Chances Story

[Snake lover 3-25]

okay... so seeing as a few people have found injured snakes this year... i figured it was time to tell this story.... i have to start off by telling you what happened before so that you understand why i did it...

so i baught 2 corn snakes... my first ever REAL pets... so they were eating and doing great... then all of a sudden the female got mouth rot..... i did everything i could... i took her back to the guy that i bought her from and he showed me how to treat it and so i took it back home... and she never got better... she stopped eating and eventually past on.... so then the male that i still had was alone but still doing great... i got a second female for christmas and they went into brumation shortly after.... but they never came out.... i tried everything that i could... i force fed them... but they always through it up.... the female was much smaller than the male... and so she went first.... then after months of trying to get them to eat... he past on too.....

so ever since then i vowed never to buy another again... no matter how much i wanted it.... so then i found chance... he had been hit buy a lawn mower... and he had no skin for about 3 inches down his body.... you could see his muscle and some of his organs... thank god they were not damaged.... i still believed that i could have done more for my corns.... somehow i could have made them eat... somehow i could have saved them... somehow i had failed...... so.... i swore to save him.... i knew that his chances weren't good.... as i had seen one just like this dead.... but i felt like it was my chance to make up for my corns... i felt like it was my duty to save it..... like i HAD to.... so i did...... i put bacitracin on it 3 times daily... for 6 months... i cleaned his cage daily... i changed his water daily... and i fed him about once a week... because i knew that it would be a slow healing wound... and i knew that if he lost his strength he would never make it...... i'm guessing that he was a yearling and he was full of energy.... after his first shed i somehow knew he would survive.... eventhough he still had a very open... very exposed... very bad wound.... so i kept up with his cleaning and medicating and feeding... and he started to improve... finally after about 6 months he had a fresh layer of skin over the wound... but this skin was so thin and so new that you could literally see through it... so i waited.... and waited... and waited... and finally about 2 months later you could no longer see through his skin... it was still alot lighter than the rest of his body... but he was well enough to start acting like he wanted to go.... he wanted to leave.... and i knew it... he would escape often no matter what i did to prevent it... and so i did... eventhough i loved him... i let him go....

and i no longer have regrets... i no longer feel like i could have saved the corns... i no longer feel like i have to make up for something that was never my fault in the first place... i no longer feel in debt...... but i will forever keep my vows to never buy another snake again..... no matter how much i want to....................

[adamanteus]

Shanley, that's a lovely story. And kudos to you for feeling that way and for getting Chance through it.... then even more kudos for releasing him!
Very few of these 'long stories' hold my attention much, but I read yours very thoroughly.
I think we've all just seen a whole new side to Shanley, that we didn't know about before.

[Snake lover 3-25]

thanks.... and i still wonder if i'll ever see him again............ he was a great snake but it didn't feel right taking one that young out of the wild.... especially since he wanted to go...... i wish i had been smart enough to get some pics of him..... but i never did..... but he looked very much like my baby now......

[adamanteus]

Shanley.... just a hint.....
Always have spare camera batteries in a drawer somewhere!
I just read through your story again.... loved it. Respect.

[Snake lover 3-25]

lol i do now!!!!!

[Stefan-A]

Thank you for posting your story. Always interesting to read how other people got started.

[aSnakeLovinBabe]

wow, that's a good story shanley. glad to hear you gave a snake a fighting chance.

I jsut have a few questions concerning your corns... were they babies or juveniles when you brumated them? unless they are adults and you are going to breed them, you shouldn't really brumate.. just because there always IS some bit of a risk to doing it, like what happened to you, and it is not necessary at all unless you are wanting to breed.

Really glad to see how you saved a snake that would have never had a chance on his own!!

[Snake lover 3-25]

wow, that's a good story shanley. glad to hear you gave a snake a fighting chance.

I jsut have a few questions concerning your corns... were they babies or juveniles when you brumated them? unless they are adults and you are going to breed them, you shouldn't really brumate.. just because there always IS some bit of a risk to doing it, like what happened to you, and it is not necessary at all unless you are wanting to breed.

Really glad to see how you saved a snake that would have never had a chance on his own!!

the reason that i brumated them is because they stopped eating and nothing i could do would make them eat and then i took them back and he said that it was normal and just to brumate them.... they were babies.... i got them in oct. and they had been born in june... but they only lasted till may......

[lestat]

I am so glad you were around to save that little Garter. If you hadnt been there. I have lost snakes and lizards and its hard to bare, you think could you have done some thing to save them but what. At least I gave them a good home hopefully as you did and they were loved and not kept badley.

P.S I was so moved by your story that i had a lump in my throat.

[aSnakeLovinBabe]

the reason that i brumated them is because they stopped eating and nothing i could do would make them eat and then i took them back and he said that it was normal and just to brumate them.... they were babies.... i got them in oct. and they had been born in june... but they only lasted till may......

did you have them living together? baby corns often will stop eating if you keep two together.