Help! Wild injured garter snake

[Myssi24]

Long story short, my dog got a garter snake. The dog dropped her pretty quickly and I was over there before she could try again. When I picked her up she had a pretty bad kink in her back. I put her in our front yard under a propped up flower pot so she could pass in peace if that was what was going to happen. A couple hours later when I checked on her she had left the flower pot. Shortly after that the dog found her again, this time just barking, so I picked she up again and brought her inside, thinking she can move, but not quickly enough to evade the dog or other predators, a few days for the muscle stiffness and swelling to go down may be all she needs. The kink in her back had largely straightened out and didn't look nearly so bad and I could feel muscle movement down her body.

This is was a week and a half ago. I've managed to keep her pretty well in a 10 gal. tank I had around and from looking at other websites to figure out what she needs. I am not a snake person so don't have any of the normal equipment, and my husband thinks I'm nuts, so spending money isn't really an option either. She has eaten and pooped, don't know about peeing. She is sometimes very alert, some times not. She a few times has moved vigorously in the tank, but mostly just rests on the hot side of the tank.

I thought she was doing well enough to release her a few days ago and that is when we hit a snag. I put her down near the wood pile I know she lives in and she did not move away nearly as fast as I would have liked and the way she has in the past. (I've rescued this snake from the dog a couple times where she hadn't been really hurt.) I picked her up again and set her in the grass to better assess how she was moving and it seems to me that she isn't using her body below the injury to propel herself. As the injury is about 1/3 of the way down her body, this isn't enough to let her move well or quickly. I know she can move her tail and I can feel muscle reaction in the lower part of her body. (I'm a massage therapist so I know muscles just not snakes) so even if her spine is injured the cord doesn't seem to be.

So my questions, does this sound like an injury she can recover from enough to be released? Am I just prolonging her suffering? How can you tell if a snake is hurting? Should I be looking for someone who wants a pet snake?

[guidofatherof5]

Thanks for trying to help, it's certainly more than most people would do. You are in a tough spot. I'll give you what I see as your options.
1. Release the snake in the wood pile and let nature(good or bad) take its course.
2. Continue care in the hopes the snake will become more mobile. What if it doesn't become more mobile?
3. Find a reptile rescue that might take it in
4. Dispatch the snake humanly

Has the snake eaten anything? Is it drinking?

[Myssi24]

She has eaten. She ignored everything I offered the first few days. Since then she has eaten three small worms. I'm not sure if she has drunk, but she cooled off in her water once.

[guidofatherof5]

Those are good signs. I would guess she's drinking. You are doing great, time is needed to see how her body repairs or doesn't repair the damage. I've seen them make so remarkable recoveries. I've unfortunately seen the other end of the spectrum and had to dispatch them. Let's stay on the positive side here and hope for the best. Photos would also allow us to make some other observations.

[guidofatherof5]

Here's a photo of the injured snake(T. radix)

[guidofatherof5]

The injury is not as bad looking as I thought it would be. We are still back to time. Time will tell. I'd suggest a much bigger water dish so she can stretch out when in it. That will apply less stress to the spine. As far as I can tell it's a female and a radix to boot. In my opinion the best combination.

[Myssi24]

I thought she was a female, since I see babies in the yard sometimes. I suspect she gave birth not too long ago since I've started seeing littler snakes again and for a while she was the only snake (I think) that I've seen most of July and Aug. Radix is the scientific name for a plains garter snake, right? Looking at a site to see what snakes are in my area, I thought that is what she is. Nice to know I was probably right! ��

[guidofatherof5]

Thamnophis radix, is the scientific name. What State are you in?

[Myssi24]

Colorado, Denver area.

[Myssi24]

Feeding Snakey

Since worms are getting harder to find as it gets colder, I bought some bait earthworms. (I looked at red wrigglers at the pet store so I would know what they look like to avoid them) I cut about a 1/3 of one to offer Snakey and she completely ignored it. Now there were several things that may have influenced her not feeding, the biggest being I worked yesterday morning, so there wasn't anyone to keep turning her heating pad on. (Going to ask about heating options soon) It took several hours to get her tank warm enough to offer food, by then it was evening.

This is morning I dug deep to find some garden worms since she has eaten those well to try and see if she just wasn't hungry. She scarfed down two of those quickly! How much of a bait worm can she eat? I keep seeing that young snakes can't eat a whole one and that night crawlers can actually crawl back out of a snake. O.o I don't think she is a juvenile, she is about 2'-2.5' long.

What do I do if she keeps refusing nightcrawlers?