Dog bit wild garter

[dieselbaby]

Hi everyone, I'm new to the forum, and a new snake caretaker. This afternoon while i was out moving livestock panels our dog found a garter snake, she bit and shook the snake, and i intervened on the snakes behalf as i like these snakes. I have spent all afternoon reading the forum, and here is a little background, the snake has a puncture wound from where the dog bit it, and it bled some, but we got it cleaned up, and polysporin put on the wound. The bleeding has stopped and the snake appears alert and has tongue flicking, and readily hisses at us. He/she isnt moving around a whole bunch since i am assuming he/she is in pain but when he/she does move around the movement seems normal.

I have he/she in i believe a 20 gallon aquarium with a canopy and florescent light, now i know this will need to be replaced with mesh and a heat lamp but that will have to wait til payday. The inside temp is 77F uniformly, i will try and bring that temp up a bit on at least one side. I have provided a hide, and a large dish of water, and in half of the aquarium, i have plain white papertowels, but for the other half i have fresh picked grass. He/she prefers the grass side. I put the grass in for padding for the injury.

My question is how often should i be changing out the grass to keep it fresh and clean, and is grass okay to use at least til he/she heals? I plan to catch some earthworms later on this evening for our new friend. I am going to try and post a picture of our new friend in hopes someone can tell me what kind of garter snake we have here, also our area is northwestern Ontario, Canada.

Thank you in advance for any advice.
Judy

[guidofatherof5]

Welcome to the forum Judy.
Thanks for taking the time to care for this snake.
I'm sure the grass is not needed. Having this snake on paper towels is a good thing as it lets you see feces and any blood. Grass can introduce insects/parasites into an enclosure.
Sounds like you're taking good care of the wounds. Nice job.
I think you have a Thamnophis sirtalis sirtalis (Eastern garter snake).

I do have a concern. In the photo I see a very shinny section near the snakes cloaca/vent. Is that area still there? Any chance you can post another photo of this area?
I will also post a link to the care sheet which is a great place to start your journey in garter snakes.
Please keep us posted on your progress.
Garter Snake Care Sheet - Caresheets

[dieselbaby]

Okay i will take out the grass tomorrow when i clean his/her aquarium. That brown shiney thing is a wet leaf but yes i can post more pics, i took a whole bunch, but none of the underside as he/she gets very agitated when touched right now so only touching for washing and ointment, but i will try and get underside pics as well.

The close up picture is where the wound is.

[dieselbaby]

Oh, and thank you for your reply. any advice is much appreciated. I would love to find out if this is a male or female as well. My kids want to name him/her and keep it for a pet. I said we would see how well he/she does. I did read and save a copy of the care sheets thank you. I did give him a worm this evening but he wasnt interested, but he has been drinking, and still tongue flicking.

also the pink thing in the one pic is a piece of worm i have since removed, and the pigeon egg was to see what he would do with it, he rolled it around a bit, its now removed as well as i dont want it to rot in there.

[guidofatherof5]

From your subsequent photos I think you have a female there.
An underside tail photo would be great to confirm the sex.
He's a link to a thread to show what kind of photos are need for that.
http://www.thamnophis.com/forum/breeding/5069-sexing-pics.html
I don't see the skinny area in the other photos so I guess it was just something in that first photo.
Hoping your new friend makes a complete recovery.

Drinking and tongue flicking is an indication of good health at this point. Nice observation.

[ConcinusMan]

I'm sure Steve meant the grass is NOT needed but you figured that out already. Best to just clean the snake up with some antiseptic and keep in paper towels and as clean and dry as possible. Iodine works best for wounds but any antiseptic is better than nothing.

If there's any internal damage, all you can do is wait and see if the snake makes it. Alert, tongue flicking, drinking, all good signs. Garters can be pretty tough. An injured snake should have warmth though, 24/7 if you can manage it. Somewhere in the range of 78-85.

He'll probably be alright. I've seen them survive a lot worse. Like broken back and ribs, huge areas of missing hide, ribs exposed, etc.

[dieselbaby]

Thanks again i was searching for the place where that info was posted. When she is feeling a lil better i will get some good pics for that. Thanks again for the help. I hope she gets better too poor lil snake. Im a bit nervous with handling her but we'll work that out as she feels better. Its been a pretty frightening day for her.

[ConcinusMan]

If she seems like she can move normally and fast, you can just release her and she'll be fine. If you feel it's better to let her heal for a week or three, keep her warm, clean, and comfy and try not to disturb her. Make sure she has a place to hide and feels secure. That will help speed her recovery. I know it seems counter intuitive but don't feed an injured garter. Let her fast. That's best.

[dieselbaby]

I used vetericyn to clean the wound out, as thats what i have on hand and use on all the animals and us humans too, its awesome stuff, and then applied the ointment, it has since rubbed off on the papertowels. How often should i apply the ointment, i was assuming at least twice a day?

I got the temp to come up inside the aquarium to 79F so far. I do need to clean the glass better on it to, i did a rush cleaning/disinfecting job on it to get the snake safe.

Ill be heading to the petstore this weekend to pick up a mesh cover, and heat light for her to make sure she is warm enough. I get paid friday. The kids found some nice smooth round rocks too that i plan to put in after i wash them.

[dieselbaby]

she seems to move normally but is moving slower then most snakes ive seen. She has her little cave but she seems to prefer to lay out on the grass, and goes back and forth from the water to the grass.