Injured Petsmart BP

[Bogertophis]

Then again, pretty sure we already have. They probably would let me, the more i think about it.

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Trust me, it's something you all need to learn...

[Slicercrush]

Snakes are pretty easy to tube-feed- use a human urethral catheter* (10-12 Fr size usually) & a syringe. Use Gerber's chicken baby food, thinned enough so it goes thru tube easily. (online the Bean Farm supplies them, it's under "health care") Gerbers chicken is the best baby food I know of for this purpose, it's easily digested with no sugar or corn syrup etc. like in other brands. It's only chicken, water & cornstarch. I usually use a drop of vegetable oil on the catheter, to make it more slippery. First get the snake to drink water to lubricate their throat- if you hold their head under a trickle from faucet they usually drink, or tip their face to water bowl. (If you forget or cannot do this, the other way to lubricate their throat is just to push the plunger very slightly so a little of the mixture comes out at the top of their throat, right after you begin the insertion)

Make sure to expel the air in the catheter...you want the "snake-shake" to drip out the end of the catheter just before you put it into the snake's mouth/throat. Gently use the catheter tip to open the snake's mouth & gently slide the tubing in until you feel resistance: stop! the catheter should be in far enough. IF you depress the plunger on the syringe and see the liquid in the snake's mouth, you aren't in far enough, so try again to go further...just be gentle. (you might estimate ahead of time about how far the catheter will go in, based on the length of the snake you're trying to feed- roughly the distance from mouth to top of stomach- about 1/4 to 1/3 of the total body length)

Remember that a tube-feeding is for quick energy....like the I.V. we cannot give them...DO NOT try to feed the same amount as the solid food you wish they were eating...this will be less but very effective anyway. And for snakes needing hydration too, this will be far more digestible than solid food would be.

Tips: Do this where you can have the snake lying flat on a towel. If you're gentle & persistent but not overly-forceful, you'll have less of a battle with the snake. Obviously you have to restrain them, but be flexible...it's a give & take. When you're done, slide the tubing out -it may catch just a bit on their teeth, and also trigger a bit of a gag reflex as you pull it out- I massage their throat if they act as if trying to upchuck, & they usually keep it down. BTW, I've always done this single-handedly...so if you don't have someone to restrain the snake, don't worry...if I can do it, you can too.

Important: Keep the snake's head above their body when you carefully put them back in their cage -for obvious reason, what slides in can slide back out... then let them rest.

Afterthoughts:
Add water to some chicken baby food so it's thin enough to go thru the tubing...test first, not on the snake...nothing worse than getting the tube into the snake & then having trouble pushing the plunger on the syringe...you want this to go as smoothly for the snake as possible, obviously. You can also add vitamins, minerals (for reptiles) or meds (those meant to be taken with food) to the "snake-shake" too.

You sure won't need a whole jar of Gerbers for a little snake, btw...you can freeze the rest of the open jar by dropping spoonfuls of the Gerbers onto a piece of foil or on a plate in the freezer...once frozen, store the frozen lumps in a plastic baggie or other container in freezer for future use. It will keep better & much longer this way than in fridge...

Any questions? Just ask...I've successfully tube-fed various snakes over the years...honestly it's the most useful thing I've ever learned to do for saving snakes. A snake that is too weak or ill to eat on their own will be in a downward spiral towards death, just as we'd be in the hospital without an I.V. to regain our strength & normal appetite.

Thanks for such a detailed explination! Where would i be going to get the catheter an syringe, if it comes down to it?

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[Bogertophis]

Thanks for such a detailed explination! Where would i be going to get the catheter an syringe, if it comes down to it?

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Oops, sorry, I thought I posted the link in earlier post, but I just looked & it didn't show up...so here again, not expensive & they're great to buy from.

https://beanfarm.com/collections/hea...g-tube-syringe

[Bogertophis]

The first snake I ever tube-fed was many years ago...my vet gave me the syringe & catheter & a very short typed paragraph, no where NEAR this much info to go on.
So this is MY version...and feel free to ask your vet, share, copy, whatever....it's all about helping snakes recover.

I have tube-fed tiny 7" hatchling desert glossy snakes, a TX longnose snake, a corn snake, a rosy boa, a BP, just all kinds (even a rattlesnake but that's a WHOLE OTHER
chapter- much harder & different.) A snake that gets too weak from not eating (or other issues) will eventually have no appetite...after tube-feeding, & sometimes even
only once, they often* feel better & regain their appetite. *Obviously the success of any individual depends on the reason they aren't eating...if there's a stomach tumor,
for example, it's not going to alter their future, but for many common situations, this is SO worth trying.

[Slicercrush]

Oops, sorry, I thought I posted the link in earlier post, but I just looked & it didn't show up...so here again, not expensive & they're great to buy from.

https://beanfarm.com/collections/hea...g-tube-syringe

Thank you so much! This info will definetly be put to good use.

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[Bogertophis]

Feed this:

Using this: https://beanfarm.com/collections/hea...g-tube-syringe

Super-important to use a catheter as shown above from The Bean Farm: the end is rounded, not cut...using other tubing with a snipped-off end can
cut or tear up the snake's internal tissues, so never use anything like plastic aquarium tubing to do this. The "feeding tube" is actually a human medical
-grade urethral catheter- and it has a round end with small holes on either side, just above the tip, so it doesn't catch on tissues when inserted. The
syringe too is borrowed from the medical community...it's sold without a needle, specifically for this purpose. The tubing & syringe can be washed, dis-
infected & re-used many times.

[dr del]

Got some closeups of his injury. Skins healed, though no scales. Also has retained eyecaps. Poor Baby...

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Just to say ( in case I missed it ) those are wide open wounds not healed skin.

And to add to what Bogterophis said the next stage I would be thinking off would be a pinkie pump rather than jumping to whole food.

I hope the little guy keeps improving for you ** crosses everything**

[Bogertophis]

Just to say ( in case I missed it ) those are wide open wounds not healed skin.

And to add to what Bogterophis said the next stage I would be thinking off wouold be a pinkie pump rather than jumping to whole food.

I hope the little guy keeps improving for you ** crosses everything**

I have no experience with using a pinkie-pump, have you? I ask because I've heard that they sometimes jam slightly with a bit of tissue or bone, and the risk is
a sudden release of pressure that can shoot the poor snake across the room (with obvious injury or death), so I've never tried or kept up on them at all...have
they made improvements? I've never had any such problems using the very smooth Gerber's chicken given by syringe...that's why I've always used that.

(And many years ago I tried to "blenderize" some pinkies/fuzzies but without a really GOOD commercial type blender, it's just not smooth enough.)

[dr del]

It can be tricky but there is no real bone or cartilage in most pinkies - heating them up helps soften what is there. If you are worried you can masserate them with the back of a spoon to reduce the problem - it just makes a messy job a little messier. I haven't yet fired a hatchling accross the room but then I insert quite a short distance into the snakes throat and would withdraw if the resistance felt wrong. Common sense is definitely needed though. I have seen people introduce far too much at a time and cause a regurge.

[Godzilla78]

I hate to be devil's advocate, but at what point do you euthanize the poor, suffering animal? Looks really bad to me.