Injured garter

[cfr7009]

Hello everyone! I am new to the forum and came here to learn about these wonderful little creatures. More specifically, while gardening yesterday, my wife heard our dog barking at something and upon investigating saw that the dog had cornered a garter snake...approx. 18-24" long. The snake was playing dead so I put the dog inside so I could have a closer look. Well I found out quickly that the snake was not dead becuase when I approached to pick it up it began to strike at me. However, I did notice that it had been injured, likely during the encounter with our dog. It looked like it had a couple of small puncture wounds about 1/3 of the way up from its tail on tis left side. So I picked it up and placed it in an aquarium from the garage.

My questions:
Should I take the snake in to a vet? Can a vet do anything with a garter snake?
What should I feed it?
What about temperature? The days are warm (80 deg.) and the nights are cool (50-60 deg.).
Do I need to put anything alse in the aquarium so the snake can feel less out in the open?
What else do I need to do to keep the snake happy until it has healed?

I would have released it except I was concerned that it might be injured and unable to fend for itself.

Any words of wisdom will be greatly appreciated. I will try to get a couple of pics and post them for next time.

Thanks in advance for your help!

Curt

[adamanteus]

Hi Curt, and welcome to the forum. It's hard to answer some of your questions without knowing the full extent of the injuries.

I would certainly add a water bowl and hiding opportunities to make the snake more more comfortable. We had a similar incident recently...reading through that thread might help you.
http://www.thamnophis.com/forum/urge...ight=lawnmower

[Odie]

Hi, from Oregon, Curt

[enigma200316]

hi Curt and welcome, if you think they are really bad you should see a vet, that your choice of course......if they are not, reading through that thread
should give you everything you need to get the snake back to good health. however it dosen't alway come out good, best of luck to you...

[Stefan-A]

Welcome aboard, Curt.

[Odie]

Neosporin for the bites
Just something to hide under
folded cardboard, Paper towel roll tube will work if in a bind

[zooplan]

welcome to the forum curt,
not a nice but a good cause to enter up here
hope you questions are answered

[Snaky]

Welcome to the forum

[drache]

welcome to this forum, Curt
you've already been given good advice
don't worry about food just yet