Rat scratched my snake's eye, please help!!!

[Zincubus]

Too late to edit ...... Actually I did take on a rather miserable / poorly Royal many years ago and it did go on a hunger fast for a few months and then started again after having a soak in a container ( another tabboo subject ) .

Oh and I've never fed anything LIVE to my snakes , couldn't face doing . I feel enough guilt when I feed earthworms to my Axolotl !


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[Calider]

My BP is extremely underweight and will not eat F/T. Should I let her starve to death for the sake of my conscience?

[Ratikal]

Where do you find time to handle and care for 45 ball pythons? Are you a "breeder"?

[cletus]

I'm not going to touch the live vs F/t.....But I would def get the snake to a vet like has been suggested.

[Ratikal]

No such thing as "taboo" being that case studies have shown that wild Ball pythons actually do soak themselves...if most "breeders" were required to case study or environmentally invlove themselves, I bet it would greatly weed out those just looking to make $ by flooding an already strained reptile market! I've noticed that there isn't much difference between alot of reptile breeders and puppy mills!!!

[Ratikal]

Actually, thats part of the consequences of trying to domesticate a wild predator...you can lead a horse to water but it'll drink when its ready!

[Warren_Booth]

Where do you find time to handle and care for 45 ball pythons? Are you a "breeder"?

If you are referring to me, I have around 75 snakes in total. Split between Central American Boas, Ball pythons, and Corallus ruschenbergerii. I have actively been keeping and breeding snakes (as a hobbyist) for over 20 years. I don't handle every snake every day, however I interact with the group of animals I maintain on a daily basis, either through feeding, cleaning, watering, etc. I don't feel the need to have to handle each snake on a daily basis.

Warren

[Warren_Booth]

No such thing as "taboo" being that case studies have shown that wild Ball pythons actually do soak themselves...if most "breeders" were required to case study or environmentally invlove themselves, I bet it would greatly weed out those just looking to make $ by flooding an already strained reptile market! I've noticed that there isn't much difference between alot of reptile breeders and puppy mills!!!

Interesting points raised here. I am a professor of evolutionary biology and much of my work relates to snakes. I would love to see those studies you refer to regarding wild ball pythons soaking. I have not seen them and when I search through academic literature I don't see anything that discusses soaking behavior in wild snakes. There are notes of wild caught snakes soaking, however that is not necessarily normal as the animal is removed from its natural environment.

Second, you refer to "breeders" being required to case study or environmentally involve themselves. What do you mean by this? Do you mean that a person that breeds a snake must know exact details of that animals natural environment, ecological parameters, behaviors under natural conditions, etc? If so, this is an interesting point as one could argue that captive breed animals are far removed from natural conditions. Hence the reason "captive syndromes" are often discussed.

Finally, because someone may own a lot of animals, does not mean that they neglect those animals, nor does it mean they all feel the need to breed every animal they own. With mine, I might attempt to produce one or two litters of boas a year, or a handful of python clutches. That is far from being a puppy mill.

Warren

[Sallos]

I would definitely get that little guy to a vet as soon as possible. Might be easier said than done this time of year. None of the Reptile First Aid pages I found referred to eye injuries, so unless someone else has experience with them, you might want to just leave it alone. You might also want to remove anything from the enclosure that might scratch or get into the wound. Change the substrate to paper towels, etc.



Good luck and let us know how the vet visit turns out.

[John1982]

Vet is a good choice for an eye injury. Good luck and keep us posted.