TEENY baby snake found in my back yard, injured! :( help!

[snakems]

ok so... I dont know what's going on with all this snake activity here, since it's been so cold! but yesterday I saw the neighbors cat in the back yard kind of thwapping at something in the leaves along the edge of the woods/yard. I didnt really think anything of it because she didnt seem all that interested in what it was because she would walk away and then come back to it. I honestly assumed that it was probably some kind of bug. .... so after about ten minutes or so of watching her surveying the edges of the yard and going back to the same spot several times I decided to go over and investigate.

..... to my HORROR it was a baby garter!! looking dead! ... Needless to say I was SUPER upset with myself for not going over there sooner! If I had any idea that's what she was trying to get and what she was chewing on I would have gone over IMMEDIATELY! .....
I'm a super SAPPY animal lover of ALL species so I've been crying about it mostly out of regret that maybe i could have saved it before it sustained so many injuries if I had known!

.... HOWEVER it is ALIVE! I brought it inside and rinsed him/her off with warm water and it didnt really struggle at all :/ .... I'd have preferred it did in ways because I would know it at least had the strength to do so, but this did make it easy to clean it off :( .... It has what looks like several puncturish wounds and a rather crooked tail probably from being chewed a bit :( .... I dont know if it is a male or a female but it is super docile and slow (I dont know if that is because of it's injuries making it difficult to be anything but, or if it's just naturally a very chill snake). I cleaned the areas that I could see were clearly marks where she had been bitten with a mix of iodine and warm water w/ a Q-tip! .... I had just recently taken in two babies to observe for a bit and released them so I had a tote that I had used for them a few days ago, empty and I gently layed him/her inside of it with clean paper towels and a little shallow dish of water. I'm trying to keep it warm with a heating pad underneath one side of it on low because I know if it has a chance at all to survive this ordeal that it will need warmth! I dont know if there were a cache of babies or something recently in the area because later on I found ANOTHER baby closer to the house that was CLEARLY dead, I'm assuming due to the cat's curiosity or possibly another animal outside :( .... sorry for the rambling but I'm just letting this all pour out onto the keyboard from my fingers as fast as I can manage so that MAYBE i can get some suggestions from you guys before it gets too late :( I hope i have done the right thing but I couldnt leave it out there once I realized it was still clinging to life. I honestly didnt even know if i should somehow put it out of it's misery in case it was suffering! :( (lord knows HOW I'd muster the strength to do that! not sure if I could!)
It has actually drank some water about an hour ago when I went to check in on it. It was burrowed under a layer of paper towels at the warm end of the tote and i actually brought it over to the water as gently as I could and it started drinking immediately! I dont know if this is a good sign that it had interest in doing so or if it's bad that maybe it isnt getting to the water ITSELF?? anyway it seems to be getting a TAD more active, flickering the tongue and sniffing around but not really able to move too well as it's last like 3 inches seem kind of limp.....
thank you for reading everyone! any suggestions?? I realllllly hope this little guy makes it! .... I am truly beginning to hate cats!!

[confused]

My girlfriend brought home a cat a few days after I found my snake. The cat left. Snake is still here. :D I told her the cat would be the end of the snake, one way or another.

G'luck.

[gregmonsta]

Sounds like you're doing all the right things. You'll just have to monitor and see how it goes. The limpness will hopefully only be due to swelling from it's injuries. Got any photos? ... you know we love photos ;)

[ConcinusMan]

You are right. The drinking/tongue flicking is a good sign. The "limpness" you described is likely just pain. The equivalent of a human limping due to a sore foot. I usually give an injured snake at least 48 hours before I make any prognosis. Some broken skin, or even a kink in vertebrae, broken ribs, etc doesn't mean much as long as the snake doesn't have internal injuries(usually they stop eating/drinking) and is breathing well. On the other hand, a snake that can appear to be fine, can be fatally injured internally and will refuse food/water and take a week or two to die.

He can hold his head up (it doesn't just hang limp) and he can drink. Those are both good signs. Broken skin heals quickly. A kinked tail is not usually serious. Don't beat yourself up over not getting there sooner. The cat was probably just "toying" with the snake, keeping it alive on purpose. If the cat wanted it dead, getting there sooner wouldn't have helped.

I try to avoid "hating" any animal for doing what comes naturally, but I felt the same way as a teenager when I suffered several losses of beloved animals(birds, snakes) to cats. You don't hate garter snakes just because they eat worms, even if the worm is a beloved pet.

Keep him warm and clean until the wounds are dry and/or tough enough that dirt doesn't stick. If he makes it that far, he'll live.

[snakems]

Sounds like you're doing all the right things. You'll just have to monitor and see how it goes. The limpness will hopefully only be due to swelling from it's injuries. Got any photos? ... you know we love photos ;)
I will prob take some pics tomorrow.... :( right now I feel too upset to do it and i know if he doesnt make it I'll be sadder looking at the pics I took. Sounds stupid i KNOW! lol but Im waiting it out just a little. Thanks for the input it eases the process! :)

[snakems]

You are right. The drinking/tongue flicking is a good sign. The "limpness" you described is likely just pain. The equivalent of a human limping due to a sore foot. I usually give an injured snake at least 48 hours before I make any prognosis. Some broken skin, or even a kink in vertebrae, broken ribs, etc doesn't mean much as long as the snake doesn't have internal injuries(usually they stop eating/drinking) and is breathing well. On the other hand, a snake that can appear to be fine, can be fatally injured internally and will refuse food/water and take a week or two to die.

He can hold his head up (it doesn't just hang limp) and he can drink. Those are both good signs. Broken skin heals quickly. A kinked tail is not usually serious. Don't beat yourself up over not getting there sooner. The cat was probably just "toying" with the snake, keeping it alive on purpose. If the cat wanted it dead, getting there sooner wouldn't have helped.

