Injury

[MCwyo]

I found this little dude in my back ally. Not a great place for a garter. He's got a kind of funky looking injury on his side :( I was wondering if there's anything that I can/should do for it before taking him down to the creek and releasing him?

http://img191.imageshack.us/img191/6651/owch.jpg (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/191/owch.jpg/)
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[guidofatherof5]

Looks like scar tissue and shouldn't need anything.
A little A&D ointment wouldn't hurt before the release.

[MCwyo]

Thanks! I will put a little bit of ointment on him tonight, give him a good meal, and let him go in the morning :)

[guidofatherof5]

Nice job.

[katach]

I agree. Looks like an old injury. Thanks for caring enough to be concerned about it. Is the creek far from where you found him?

[MCwyo]

No, the creek is not far. It runs just a stones throw from my house (literally). I'm guessing that's where he came from, but he was about a block or so down the ally headed towards the gas station :eek:

[katach]

Oh ok.
Maybe he wanted to get a soda or play the lottery. :D

[MCwyo]

I'm pretty sure he was after a blue raspberry slushy :cool: Not natural garter snake prey, but who can blame him when it's almost 100 degrees out?

[MCwyo]

UPDATE: He's back. I saw a garter in my yard under the apple tree and picked it up to have a look. I am 99.9% sure it is Slushy Snake. He looks to have shed and the scar looks much better than it did. It was greenish and almost oozy looking before and now it's a clean smooth gray. However I was very worried to notice that there is a clicking sound when he breathes. I can also feel the click when he is in my hands. I'm wondering if this indicates infection, parasites or a possible internal injury :( I got him some fresh water and a shady place to rest. Dunno if I should try to help him further or just let him go & let nature decide.

[guidofatherof5]

That clicking sound is probably this glottis as it opens and closes for a breath.
Not a big deal. I have clicky snakes here sometimes.

[thamneil]

I'll agree with Steve on the clicking.

Im sure the little guy will be just fine without any further assistance. :)

[MCwyo]

Thanks guys. I've never herd a snake click before, glad it's just a normal thing. It sounds almost exactly like the rasping click several of my rats had when they had pneumonia.

[EasternGirl]

Thanks so much for caring about slushy snake and trying to help him. Cool name btw. Like others said, many garters make a clicking noise...some of mine do it when they are nervous when being held. Unless the snake is wheezing, breathing with it's mouth open, or you see bubbles coming out of it's nose or mouth...it probably does not have a respiratory infection. Luckily, if it is staying around your house...you can keep an eye on it and give it a nice meal now and then. Keep us posted! :)

[ProXimuS]

That's really cool to hear he came back! Hopefully he will stay around and you guys will cross paths every once in a while:)

[MCwyo]

Sat down to load a bunch of images onto the computer today, so I thought I'd post these :)

The difference of how the scar looked-
http://img707.imageshack.us/img707/5125/scarxx.jpg (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/707/scarxx.jpg/)
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And some head shots.
http://img838.imageshack.us/img838/4212/picture224a.jpg (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/838/picture224a.jpg/)
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http://img96.imageshack.us/img96/9112/picture226u.jpg (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/96/picture226u.jpg/)
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[guidofatherof5]

Was the snake swallowing something in that second photo?

[MCwyo]

Yep, he ate a worm.