"Suicide" attempt thwarted by warden

[infernalis]

YIKES! I just went into my bedroom, and I notice right off that Carmella my Eastern Milk snake, the proud mom of my eggs, was hanging upside down and appeared lifeless, belly up wedged into the lid of her tote.

She looked just like someone latched her down that way, when I first opened it up I was panic stricken!! She was limp, didn't move, oh crap Carmella why did you do this??

Suddenly she lifts up her head and starts flicking her tongue at me:eek:

From what I could tell, apparently she was trying to escape, and had flattened down to try and squeeze between the lid and the latch, made it as far as her lungs, and then could not breathe! Fortunately my timing was right on, she got some much needed oxygen and is doing fine.

And even after all that, this snake has yet to bite or musk me??

Off to the Home depot, this tote ain't gonna work!

Carmella is getting a nice enclosure with no "squeeze points" to ensure that she does not do this again, and maybe while I'm not around to save her stupid butt!

BAD SNAKE!!!!

[ssssnakeluvr]

Nice save!!!!! I had a rough green commit suicide like that...sucked!!!

[infernalis]

Don, funny you should mention rough green snakes, I was going to get one, and while I was searching the ads, found Limon!

So I went for the BIG rough green:D

This does make me re-think the tote box as enclosures:eek:

If a big ol milk can, and a tiny little greenie can too, then maybe thay are not the most ideal way to house snakes.

[Stefan-A]

Close call, nice save. :)

[Lori P]

Oh phew, good save indeed. I now have an image of you doing mouth to mouth!!!!

[infernalis]

Nah, She came around rather quickly.....

Thankfully I keep the nicer towels locked in our bedroom, and was fixing to take a hot shower, otherwise it would have been hours before I went in there for anything!:eek:

Now I'm back there checking every 10 minutes!!

[anji1971]

That is one lucky snake!!
And Wayne, you've had more than your share of close calls lately. Hope they all keep out of trouble for you now.;)

[dashnu]

My milks _ALWAYS_ try to squeeze into areas they cant fit in. PITA

[jitami]

Yikes! Nice save indeed!

[crzy_kevo]

nice save wayne would have been a shame to lose her

[adamanteus]

Lucky you caught her, Wayne.

[drache]

whew
that was lucky
and a good save

[aSnakeLovinBabe]

I lost my female vagrans to almost this exact thing!! She had wedged her head into a small gap between the wooden doors of her enclosure at the top... I walked in and saw her limply hanging from the door... it was too late for her, it appeared that she had gotten her head stuck, freaked out, and snapped her own neck....

Glad to hear yours is still here!

[infernalis]

Thanks everyone, it was scary.. I'd have been crushed, she laid that awesome clutch of eggs, I so hope they gestate and hatch, losing mom right after she laid them eggs woulda been a heart breaker.

After she ate, she has been up under her water bowl the rest of the day.

[Steven@HumboldtHerps]

Good save! I guess we all have a freaky story to tell about our sometimes clueless serpents; usually however, it's our bad choices that do the harm.

My worst case was a baby corn who had decided to explore the inner light fixture. I thought the 15 watt light bulb would be harmless; it was; the light fixture itself wasn't! Please avoid the possibility of electrocutions!

I also used to use the bottoms of 5-gl black planter pots as hidey holes. It worked great with all my corns for years.... until a few months ago, when my hypo motley squeezed through one of the drainage holes and got stuck. We had to cut through hard plastic to get him out; and he was not pleased; he bit the heck out of me (first time) - he must have been very stressed. His scales in the afflicted area were severely scraped. "Jupiter" has since healed, but the pigments of those scales are faded.

On a funnier note, I had a similar less threatening ordeal with my oldest (and first) corn "Snakie". I had stupidly thrown in 2 mice, which he overcame quickly... only to swallow one, then go for a slink though his fake skull hidey-hole eye hole and then eat the other. So imagine an hourglass effect with the snake: mouse ingested on one side of the hole, mouse ingested on the other side - Snakie was stuck.... for a day and half! (fake skull was impossible to cut through!). We just let him move and digest the 1st mouse until he could move freely again... Lesson learned!

Steve

[infernalis]

Good save! I guess we all have a freaky story to tell about our sometimes clueless serpents; usually however, it's our bad choices that do the harm.

My worst case was a baby corn who had decided to explore the inner light fixture. I thought the 15 watt light bulb would be harmless; it was; the light fixture itself wasn't! Please avoid the possibility of electrocutions!

Steve

Steve, wow, electrocution, that sucks.

The one snake I am most concerned with internal lighting, is Limon, since he is arboreal and his tree is right under his bulb, Out of paranoia, I wired his cage for 12 volt lighting. (Good thing too, I have seen him wrap around his bulb!) and used L.E.D. (solar power bulb) totally safe, and only cost $10 for the L.E.D. bulb on ebay.

Speaking of bad choices, Steve is right on target. Sometimes we need these harsh and unfortunate lessons to understand what NOT to do next time, and thankfully with forums like this one, we can share and tell others what not to do. :D

[infernalis]

UM this one had me thinking, so here goes.

A properly wired light fixture would have the outer shell of the base connected to the neutral lead, and only the tiny center button on the bottom connected to the hot side.

Since the button is designed to go up into the socket and the base secures the access point, where was the exposed 110 that killed the snake?

The neutral lead is required by code to connect directly to an earth ground for just that reason.

That is why lamps have one blade wider than the other on the plug in end of the cord, to prevent you from plugging it in backward?

So I am miffed on this one???

[jeanette]

thank goodness you found her in time

[infernalis]

I see Shanley is reading my old threads.

[Snake lover 3-25]

lol yup :)

[infernalis]

Isn't it neat how your garters could smell the milk snake on your hands.

They know that milks eat garters.

[Snake lover 3-25]

yup sooty just wouldn't come oout but willow freaked!!!:eek:

[reptile3]

Oh Wow, nice save!!! Glad she is ok!!