Crayfish snake

babyboa97 · 09-05-13, 07:39 PM

I was herping and I found an adult striped crayfish snake. He/she had a cut off tail which was healed but she had some fresh cuts and wounds on the tail. It's easy to tell hes had it hard. I want to hold on to it until he heals. Can anyone tell me go to set them up for a week or two. I feel bad for the poor thing

smy_749 · 09-05-13, 07:47 PM

survival of the fittest / the circle of life !

(I don't know the answer, sorry)

Doug 351 · 09-06-13, 06:08 AM

You really don't need to do anything special for it. A bowl of water and an escape proof cage with whatever substrate you have or paper towels. Outside of that common sense-don't put it in any place too cold or too warm.

You can give it a hide if you want- my snakes favorite is an old tennis shoe.If you're going to keep it longer you'll probably want to set something up.

Starbuck · 09-06-13, 06:33 AM

A) I wouldn't keep it, regardless of injuries.
B) if you are going to keep it for a bit, definitely do give it PLENTY of hides. A wild caught animal will feel kore stress at being exposed to a predator (human) all the time. This stress could further hinder the healing process. You will also have tobthink about what to feed itbif it wont accept ft mice.

**Pareeeee** · 09-06-13, 07:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Starbuck

You will also have to think about what to feed it if it wont accept ft mice.

I don't know about where you live but here you can get all the crayfish you want at a bait shop.

babyboa97 · 09-06-13, 07:47 PM

She has plenty of hides

Doug 351 · 09-06-13, 11:33 PM

You don't have to feed it.Just make sure it has water.It's good to go for at least 2 weeks. If you do want to feed it you can try pinkies- they are called crayfish snakes but some species diet are unknown and the rest feed on much more than crawfish if ever.

Even in an injured state a normal size wild snake can go up to 6 months without food or water. Just give it water for up to 3 weeks and if it isn't healed by then, start worrying about feeding. The less you mess with this snake the better. All it really needs is a place out of danger to heal.

Of course after 3 weeks- you might want to feed, but even then it is not absolutely necessary.

SSSSnakes · 09-07-13, 05:56 AM

Leave it go. It will be less stressed and heal faster in it's natural environment. Even though we feel we are helping, sometimes we are only hurting the snakes progress.