I try to avoid "hating" any animal for doing what comes naturally, but I felt the same way as a teenager when I suffered several losses of beloved animals(birds, snakes) to cats. You don't hate garter snakes just because they eat worms, even if the worm is a beloved pet.

Keep him warm and clean until the wounds are dry and/or tough enough that dirt doesn't stick. If he makes it that far, he'll live.

thank you so much for your input! ... I am doing all that you've said and in fact the injuries it has acquired arent or never were really "wet" ..... theyre just these marks that seem like broken skin but nothing seeps from them as far as i can tell. Nothing "sticks" to him I dont think, but then again nothing would because right now I dont have ANYTHING in the tote but the water dish and paper towels (in layers at one end so that he can get inside and hide if he wants to). However since the very last time i checked on him/her (about ten minutes ago) he was moving a little more than normal and sniffing around a lot. His tongue was in more action than I had seen previously, but his tail actually looked much MORE kinked than ever before :/ ... not sure what this means... It seems a bit hard for him to move about but he is doing so if he is at all disturbed (which I try not to do unless im making sure he is still alive).
I didnt want to put anything in there that he could use to climb on or anything (not that he really would I dont think in this state, but JUST in case) thinking that maybe he shouldnt be moving much other than straight forward. I thought going through branches and diff levels might complicate his/her injuries.
Another thing I've noticed just now when I checked on it was that his/her cloaca is open a little, and it was not like this before. I thoroughly examined him/her when I put her into the tote and that was not the case before.
I'm keeping this little guy clean and warm as best as I can and making sure she has clean water because that's all I know to do right now and I dont think much else will help at the moment.

also... I dont actually hate cats now, its just that it horribly disheartening when I see things like this happening. I'm so sensitive its a huge fault! lol .... I'm actually a cat lover and unfortunately could never actually hate cats but in the moment cats were the LAST thing I wanted to see :/

thanks again for your opinions!

[ConcinusMan]

Still active, still sniffing, and still alive. Not even an oozing wound. The kinking seeming more severe could just be from swelling due to dislocated vertebrae. I've seen a few young garters with severe back injuries like that, even above the cloaca, and missing/severely disfigured ribs, that survived. He may have a speed disadvantage for the rest of his life but it sounds like He's going to be fine. Good save!

BTW, I have no idea where you found him, have not seen pics, etc. so I don't have an idea what he is either. a radix? other thamnophis? 'cmon. Spill it. One of the reasons I ask, is that I have several (at least 3 that are common) distinct and different species of thamnophis that can be found in my area. Some of them (T. ordinoides) almost always bear young in the fall, so there's lots of babies around when winter comes. the other species including sirtalis concinnus seem to favor early to mid- summer births. I'm thinking that one or more snakes gave birth in your yard, or nearby, recently.

[GarterGeek]

Glad to hear that you're taking care of him! It sounds likes he's improving, I wish I could offer you some advice. Just keep it up! :)

[snakems]

He didnt make it through the day today! :( .... I checked on him at about two-ish and he seemed like he was ok... drinking water when I brought him to him dish, but still having a hard time moving :( :(.... I really dont think I expected it because when I looked for him under the paper towels there he was with his mouth open and completely sideways :( I just feel absolutely AWFUL and I've been crying since. I really had hope for him. He was completely stiff so I put him outside where the other snake was that I found :( Probably a sibling of his :(

[snakems]

thank you to everyone that responded with opinions and advice, it was really nice of you!

[ConcinusMan]

So what kind of garter are we talking about?

[snakems]

I just feel so cruel, like maybe I should have just somehow put him out of his misery when I found him. He lived for about two days suffering I believe. :( Ugh... I'm so distraught.

[snakems]

So what kind of garter are we talking about?
It was an eastern garter. :( It's all Ive ever seen in my area.

[snakems]

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2511/3998220727_f2a77073de.jpg
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2661/3998981472_10fd8704f8.jpg
looked exactly like these guys pretty much. I had just a little earlier found two other babies. Same species.

[snakems]

there's two in that pic. .... I posted them in another thread a couple weeks ago I believe.

[ConcinusMan]

So sorry. I was so sure he'd make it, but snakes are strange that way. Especially young ones. Personally, from the description of his injuries, I would have tried to save him too.

Another injured snake in this forum was pretty severe, and I would have put him down, but he survived and is doing fine. Go figure.

[snakems]

So sorry. I was so sure he'd make it, but snakes are strange that way. Especially young ones. Personally, from the description of his injuries, I would have tried to save him too.

Another injured snake in this forum was pretty severe, and I would have put him down, but he survived and is doing fine. Go figure.

Cruel world! :( .... thanks for all your time!

[GarterGeek]

Sorry for your loss.:( You gave him a fighting chance, which was the right thing to do.

[mustang]

try giving the other 2 the best care free life in your home....sorry bout your loss

[jitami]

So sorry, Snakems. You did the best you could. I would have done things exactly as you did.

[ConcinusMan]

Ditto. don't beat yourself up for trying to save the little guy. don't worry about any suffering he might have endured. you're not the one that played with it as a prey item. And the cat was only doing what comes naturally. you did the right thing. If it makes you feel any better, I'm sure there are many dozens of those little guys in your immediate area that made it, and will emerge in the spring.

[drache]

I would have done the same as you
sorry he didn't make it - all we can do is try

[indigoman]

So sorry, you did all you could

[snakems]

Thank you everyone for your kind words and support! It really helps. I'm quite the baby I know :/ lol though it is true this will not prevent me from trying next time I see something like this! Makes me appreciate my snakems more now. :)

[guidofatherof5]

Sorry to hear the little scrub didn't make it.

[gregmonsta]

You did your best ;)