weird movements

[NetBSD]

so right before winter hit i got my hands on a young garter some kid ran over with his bike, i worked with this little guy for weeks helping him heal and watching him slowly get better. two parts of his body are fused together and he cannot move them but that never stopped him from moving around in his 10 gallon tank and enjoying his salamanders and slugs.


anyway, recently ive noticed him slithering more on his sides then his belly and his movement is getting sloppy (think watching a choppy movie or playing a game when it gets real choppy). i have no idea what his issue is or if hes gunna make it but it has me worried.


heres a few pics of his injury, they arent real clear because hes a handful trying to handle and i dont wanna injure him any more

http://imnotmark.zapto.org:3030/Pics/Jake/S6300154-1024.jpg
http://imnotmark.zapto.org:3030/Pics/Jake/S6300151-1024.jpg

you can see his scar, this is the upper part of his body he cannot move, id say its a good inch to inch and a half he cannot move.


this image is old, its from when i first got him and started working with him (he was in shed in this image) but i circled the 2 parts of his body he cannot move

http://imnotmark.zapto.org:3030/Pics/Jake/jake1-1.jpg

[drache]

they might not ever move normally, but it sounds like these injuries are a couple of months old, and if he has survived this long and is eating and defecating, I'd say his prognosis is pretty good
perhaps the way he is moving has to do with formation of scar tissue?
maybe I'm getting the time frame wrong - how long ago was the bike incident?

[snakems]

wow :( this makes me so sad. It reminds me of snakems! :(
she got attacked by my cat and now has a bit of a kink kind of where the worst bite was. But she is fine now. Just a tad bit more mangled than ever. Completely healed though.:)
I hope your snake ends up alright! :confused:

[NetBSD]

this happend a few months ago, right near the end of fall thats why i took him in, i dont like to take wild animals in but i didnt think this guy had a chance when i seen him with winter being so close. he is all healed up but his movement seems to be getting worse but he still eats and leaves me lil "presents" like any normal garter would, the only issues he has is shedding around his scars, i have to constantly mist him and let him rub around in a towel to get the shed off in those 2 circled spots

[adamanteus]

It may be that Rhea is right in that scar tissue has built up on his skeleton over the past few months, in the area of the injuries. If this is so, he might adapt his movement to compensate for this, and slowly improve in his locomotion. I guess time will tell..

[infernalis]

This has me wondering....

In mammals skeletal injuries will develop arthritis, Most cases of arthritis in human spinal columns is a result of an injury.

Can snakes develop arthritis from injuries?

[NetBSD]

This has me wondering....

In mammals skeletal injuries will develop arthritis, Most cases of arthritis in human spinal columns is a result of an injury.

Can snakes develop arthritis from injuries?


thats a good question, i really have no way to tell if hes actually in pain or not but its starting to bother me. i dont think he will ever gain movement back in those areas but as the weeks go by his movement is getting more and more sloppy

[guidofatherof5]

Wayne,
When I took one of my Radixs in for an exam. the Vet thought he had Rhumatoid arthritis or Scoliosis. It was diagnosed as Scoliosis. So apparently arthritis is possible. This was genetic not from an injury.