ribbon snake lost for five months and found under my neighbors pool. she is not actin

[stormydawn2012]

My two yr old ribbon snake named runaway is not eating, moving or reacting to much.
her left eye is blood red and swollen, i do not have the money for a exotic vet and need opinions on how to help her at home.

[infernalis]

any pics?? pictures are helpful

[shaunyboy]

hello and welcome

could you please post some pictures,then we may be able to advise you,of the best course of action

cheers shaun

[marvelfreak]

Hello and welcome. Long with pictures we could use some more detail to help use help you. Do you know how her eye got this way? What kind of cage set up do you have her in?
What are her temperatures? Pictures of her cage could really help to.

[whoaxmary]

Glad to hear you found her.
Don't bother throwing food at her again just yet, you might just freak her out more.
Give the boys above some pictures and they'll help you out a ton. :)

[stormydawn2012]

I uploaded a pic to my profile. I do not know if she scrated her eye or if my neighbors cat got ahold of her.
Shes not eating or getting in her water (which was her favorite thing to do before somebody let her out)
she attempted to bite me yesterday which oddly enough made me happy because shes showing little signs of improvement.
And the lump on her mouth is a big brown round one.
Idk what to do other than give her time to heal because i can not afford a vet visit right now which really sucks cause i hate seeing her like this. My little sisters love my ribbon snake called runaway. They have been helping alot with holding and caring for her.
Tomorrow i will take a better picture of her eye and mouth.
(If u see a lump on her back it was there a year ago when i bought her from the pet store. Idk what that lump is neither but the pet store owner said it was harmless...but then again he's sold me animals that died from things he called "harmless")
This snake may be wht some people say (not a real snake) due to its small size and lack of teeth but ive had her a pretty long time and have grown attached to her.
Im hoping she pulls though

[stormydawn2012]

I bought her some crickets earlier (her favorite food besides fish) and shes just letting them crawl allover her

[infernalis]

I bought her some crickets earlier (her favorite food besides fish) and shes just letting them crawl allover her

Get rid of the crickets and put live feeder fish in the water bowl to swim.

Garter Snake Care Sheet (http://www.thamnophis.com/index.php?page=caresheet)

[infernalis]

Moved to Thamnophis forum.

[buffcoat]

Like the folks said before do not feed her anything for a while. Take some pictures and post em up. The amount of knowledge on this site is incredible. The most important thing is that she's back where she can be cared for. Now take a deep breath and everything will work out.

[stormydawn2012]

Get rid of the crickets and put live feeder fish in the water bowl to swim.

Garter Snake Care Sheet (http://www.thamnophis.com/index.php?page=caresheet)

Thats what i was thinking but she lets the feeder fish die and wont eat them :/ shes starting to move around more and tried to bite me a few minutes ago which let me know shes feeling atleast a lil better. The pet store says she can eat pinky mice but her mouth does not seem big enough to eat one plus with her poor health at the moment i know she wouldnt even attempt to eat a pinky.
im afraid that if she is blind in her scratched eye (her left eye) then she may be having trouble spotting her food.
I do alot of research on all snakes including the ribbon snakes and i never found any kind of health problem that would cause a random lump on her mouth or the lump on her back (which could possibly be a parasite infestation) but shes had it since i bought her ad it dont seem to bug her at all.
I would attach a photo to one of my comments but my phone wont let me.

[stormydawn2012]

Glad to hear you found her.
Don't bother throwing food at her again just yet, you might just freak her out more.
Give the boys above some pictures and they'll help you out a ton. :)



Thank you :) she gave my neighbors a bit of a scare but atleast shes home now.
shes a toothless snake (besides a few in the back of her mouth to help her swallow her food) so idk why anyone would fear her ha.
My brother owns a beautiful six foot long ballpython that hes had for ten years and people run from her but in the ten years we have had her she hasn't bit anyone the only thing she does is hisses or trys to climb down peoples legs to run off lol

[buffcoat]

I just bought feede fish for $0.20 each. Twenty cents mate. Do what Wayne and everyone else has said. Take the crickets out, put some feeder fish in, post some pics when you can and most important, relax. Lots of folks on here have been doing this for many many years. Remember what a caresheet might tell you and how others have fixed the problem are two different things.

Like I said before just take a deep breath and things will work out.

[stormydawn2012]

I bought a bunch of feeders earlier for 12 cents for my piranhas. I gave my snake one but shes not giving it any attention at all. Shes laying under her heat lamp motionless.

[buffcoat]

That's fine. Let her lay there. Put yourself in her place. What would you do if you were "running free" for quite some time and all the sudden you had to "move back home"? She's stressed out. Its your job as a keeper to make her as comfortable as you can. Water heat and hides. Let her decide when to explore and when to stay put.

You said she bit you? Im gonna say that it was purely defensive. She's been out and about for some time and now she's "home". Remember, snakes don't rationalize like humans do. Ask any carpet python owner. Young ones tend to bite first then see if there is a problem. Just hang tight, get those pics up and let the people that know and care about their herps as much as you do give you sound information.

