Snake eatten by rat..

4spiders4u · 11-28-15, 11:24 PM

Ok i have a 3 ft redtail boa.. i already realize im a frikin idiot so please keep your reactions to yourself.. just looking for suggestions to help until monday when i can take him to a vet.. last night my other snake refused to eat his small rat i got him. So i put it back in his tank this morning i meant to take thr rat back to the pet store on my way to work but forgot about him when i returned home i felt bas poor rat had had no food or water for almost 24 hours .. i put my larger red tail boa that was fed a large rat 2 days prior in with the small rat i figured why not let the larger snake eat the baby too. .. but after about 30 minutes ibreturned to see the small rat standing on his back eating him there were about 8 spots down the spine of the snake that have been eatten by the rat.. the snake had also regergitated the larger rat it had eatten 2 days ago.. i took all bedding out of his enclouser put in a towel heating pad water bowl and cleaned all wounds with diluted betadine.. any more suggestions would be appreciated.. thank you

Sylphie · 12-01-15, 05:16 AM

Poor baby! Any news?

**Tsubaki** · 12-01-15, 05:28 AM

Oh damn, poor animal.. Didn't see this post any sooner, since it's monday now how is he doing? I will understand if you don't have any interest in it, but could you perhaps take pictures of the healing process?

Klaire · 12-01-15, 07:35 AM

Oh no

Sorry to hear! Don't bash yourself up too much we all make serious mistakes sometimes. i think you have done the best you can do for him at the moment perhaps you could take him to the vet. Best wishes. keep us updated on his healing process

Jim Smith · 12-01-15, 10:11 AM

I'm sorry to hear about your bad experience, but I appreciate your willingness to share it openly here. Hopefully it will help other people new to keeping snakes from making a similar mistake.

bigsnakegirl785 · 12-01-15, 07:32 PM

I'm not trying to bash you, just keep in mind next time that boas don't do well with that much food. The boa probably didn't eat it because it was still so full, and then regurgitated its recent meal in the stress of the attack. Just keep this in mind next time as well.

How's the snake doing?

If you haven't already, make sure the wound is cleaned thoroughly and apply Neosporin without painkillers to the wound. This should help keep any infections away, and BE VERY CLEAR IT DOESN'T HAVE PAINKILLERS, this is very important.

If the wound is extensive, I would get vet care in case it needs stitches or antibiotics.

**Minkness** · 12-01-15, 07:44 PM

Why the antipainkiller neosporin?

chairman · 12-01-15, 08:10 PM

Painkillers affect reptiles differently than people. Low doses of the wrong kind can do serious damage to organs.

**Minkness** · 12-01-15, 08:42 PM

O.O

That worries me now....I didn't know that a while back when my cat got my gecko and flayed the skin at her neck....I kept it coveree in neosporin and a bandaide (funny looking but effective!) And I don't remember if it was normal or pain relieving.

That was a while ago though and she has appeared to be fine so far.

How long does it take to see the effects of pain killers on a reptile?

bigsnakegirl785 · 12-02-15, 07:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Minkness

O.O

That worries me now....I didn't know that a while back when my cat got my gecko and flayed the skin at her neck....I kept it coveree in neosporin and a bandaide (funny looking but effective!) And I don't remember if it was normal or pain relieving.

That was a while ago though and she has appeared to be fine so far.

How long does it take to see the effects of pain killers on a reptile?

I would imagine it would only take a few hours to a few weeks. It's only recently they've started putting painkillers in ointment, and iirc Neosporin is the ointment most likely not to have painkillers. The oils in these ointments can also cause the surfaces of scales to slough off (as with any oily substance), but as long as it's only used long enough for the snake to heal it shouldn't be a problem.

**Minkness** · 12-02-15, 09:17 PM

It was a leopard geckobif that makes a difference?

angreal · 12-03-15, 01:40 AM

I had the same thing happen to a young ball python i had once, and she ended up with a damaged (probably blind) eye as a result. The best thing to do is learn from the lesson and realize you're now a better owner for knowing it

chairman · 12-03-15, 08:09 AM

I had a lizard that required me to inject him with antibiotics. My vet told me that I had to use the front arms as injection sites because using a back leg could send the dose straight to the liver/kidneys and kill him. So, the answer could be that location matters, probably more in terms of how the circulatory system runs.

But I agree that if you haven't seen any issues yet there might not be any. An otherwise healthy animal, like your gecko with a trauma, has a decent chance of shrugging off a low dose of mild painkillers. The OPs boa probably does too but it is far better to avoid them; if painkillers are necessary, have a vet guide you.

**Minkness** · 12-03-15, 08:35 AM

Thanks Chairman =)

Wingbeats · 12-03-15, 10:04 AM

I do know that say, the anti-inflammatory painkiller ibuprofen is toxic to cats but fine to humans. The painkiller safe for cats is toxic to humans. I would not be surprised if different painkiller reactions like that appear across the animal kingdoms, so it never hurts to very careful with them!

Sterilizing agents, however, don't usually have the same body reactions, so oftentimes similar meds are used by both humans and animals across the board.

Vet guidance is always a good plan, though