Update on Silv (rescued Garter)

[Ryachanira]

School/Work have been very busy lately, so I have not been on here much lately. But I wanted to give you all an update on how Silv is doing. Most of you probably remember when I rescued him back in October, when I found him dying (apparently) in my garage, with various wounds and malnourished.

All things considered, Silv is doing very well! He still will not eat - we recently re-tried giving him a variety of food options at different times/in different ways and still no luck. So we continue to tube feed him every three days, which is a tedious process, but has been going well enough. He barely struggles at all anymore, which is good - I think it hardly stresses him now. We are hoping that perhaps he will start eating again in the spring, but the vet has warned us to be prepared to tube feed throughout his whole life if necessary.

I do not think he has grown much (if any) since we got him. Originally I thought he had grown a bit, but our initial 'measurement' of "about a foot" was probably off so it is hard to say. He consistently measures in at ~14 inches these days. How much should I expect him to be growing, if the vet's estimate that he is about 6 months old (now) is correct?

He has shed twice since we've had him, once in mid December and again in mid January. While he needed assistance both times, it went much smoother the second time, coming off mostly in two big pieces rather than constantly ripping, so I think that is a good sign that his skin is healthier.

Still not sure whether or not he can see... both eyes are cleared up and free of blood, which is good. One eye still looks a bit dented, which I read can happen if the humidity is too low (it is usually around 40, although I shoot for 50, which is hard to maintain with the furnace on), and can possibly resolve in a future shed. Both of his eyes look kind of blue, which I am not sure is normal or not. He does at least spend a lot of time in his hide now, which he never went in the first two months we had him, so I am hopeful that means he is at least sensing light.

All in all, things are going well! He is the sweetest little guy, never bitten anyone and only musked that one time during my failed brumination attempt, which I think was because he hadn't been handled in a few days. He loves to be held and crawl through your fingers. He has actually turned many snake-haters around amongst my friends and family - he is so tiny and adorable, it's hard to resist him!

Here are a few pictures - the first few of his eyes and head(any guesses on whether or not he can see now are welcome). The last is just a fun picture of him crawling around my hand earlier today!

http://i197.photobucket.com/albums/aa66/Ryachanira/Silv/SilvHead3.jpg

http://i197.photobucket.com/albums/aa66/Ryachanira/Silv/SilvHead2.jpg

http://i197.photobucket.com/albums/aa66/Ryachanira/Silv/SilvHead1.jpg

http://i197.photobucket.com/albums/aa66/Ryachanira/Silv/SilvFeb2011.jpg

I wanted to say thank you again to all of you who have helped me out with this little guy! I have no doubt he probably wouldn't be here now if it weren't for all of the advice you gave me when I first found him. :)

[guidofatherof5]

Nice to see Silv.
Hoping he'll start eating on his own. He's taken a hard hit on the front of his head but is hanging in there.
Is his mouth always open like in the photo?
Not sure if those eyes are functioning.
Does he react to a hand waving in front of him?

[Ryachanira]

His mouth is not always open, but he opens it often. He has done this since we first saw him on the driveway, two days before I found him again in the garage (and before the head wound). At first we thought it was possibly an aggressive sign, but since he is so calm and still does it I am not sure that is it. Then we thought maybe it was breathing issues with that big scar on his head obstructing his nasal area, but that is gone now too... so I don't know why he does it... although it is kind of cute, haha.

Sometimes I feel like he reacts to movement, but not all of the time so I am not sure if it is the movement or the scent or sound or something else. Sometimes when he is up against the side of the cage, if I put my face down close to the cage he'll lift his head up (possibly) in response to that. But he also often seems to ignore movement in front of his eyes.. which is why I am a little unsure. Although his eyes do look a little.. off.. to me.

[ConcinusMan]

Seems that I can't even find any nostrils. Perhaps scar tissue has obstructed them and that's the reason for the open mouth. Hoping for the best but those eyes don't look very good and could become filled with infection. Very risky considering how close that is to the brain.

Looks like he has healed up pretty well. Good job saving him.

[Ryachanira]

I had assumed that the two small holes near the tip of his head on the top were his nasal passages? Perhaps the injury did destroy the outside appearance of the nostrils but those two small holes do seem to go down into his head... of course let me know if I am wrong! If so I would love to know what those are (if anything).

I will continue to keep an eye on his eyes (ha ha) to monitor for any signs of infection. I haven't yet seen any sort of discharge or severe inflammation. If/when he goes back to the vet I will make sure she double checks them.

[aSnakeLovinBabe]

Poor little fella.... what a shame... but kudos to you to for saving his life! His eyes don't look right at all... if he has any vision, it's not going to be 100%. I would say he probably has at least the ability to sense light and darkness. Do you know what happened to him? it looks horrendous... poor little snake.... :(

i also cannot make out nostrils. Maybe it's the angle. I can see where his nostrils are supposed to be, but i don't see any holes!

[gregmonsta]

Hope things keep going well for the little booger ;)

[Ryachanira]

I will try to get a better picture of his head later tonight that may show the nostrils - I am curious now! :)

I have no idea what happened to him. We first saw him on a Sunday, in our driveway. He did not have the head injury then - I know because I of course grabbed my camera to snap like 30 pictures of him (this was actually the first time I have ever seen a wild snake in my life, haha). Then gently moved him off the driveway into the grass with a metal stake. Then I found him Tuesday night in the garage. I wonder if maybe he scrapped up his head crawling into the garage? Or possibly something else happened in those few days. At any rate, he had the head injury in the garage. Poor little guy... makes me wish I had just taken him in on Sunday, but obviously at that point I had no reason to think he needed any help from me.

[EasternGirl]

Poor little snakie...I think it's really awesome how you are taking such good care of him!