You're more than likely stressing her out more every time you mess with her. Just relax. It will be fine. You came to the right place.

[stormydawn2012]

When i first bought her she was mean and bit me alot. When she bites me im used to it.
I havent been messing with her unless im looking at her eye nd mouth and she just relaxes on my leg.
Until shes had enough of bein held then she lets me know.

[stormydawn2012]

True, maybe she just needs timw to adjust to the whole living in tank thing again.
I've been watching her very close to monitor any changes in behvior.
Shes moving around ALOT more and is starting to want to be touched more instead of hiding or jumping when touched.

[infernalis]

Good news, thanks for the update.

[stormydawn2012]

She past away today. She never once ate and was fine when i woke up but suddenly died while i was gone earlier.

[SidewaysAt100]

Sorry to hear that.

[infernalis]

My condolences.....

[stormydawn2012]

She died yesterday :( i think she may have just been older than the pet store told me

[infernalis]

I keep mostly garter snakes, so I know just how special they can be.

[stormydawn2012]

Sorry about the double she died thing ha.
But ya after she died i examined her closely and noticed the lump on her side (that the pet store said was harmless when i bought her) was busted open and looked as if there may have beeb some type of mite infestation inside of her.
So, next week i am buying a corn snake and examining it before i even put money in their hands.

[infernalis]

If you ever want a nice captive born Garter with a known birthday, just let me know.

[stormydawn2012]

If you ever want a nice captive born Garter with a known birthday, just let me know.


She was definitely special to me
I had her fr a year and handled her everyday up until someone let hr out then five months later i found her and tried to only handle her when i had to cause she was ill.
But she still loved it when the kids loved on her and she was my t cup chihuahuas best bud lol it was weird but my snake and my dog loved eachother, my dog would check on the snake all day long and whimpered when the snake ws no longer in the tank.
And i had a friend offer me a garter but he was unsure of the age and how healthy it ws so i backed out. Id love to have another small snake that could be handled by my lil sisters (ages 9 & 12) because they have a strong interest in snakes.
My brother has had his ball python for ten years now and they love her but shes too big for a child to handle. Lol

[Reptilegal]

Sorry about the double she died thing ha.
But ya after she died i examined her closely and noticed the lump on her side (that the pet store said was harmless when i bought her) was busted open and looked as if there may have beeb some type of mite infestation inside of her.
So, next week i am buying a corn snake and examining it before i even put money in their hands.

I pretty much HATE pet stores! They will basically say ANYTHING in order to make money!! When I got my first python (the one I currently have) I wanted a single frozen rat but they only sold in pack of 3 so she brought out a frozen guinea pig saying "it's the best food, this on is newborn and just died after birth" I said " I don't think I will get it as it probably had a disease" and she said "oh it's fine! It JUST came out of the womb, the healthiest thing it could come from!" I still refused and bought the rats instead. The guinea pig had fur all over it that was about 3cm long, Certainly NOT newborn!!!!!!! Oh, and they sold me reptile calcium (for all reptiles) insisting it needs about a tablespoon everyday!!!! I bought the stuff but I knew there is no way it needs it EVERY day! I will give him about a teaspoonful down a quails throat every 3 months. I know ppl say they don't need it but I just wanna take extra care of his bones considering he could get DPS. a little bit of extra calcium MAY not make a difference but it won't hurt. I could go on and on about the bull rap the pet stores told me, but I will leave it go, unless u ask me to tell :)

[infernalis]

Speaking of Calcium, how many pet stores have tried to tell people that urates were "excess calcium" "From the skeleton of the prey"

[KORBIN5895]

If you ever want a nice captive born Garter with a known birthday, just let me know.

Take this as me letting you know!

I pretty much HATE pet stores! They will basically say ANYTHING in order to make money!! When I got my first python (the one I currently have) I wanted a single frozen rat but they only sold in pack of 3 so she brought out a frozen guinea pig saying "it's the best food, this on is newborn and just died after birth" I said " I don't think I will get it as it probably had a disease" and she said "oh it's fine! It JUST came out of the womb, the healthiest thing it could come from!" I still refused and bought the rats instead. The guinea pig had fur all over it that was about 3cm long, Certainly NOT newborn!!!!!!! Oh, and they sold me reptile calcium (for all reptiles) insisting it needs about a tablespoon everyday!!!! I bought the stuff but I knew there is no way it needs it EVERY day! I will give him about a teaspoonful down a quails throat every 3 months. I know ppl say they don't need it but I just wanna take extra care of his bones considering he could get DPS. a little bit of extra calcium MAY not make a difference but it won't hurt. I could go on and on about the bull rap the pet stores told me, but I will leave it go, unless u ask me to tell :)

Honestly Guinea pigs come out fully haired and ready to run. They can also eat solid food from day one. 3 cm is kinda small as a baby gp
i roughly 3 inches long at birth.