Lump on injured garter

[cwkeys]

Interesting you should say that. I was thinking it looked lumpy in there. The strange thing is, when I took him to the vet he couldn't even find the wound and in fairness, I couldn't either. I don't know if it was the light in his office or what. It definately shows up in detail with the macro setting on my camera. Maybe I should forward him the pictures. When you talk about antibiotics is that something that is injected?

[guidofatherof5]

Your third photo clearly shows some kind of break in the skin.
Rhea's advice on making sure it is cleaned out is good. Some hydrogen peroxide on any open area will not harm the snake.
Keep the water good and clean. Garters have a bad habit of using their water dish as a toilet. They like to soak when they have an injury and dirty water will only add to the problem.

[drache]

there may have been an original wound that closed and left stuff festering in there
if your vet is willing to do surgery on such a small animal, I'd see whether he can cut it open and clean it out
generally Baytril is given, which works better orally and is a pain in the butt to give, unless you have a very hungry snake and you can give them a small prey item injected with a high dose every other day
good luck with that

[ConcinusMan]

That doesn't look good to me. I tend to agree with some of you and I think there's stuff festering in there. If you don't get it out of there, he could become septic and die.

[cwkeys]

Thanks for all the advice everyone. I took him back to the vet on Tuesday and he thought he looked better and that he was definitely moving much better. The lump is getting smaller and I am continuing to clean the wound with peroxide followed by antibiotic cream. I am finding him in different areas of the enclosure and I do see him move occasionally, so that is a little improvement from where we were before.

The vet keeps offering to keep him and care for him. He said if he was there, he could force feed him etc. and that if I wanted him to do that, I could. I have read on this forum that force feeding usually results in the death of the snake, so I didn't want him to do that and I brought him home.

I searched the threads on the forum about how long a snake could go without eating and it seemed like the consensus was about two weeks for a baby. It's been over two so I decided to do an assisted feeding. Recently, when I'm giving him water from the eyedropper (he still won't go to his water dish) he opens his mouth really wide afterwards. It almost looks like he wants to throw up, but nothing usually comes out. I thought I could cut up an earthworm and stick it in his mouth when he did that, but I missed my chance. I gently grasped him behind his head and rubbed a piece of earthworm on his mouth. He finally opened his mouth and after several tries, I managed to get two earthworm pieces in him totaling about half an inch into him. I really tried not to make it overly traumatic and I hope I haven't made a mistake. I told my family not to bother him at all for the next 48 hours (no wound care). I am still giving him water, but I'm bringing the eyedropper to him, wherever he is. I'm not moving him at all. He did get more active after eating, which for him means he moved across his enclosure…eventually and I'm finding him in different places, whereas before he never moved from where I put him, so I feel like that's somewhat encouraging. I hope I haven't done more harm than good. I will keep watching the wound closely. I photograph it on macro everyday so I can see it clearly and watch for changes. It is closing up, but I suppose if it's infected and he goes septic, the fact that it looks like it's getting smaller really doesn't mean a whole lot.

[guidofatherof5]

You might see if the Vet. will give you a small amount of Silver Sulfadiazine. It works wonders on wounds. I use 1% cream. Best of luck.

[cwkeys]

Just a quick update. The wound seems to have closed up. His spine still looks out of alignment, but it is looking better too. The best part is he's moving around quite a bit with a surprising amount of speed and vigor, despite the spine issue. When I pick him up he wiggles quite a bit too so I feel like he's showing improvement. Whether there is underlying infection where the wound was remains to be seen, but I'll hope for the best.

I have done two assisted feedings about two weeks apart. Both times I got about 1/2 inch of earthworm in him total. He doesn't seem too interested in eating and he's not any thinner than he was when I picked him up. The assisted feeding may not be necessary right now, but it makes me feel better to think he has a little nutrition in him.

I am still giving him water through the eyedropper. He may be drinking out of his dish or the low lid I put in, but I never catch him near them so I can't say for sure. He always will take water from the eyedropper like he's thirsty so, for now, I guess I'll continue doing that.

Thank you to everyone for all their wonderful advice! Keep your fingers crossed!

[brubru2]

So, (if he survives) will you keep the little guy?

[cwkeys]

That's a really good question. Ideally, because he is wild, he would heal and I would be able to release him when the weather is warm enough. I guess we will have to access his level of function when the time comes. If the vet feels he has no chance of survival in the wild, then I feel like it is my responsibility to care for him since I was the one that interfered with nature and brought him inside, but if he's able to move normally and hunt for himself, then it wouldn't be fair for me to keep him as a pet...no matter how much I've come to love the little guy.

[guidofatherof5]

That's a really good question. Ideally, because he is wild, he would heal and I would be able to release him when the weather is warm enough. I guess we will have to access his level of function when the time comes. If the vet feels he has no chance of survival in the wild, then I feel like it is my responsibility to care for him since I was the one that interfered with nature and brought him inside, but if he's able to move normally and hunt for himself, then it wouldn't be fair for me to keep him as a pet...no matter how much I've come to love the little guy.

That all makes perfect sense but the reality is it's easier said than done. These little scrubs get inside our hearts and make it difficult to let go and that's the ones that are in perfect health. Tack on the fact they are injured and it's a heartwrenching decision to release them.
I wish you the best of luck and in the end I hope you have a new member to your family