Baby water snake help

[artes]

Hi all. I'm new to these forums, and I have a question. I found a baby water snake on a greenway today (the paved part). He was belly up, and was obviously severely dehydrated and hungry. I carried him on the greenway and gave him water from my palms, and he licked it right off. I brought him home to try to get some food in him.

So far, he has snubbed a pinkie mouse, a mealworm, and two minnows. He has drank water and swam around his tiny water bowl though. Do you think he's not eating because he's a little stressed after a big day? He is sitting out in the middle of his tank, so I don't think he's scared in the least, so I'm trying to figure out if he's just not hungry, doesn't like my food offerings, or what.

Do you all have any suggestions on getting him back up on his... well... scales?

[infernalis]

Put some live minnows or feeder guppies in the water dish and leave them.

Water snakes will dive in and catch them.

Pinkie mice require some work, I scent them with fish.. However under the circumstances, live fish in the water offer the best hope for success.

[SpOoKy]

Wow, what a lucky little guy.

I think it is a great start that he actually drank some water. His will to live is there and that goes a long way with stories like this. Even though he is out in the middle doesnt mean that he isn't scared. I think you should just do what Wayne said with the minnows, give him lots of cover in his tank to hide in and leave him alone for a week or so. Let him settle in and do his own thing.

Good luck with the little guy and keep us posted :)

[artes]

I woke up and he was on his back again this morning, and is weak. I couldn't take it so I opened his mouth and stuffed a minnow in. He's swallowed about half of it, although the minnow head is still sticking out of his mouth. The poor little guy. ;_; He did let me open his mouth and push in the minnow, so maybe that means he knows I'm trying to help?

I'm about to go find some paper to cover up his tank with.

[stephanbakir]

Why did you push it in tail first? either way, forcefeeding is stressful and should be avoided, the odds that hunger is the issue is pretty low. Keep him hydrated and hope, there could be internal damage from "cooking" on the road.

[artes]

Easier to get it down that way without hopefully causing too much stress. He did swallow the whole thing now, and he's tucked away into a cave, so I'm hoping that didn't stress him out too much. He is really, really skinny though, and I think hunger was a big part of it based on his size/weakness. I don't think he minded the fish going down - he's been pretty easy going about everything since I caught him, even licking water off my hand.

Do you think adding a little unflavored pedialyte to his water bowl will help?

[SpOoKy]

Unflavored pedialyte is always worth a try IMO

[artes]

I have some Omnivore critical care powder left over from my beardie when she was ill. Do you think that would help to mix it into the water?

[Will0W783]

Snakes are not omnivores, so I would not give him the powder. You can add a bit of reptile calcium supplement powder to the next minnow he eats. I think the diluted Pedialyte is the best way to go to get his electrolytes up. Best of luck with the little fellow. Kudos for saving him/her!