Brown Snake Got Stuck to Tape and Some Scales Came off: PLEASE HELP

[reptilegirl]

I found my Brown Snake about a year ago and a pet store talked me into buying one of those expensive tanks that you can put a lock on. About a week ago or so ago I went into my room and my snake Sally was sitting on my dresser next to her tank. I was baffled at how this could have happened(I don't put a lock on) since the lid snaps shut, until I saw the small tear in the screen. My friend, who breeds snakes, told me that it would be ok to put tape on the lid to cover the tear. I put it facing up on purpose so she would stick to it. Well, today when I went to check her water dish she was fully stuck to the tape. Somehow she must have pulled the corner down and the way I figure, the more she pulled the more she was stuck until her entire length was on the tape.
I freaked, because I thought she was dead. There was this fishy smell coming from her, so I started screaming and my mum helped me pull her off.
She seems fine now and the smell is completely gone. I think it must have been some sort of secretion given off out of fear. The thing that I am worried about is that some of her scales got pulled off and some are sticking up a bit. Will she be ok? Has this ever happened to anyone before?
Also I immediately went to the pet store to get a new lid but they didn't have any for that kind of tank so I settled for a 5gallon one. is this to small? She was in a 10gall one before but I didn't have the money to get one, but they said at the store I can order a new lid online.
I'm sorry this post is so long I am just so worried and I feel guilty for putting the tape on in the first place.

one last thing. My bf things i should put her outside because she tried to escape. I have had her for a year and I have grown very attached, plus our neighborhood is full of cats and groundhogs, so I don't think she would last long. Do you think she would be happier if I got her a mate?

Thanks

[drache]

treat the areas where scales came off or got damaged with an antibiotic ointment to prevent infection
your little snake is lucky the injuries weren't worse than that
it's not really possible to fix screening with tape, but I once plugged a hole with fun-tac and it held - go figure. sewing is really the way to go though
personally I would not put her outside, and I doubt she cares one way or another about a mate

[mustang]

tell ur bf that his logic is flawed....if it escaped WHY WOULD YOU PUT IT OUTSIDE IF IT GETS OUT ITS GONA BE GONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! zoomed repti-wound heal should help wounds...maybe...fix lid....i got checker 55 gal. tank and cheap normal net lookn lid..insulation round inside of lid (also helps for cords if u have a waterfall stick the cord out the corner inbetween two peices of insulation) dont fall for petstores "buy the most expensive thing" trick trust me youll save a lot of money...oh by the way Hi im robert welcom to the forum

[ConcinusMan]

Yes, I had that happen when I was a teen and even then, I had quite a bit of experience keeping garter snakes. Some of that experience was learned the hard way. accidents, escapes, pet cat, fire, flames, burns, etc.. are unfortunately sometimes part of learning. Just don't forget the lesson. DO NOT put tape where snakes can touch it. Once they get stuck, their instinct is to musk and slap it with their tail. This results in more sticking.

I learned the tape lesson with my first Oregon Red-Spotted garter snake. I had a home made enclosure made of plexi-glass and a custom made wooden framed screen top. At some point the screen separated from the frame on one side. I used commercial grade silver duct tape to repair it. Worked fine for about a year until one day, after a 3 day trip away from home, I returned to find my snake fused to the tape in a most disturbing manner. Even her tongue was out and stuck. She was already in shock and very weak. Just short of dead in my opinion. There was no way to remove her from the tape. I tried everything including solvents to dissolve the glue. To remove just a small fraction meant removing all the scales attached to the tape and her tongue would have had to come off too.

In short, there was no way to remove the tape without skinning her and she was already nearly dead. As I was having trouble seeing from all the tears in my eyes, I quickly removed her head from her body with a very sharp instrument. I had no choice. She was suffering without hope.

You're lucky and your snake will be fine. You should keep your snake warm (77-85 F) and dry. Plain newspaper or other clean surface is best at this time since you should treat the missing scale areas with antibiotic ointment twice daily, and keep her from contacting any feces. It's easier to keep her and the wounds clean if there is no substrate. Just plain flat surface, no dirt or particles. Provide a place to hide on the cool end and the warm end of her enclosure and a water dish but nothing else. Plastic plants would be OK.

After about a week you can stop with the antibiotic ointment if the wounded skin looks pink or flesh colored and not red or other colors. the area of missing scales will then dry up and be fine. Missing scales are no big deal. You only need to prevent infections.

The missing scales will not grow back but the wounds will otherwise heal quickly. As for the "sticking up" scales, look carefully the next time your snake sheds. make sure the shed skin comes off of those areas completely. It might take more than one shed but those scales should eventually go back to normal or near normal.

It's peculiar in a way. You can remove a lot of scales and flesh from a snake, even exposing their rib bones, or breaking their back in several places and they can heal quickly but one little infection, even without an injury, and it's all over with. Remove their tongue or break their jaw and death is certain. Keep them too cool and damp and they can get a fatal respiratory infection.

They are pretty tough when it comes to skin injuries like this though. No more serious than a bad case of skinned knees is for a child.

[bkhuff1s]

snake thought of the day - help I'm stuck and can't get up... sorry running on 2 hours of sleep at this point.

[ConcinusMan]

That is a bit humorous. "I'm stuck and I can't get off" but I do feel bad for the snake and the owner.

[reptilegirl]

Thanks for the advice. she seems to be feeling ok and I think what peeled off of her may have been scales that were suppose to shed because there are no pink spots on her. I put ointment on her anyway though, and check her regularly.

ConcinnusMan-I'm really sorry about what happened to your snake that is so sad.


This is my first snake. how often are they suppose to shed?

[GarterGeek]

A trick I use for minimum aquarium size is that the two different sides of the aquarium should add up to more than the length of the snake. Brown snakes are pretty small so a 5gal may be fine.

Shedding frequency involves my factors including; temperature, humidity, growth, and season. An adult snake may shed only once a year, but a young snake could shed every month or so.

Even the happiest and most contented of snakes will try to escape at somepoint - They aren't generally very rational creatures. That the snake tried to escape should not be a reason to question it's welfare.

Good luck with your snake! I hope she will be just fine.

[ConcinusMan]

If actual scales came off, they will have taken their color with them and left raw skin, sort of like removing a fingernail. If there is no raw skin or open wounds, there's no need for any treatment to prevent infection.

Like GarterGeek said, a snake will shed about twice a year regardless of growth but a growing snake sheds often because it outgrows the old skin. For example A baby concinnus usually sheds about once every 4-6 weeks during it's first year but an adult over 3 feet may only shed 3 -4 times a year.

There's more to be considered than the size of the snake. If you use anything less than 10 gallons can be difficult to keep anything but uniform heat. In other words, a gradient from 70 -85 degrees may not be possible in something so small.

[infernalis]

If we are talking about Dekayi snakes here, do NOT use heat at all.

They are a cool temperature snake, first out in spring, last ones out in the fall.

During the daytime they hide under things in the shade, and search for food mostly from late dusk to early dawn.

I have kept and bred more of them than I can count, and never used any heat sources.

My girl Xena lived for 6 years in my care without any heat aside from the ambient temperature in our home.