you VERY much for all your replies! I knew oil with a q-tip was the best option, but I truly was worried she wouldn't let me or it would be so stuck I wouldn't be able to do it.

But WHAT A GOOD BABY. She never once hissed, struck, or even pulled away sharply! She was SO patient! Sometimes I think we don't give our animals enough credit. I really think she knew I was trying to help her. The tape did pull away the very outer "layer" of the scales - almost like a piece of shed - but the scales themselves do not appear damaged and there was no tearing of her skin.

Needless to say, I have her in a lockable enclosure now...... :rolleyes:

Thanks again all!!

http://blog.3dcart.com/wp-content/up...012/05/yay.jpg

Woo! Glad its off!

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747

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Originally Posted by Rickys_Reptiles

http://blog.3dcart.com/wp-content/up...012/05/yay.jpg

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Yay is right, this picture makes me laugh every time I scroll past it lol

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Holtgards

Yay is right, this picture makes me laugh every time I scroll past it lol

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I'm cracking up too!! That is just exactly how I feel!! :rofl::banana:

Glad to hear it came off just fne

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Evenstar

I GOT IT OFF!!! :banana:


Thank you VERY much for all your replies! I knew oil with a q-tip was the best option, but I truly was worried she wouldn't let me or it would be so stuck I wouldn't be able to do it.

But WHAT A GOOD BABY. She never once hissed, struck, or even pulled away sharply! She was SO patient! Sometimes I think we don't give our animals enough credit. I really think she knew I was trying to help her. The tape did pull away the very outer "layer" of the scales - almost like a piece of shed - but the scales themselves do not appear damaged and there was no tearing of her skin.

Needless to say, I have her in a lockable enclosure now...... :rolleyes:

Thanks again all!!

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Yayyy!! I'm glad everything worked out! :) and I agree with you 100% on us not giving then enough credit sometimes. I've gone through a similar situation with my ball python Eva. She got stuck in one of her hides somehow and I had to do SO much to get her out and eventually had to break the hide in half to get her out, it took like 6 hours. But during the whole process she did so well because I think she knew I was trying to help her. It was a very bonding moment for us and she's one of my biggest sweetest girls ever :) she's has a scare but it's fading with every shed and now it's barely visible. But I'm so glad your little girl came out unscathed! I wanna see picks of the little cutie! :)


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Thanks again everyone! If you'd like to see pictures of the little stinker, I made a thread of my Tinley Park pickups here: http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...-Park-pick-ups!

She's the last one pictured - the Rough-Scaled Sand Boa. ;)

That little turkey! Glad it ended well. :)