Fell In love with a backyard snake.. looking for advice!

[mustang]

ouch poor little guy

[Ryachanira]

Sounds like you all don't think there is much a vet could do for him anyway.. and I have to say after already spending $300 on the little guy we are not exactly rolling in the dough ourselves anymore, heh. We might just watch him for awhile.

Here is one more picture of the eye that looks injured:


I wiped down the top of his head with a warm, damp cotton ball and then applied neosporin to both his head and tail. He thanked me by pooping on me.. I think it is his favorite activity, haha. Any other ideas on what could be done for him at home? As sad as it is, I figure that even with poor eyesight, as long as he can eat and get around his cage he should be fine. Just more of a reason that he needed us to take him in!

He didn't eat his worm today.. I cut it up for him and everything (yuck) after I noticed it kept crawling away from him. Oh well, try try again tomorrow! I am still getting a feeling for how often he likes to eat.

[Charis]

While it looks like he might be blind in that eye, IMO, it doesn't look like the eye is infected. I'm not sure what more to recommend than what you are already doing.
I have a garter that is missing one of her eyes due to an infection & she gets around well & is thriving. I know of a number of other snakes that are missing one or both eyes, usually due to live prey & negligent owners, that also do just fine.

[guidofatherof5]

That last photo really shows the extent of the injury. I admire you for your efforts on his behalf. As long as this injury doesn't have future effect he should be able to live well with you. I wouldn't change his cage around very often as he will get used to where things are.
He is in my prayers.

[ConcinusMan]

I tend to agree. I think it's best that you provide the best for him at this point. A stable and comfortable home free of stress, and all the food he desires. His injuries look to be beyond the need for veterinary care.

You're it. You're all he has. Can you handle it? Just make him comfortable, provide for his needs, and with a little help from above, and from us, he can live a good life with you. I'm sure if he had been left to the wild, he wouldn't last long. All you can do, is make things easier and perhaps extend his life by providing good climate and protection from predators.

[infernalis]

Had he been left in the wild, he would already be dead by now.

[mustang]

hope he recovers

[Ryachanira]

Thanks for the comments, as well as for your thoughts and prayers for Silv! I will do my best to treat his head injury at home and home his eye does not become infected at any point. Hopefully he can make it through this injury and live a long, happy life! Dan and I kind of figured he would have already been dead if we left him outside, so it is good to know we have at least helped some!

I am a bit concerned about him today... he is not active at all like he has been the past few days. For four days (Sat-Tues) he was really active in the morning/early afternoon. Today he is pretty much totally listless again. He hasn't eaten since... Friday I think? Maybe Saturday. Today instead of placing the worms in his main cage, I put him and the worm in the small carrier we got for him, since I had read putting them in an enclosed place with prey can be helpful. After an hour and a half of totally ignoring the worm, I cut it up into four smaller pieces. Still being ignored, and he is still not moving much. I know I have read on here that snakes can go several day/even weeks without food, so I am not sure if it is too early to be worried. But since he has all of these other issues going on, I am pretty concerned for him. Any other suggestions on getting him to eat, or should I just worry less and try again tomorrow? I had considered getting him some guppies, putting a really thin layer of water on the small carrier floor to let them splash around in, and putting him in there... but he has not eaten any fish yet so I am not sure if that would work.

[mustang]

Thanks for the comments, as well as for your thoughts and prayers for Silv! I will do my best to treat his head injury at home and home his eye does not become infected at any point. Hopefully he can make it through this injury and live a long, happy life! Dan and I kind of figured he would have already been dead if we left him outside, so it is good to know we have at least helped some!

I am a bit concerned about him today... he is not active at all like he has been the past few days. For four days (Sat-Tues) he was really active in the morning/early afternoon. Today he is pretty much totally listless again. He hasn't eaten since... Friday I think? Maybe Saturday. Today instead of placing the worms in his main cage, I put him and the worm in the small carrier we got for him, since I had read putting them in an enclosed place with prey can be helpful. After an hour and a half of totally ignoring the worm, I cut it up into four smaller pieces. Still being ignored, and he is still not moving much. I know I have read on here that snakes can go several day/even weeks without food, so I am not sure if it is too early to be worried. But since he has all of these other issues going on, I am pretty concerned for him. Any other suggestions on getting him to eat, or should I just worry less and try again tomorrow? I had considered getting him some guppies, putting a really thin layer of water on the small carrier floor to let them splash around in, and putting him in there... but he has not eaten any fish yet so I am not sure if that would work.

slowing down isnt a good sign....my previous snake started to slow down and died when it was too late....look under the snake at its belly scales.....if anythings really wrong you might see it. (after my last snake died my i looked under him and he had a green blotch where e should have had usual tan ventricle scales)

[ConcinusMan]

That sounds like he was septic Robert. Possibly gangrene.

Well, Jenny... you have to face the fact that the snake might be dying so prepare yourself for that.