Snake tail injury!

[Puppyclown]

Help, I caught a garter snake today but found that the end of his/her tail was missing:(! He/she was bleeding so I took him/her home. I put him/her in a cage layered with paper towels and gave him/her some water and a minnow to eat. I have him/her in my room, near a lamp. What else can I do for him/her?:confused:

[guidofatherof5]

Make sure the wound is kept clean. Having her/him on paper towels will really help. I would remove the minnow. First, treat the injury and worry about food later. Second, minnows are usually full of parasites. There are many other safe foods out there. It would be best to I.D. the snake first when it comes to food.
Some biotic ointment applied can't hurt. Be sure the ointment doesn't contain any painkiller(analgesic)
Thanks for being concerned for this snake.

[Puppyclown]

Thank you it will try that.

[jwolfe152]

I know the snake is probably skittish of hands and you in general (my first one was the same deal except i cut his tail off with a weed eater) but if you keep the wound clean he/she should be fine. Also if the wounds is dirty maybe use a some peroxide to flush it. But please don't use peroxide or alcohol on a regular basis it has been shown that they can cause longer healing times because of how they work but one peroxide flush will be good for it.

[guidofatherof5]

Any chance you can post a photo of the injury and whole tail area. I'd like to see where the injury is.
If you can't post a photo can you tell us how far from the vent/cloaca the injury is?

[chris-uk]

The outcome of this really is going to depend how much of the tail has been cut off. A photo would be a great help, but you mentioned that the tail was hanging by a thread when you found it so can you estimate how long the bit that was lost was?

I have a very good antimicrobial barrier ointment, but it's not easy to get in the US. Unless there are signs of infection I'd go with a more conservative treatment and just use an antibiotic ointment (as Steve said, make sure it doesn't have any analgesic) and only resort to peroxide if there's obvious infection.
Hopefully it's a clean cut and will heal well, does it look ragged or like it's been cut with something sharp?

I think feeding is very much secondary to keeping it at a good temp and treating the injury. It's not going to starve if it doesn't eat for a while. Minnows may be full of parasites, but this is a wild snake, so it will likely have a high parasite load anyway. Personally, I'd worry about getting it eating after getting it through the first few days of treating the injury.

A photo and your location will help identify the species too.

[joeysgreen]

In all honesty, most minor wounds like tail damage are best left for the snake to deal with in the wild. All wild snakes have parasites in manageable levels. The stress of captivity in combination to having to heal a wound can allow the parasites to reproduce out of control. Clean the wound off, apply an ointment if you like (polysporin is fine), and then place the snake back to where it was found or a nearby shelter (bush, deep grass, forest undergrowth).

If you are looking for a gartersnake as pet I recommend buying a captive bred animal.

If you are planning to keep this snake as a pet then I recommend a veterinary visit. At home remedies will likely work but your vet will be able to assess and treat the snake as a whole to give it the best chance for a long and healthy life as a pet. This may mean addressing dehydration, internal and external parasites, wound care, pain management and perhaps systemic antibiotics if indicated.

[Puppyclown]

Hey just wanted to say thanks for all the advice... I kept him about a month and his tail healed up nicely. I had to take the dead part of the tail off and the stub healed up nicely. I let him go where I found him and I think he payed me a visit ... I was out herping where I released him and found a snake about his size with a stubby tail! Just wanted to let you know and thanks again!

[guidofatherof5]

Great update and thank you once again for taking the time to care for the wayward one.

http://www.thamnophis.com/thamphotos/data//744/Clapping.gif

[gibble888]

Good job!!

[SaytaSora]

1075210753Hi there! I actually have a similar problem with my garter snake. I was going to post my own thread but since this one already exists maybe I can get better info! I caught my garter about a week ago and noticed it's tail was cut, the remainder of the tail looks lifeless and doesn't move with the rest of its body. It didn't look infected or bleeding at the time, but just today I looked at it and there was a tiny bit of blood on it and it almost looks like there's scales missing around the cut, like he snagged it on something and pulled it more. Should I just leave it? Do you think the tail is just coming off or something?

The first picture is when I first got the snake, if you can zoom in you can see where the tail is slit. The second one is what the tail looks like today

[guidofatherof5]

That does look like something a Vet. should take care of. I would bet the spinal cord is still active in the injured section. I also see what appears to be swelling in the section. If you have any betadine I would apply it to the injury site, once a day.
Signs of infection can be swelling and be accompanied by smelly discharge or different colored discharge. Beautiful female by the way. Looks like a T. s. parietalis - Red Sided Garter to me. What State are you in?

In the wild nature would take its course on this injury. The injured section could die and fall off at some point but this could also be something the snake lives with.
With that being said she in not in the wild and I think it should be looked at by a competent reptile Vet.
Thanks for taking the time to care for her.

