Rehabbing a Newly Recaptured Escapee

[SerpentineDream]

My hatchling male black milk snake, Perseus, escaped from his tub about 11 weeks ago and has been roaming the basement ever since. It was a boneheaded mistake on my part - I failed to make sure that the lid was properly secured. He did not fail to notice that it wasn't. I only caught him today when my husband spotted him in the stairwell.

I currently have him in a (secure) tub on paper towels with a couple of disposable hides and a dishwasher safe water bowl in case I notice mites or signs of illness. He's in a separate room from the rest of my collection. He appears a little bit thin, but considering how long he was on the lam and how small he is (approximately 15" long and as thick as a Sharpie) I expected much worse. I didn't immediately notice any mites and there appears to be no sign of injury. I plan to offer him a F/T fuzzy mouse tonight.

Any suggestions for rehabbing him? Anything to watch for? How long should I keep him in quarantine?

[Tsubaki]

Do you have any wild reptiles around he could have come in contact with in your basement? Mites and most other reptile related nasties come from other reptiles, you could keep him quarantined nonetheless I'm a big supporter of quarantine! Make sure you give him his some rest and just see if he will take food, if not give him some more time. Just take it slow, treat him as if it's a new animal. Glad you found him, good luck!

[Andy_G]

If you have cold winters where you are (I can't recall your exact location) then mites aren't around in the wild anyways...but if you're where it's warm then it is a very slim possibility. Basically just watch for signs of RI (with a black milk I REALLY doubt it) and make sure to offer lots of water. :)

[SerpentineDream]

I'm not aware of any wild reptiles in the basement, though it's not completely out of the realm of possibility. I *have* caught wild deer mice in there (one even in the snake room - not sure what it was thinking)! I would mostly be concerned about him catching mites or internal parasites from those if he managed to get one.

We are in South Dakota. Winter temps can sometimes get down to -30F. Summers are hot though, occasionally over 100F. Ticks survive here, so not sure about snake mites.

He's got a big bowl of water and I'm keeping an eye out for RI but I doubt that too. Temps in the basement are reasonable for a black milk, if a bit on the cool side for comfort. I had set out a space heater and a dish of water for him while he was a fugitive. If he was a python he'd have been in trouble but black milks are built fairly tough. :) I'm still a bit surprised he looks so good.... 11 weeks is a looooong time for a hatchling to go without food.

He also took his fuzzy mouse! I left it in the tub and it vanished overnight.

[Andy_G]

Snake mites that infest our captives are strictly tropical and won't occur in your area if that's the case. Ticks will of course but you'd see them quite easily.

[macandchz]

if he's eating (and I'm sure he must be starved after all that time), i think things will be fine. glad his days of freedom are over!