My wife and I witnessed a young California Kingsnake fall about 4' out of our cherry tree this morning.

He hit a small branch on the way down and landed on our lawn. I have him in our QT cage for observation. He's about 23" long and fairly light.

He does not seem to be injured in any way. Conventional wisdom with pet snakes is to not drop them - hence my concern for him. Having never dropped one of my snakes I have no experience with this scenario. I would hate to release him back into the wild without first making sure he has a fighting chance.

He is very alert and active and a brief examination shows that he has no obvious broken ribs.

I'm wondering if any of the more medically knowledgeable members could answer the following questions:

(1) Is a 4' drop to a relatively soft surface okay for such a light snake? Is there a possibility of internal injuries?

(2) I plan on keeping him for observation for about 24 hours. What should I be looking for if he was injured?

Our herp vet is back in on Monday. I would of course rather not have to take him in but will if necessary.

Thanks in advance.