Povidone-iodine - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Povidone-iodine)

[d_virginiana]

Also, since it looks like the wound area is still open, it'd probably be a good idea to put him on either newspaper or paper towels for bedding. That way debris can't get in the wound and you can better monitor any bleeding/fluids coming out of the tail.

[guidofatherof5]

Also, since it looks like the wound area is still open, it'd probably be a good idea to put him on either newspaper or paper towels for bedding. That way debris can't get in the wound and you can better monitor any bleeding/fluids coming out of the tail.

Very good points to bring up.

[joeysgreen]

Nature also often takes care of this with death. Snakes are tough, but what we find is scewed towards the survivors as the dead don't last long.

When in doubt, if it's something you'd take your kid to the doctor for, then it's something you should take your snake in for. Doing so greatly reduces the risk of complications, and with proper pain management the snake will suffer less regardless of outcome.

[EasternGirl]

Many of us have used Hibiclens (Chlorhexidine Gluconate solution) to cleanse and treat garter injuries. Now that I am a nurse, I can tell you that we use the same solution in the hospital to prevent infection and cleanse wounds...it is very good and safe to use. You can purchase it at any drugstore. With garters, I recommend diluting it a little and gently cleansing any wound with it before treating with an antibiotic ointment. It will help to treat or prevent infections as it is an antimicrobial solution. After cleansing the wound, use a triple antibiotic ointment such as neosporin on the wound and keep the snake on paper towels. This is mainly directed toward the injured tail mentioned above. As for the spinal cord injury, I agree that a vet may be needed to assess the injury...just make sure it is a vet that knows something about garters.

[d_virginiana]

If you use neosporin or any other antibiotic ointment, make sure you get the kind withOUT painkillers. The painkillers can cause serious skin irritation in snakes and will kill more sensitive herps like frogs.

[SaytaSora]

Hi everyone! I wasn't getting email notifications about this thread for some reason so I did not know there were replies! I just came back to check since my snake's tail has in fact come off, just today actually... Funny enough it looks better now without the dead piece of tail hanging off the end of the snake, and before it came off it looked like the spine was broken there anyway so a vet would have likely cut it off anyway. I will go out now and try to find the hibiclens and ointment without painkillers. He healed up rather quickly last time so I'm guessing it'll be the same. I already have him on paper towels since I read online that you should do that with new snakes plus its easier to clean up.

PS: to guidofatherof5 (or Steve) I actually have no idea what gender my snake is, I'm just calling it a "he" until I figure it out for sure haha. I caught him after breeding season so I'm guessing by the size of him (as in he looks big enough to breed) that if there's a bunch of babies suddenly hanging out in the aquarium between August and October then its a girl! Otherwise, I'll continue to assume boy. I'm guessing you're judging it based on the tapering of the tail? I'm not very good at judging that stuff by looks so after trying to compare his body to pictures online (and trying to keep him out of my hair at the same time) I finally gave up. Also, I live in Ontario, Canada =)

Thank you everyone for your replies! Everyone is a lot more helpful here then on yahoo answers. A person there basically told me to let him go into the wild to die, and the other people that replied were just arguing on whether snake tails grow back or not lol

[guidofatherof5]

Hi everyone! I wasn't getting email notifications about this thread for some reason so I did not know there were replies! I just came back to check since my snake's tail has in fact come off, just today actually... Funny enough it looks better now without the dead piece of tail hanging off the end of the snake, and before it came off it looked like the spine was broken there anyway so a vet would have likely cut it off anyway. I will go out now and try to find the hibiclens and ointment without painkillers. He healed up rather quickly last time so I'm guessing it'll be the same. I already have him on paper towels since I read online that you should do that with new snakes plus its easier to clean up.

PS: to guidofatherof5 (or Steve) I actually have no idea what gender my snake is, I'm just calling it a "he" until I figure it out for sure haha. I caught him after breeding season so I'm guessing by the size of him (as in he looks big enough to breed) that if there's a bunch of babies suddenly hanging out in the aquarium between August and October then its a girl! Otherwise, I'll continue to assume boy. I'm guessing you're judging it based on the tapering of the tail? I'm not very good at judging that stuff by looks so after trying to compare his body to pictures online (and trying to keep him out of my hair at the same time) I finally gave up. Also, I live in Ontario, Canada =)

Thank you everyone for your replies! Everyone is a lot more helpful here then on yahoo answers. A person there basically told me to let him go into the wild to die, and the other people that replied were just arguing on whether snake tails grow back or not lol

The last time?

[SaytaSora]

The last time?

I was referring to my older post when his tail started bleeding.

PS I tried bandaging him up with a finger cot and paper tape but it kept falling off. I haven't seen any blood on the paper towels yet.

[guidofatherof5]

Letting it air dry and scab over is best. A few weeks on paper towels should be enough. Don't be surprised if you get a quick shed as that is part of the healing process.
I would still apply some betadine every other day, just as a precaution.