Lost snake turned up!

[Bonkers_Scar2011]

I need your help please:

My exboyfriend lost his creamsicle 6 months ago, and its just turned up in my kitchen! It looks super skinny and filthy, but is very feisty and strikes at everything.

What do I do next? Ive given it a small bowl of water. Going to move it into a small tank for now with bedding and a make do hide. Dont have any spare UTH but a heatlamp I dont use.

Please please please get back to me.

[bitsy]

Treat it like a new arrival. Bowl of water, plenty of hides (toilet roll tubes, kitchen roll tubes, doesn't have to be fancy), ground cover (crumpled newspaper is fine) and absolute quiet with no handling for a week.

Offer it something small as its first meal. If that goes down and stays down try something bigger four or five days later. If it hasn't eaten for a while, its digestive system might take a while to get back up to speed so don't be tempted into giving big feeds too soon. Slow and steady is the trick.

The main thing is for it to rehydrate, so make sure that it has enough ground cover that it feels secure enough to move around the tank and find the water. If you can find a snake-safe supplement to add to the water, that would be a good idea. Get the gut flora back up to aid digestion and give a boost of vitamins. Nutribac is your friend here I think.

Also, don't get it too hot too fast - lamp without a dimmer could be a problem, so make sure it's far enough away from the tank that the floor doesn't get over the mid-80s.

Good to have a wanderer turn up after all this time - fingers crossed that he's suffered no permanent harm.

[Bonkers_Scar2011]

Think I will put her into my big (empty) viv but in a small tank. Give her plenty of bedding and leave her be.

It's hard to say if she's suffered permanent harm. Her movement looks a bit stiff and her tail kinda sticks up awkwardly but she can use it. She was rattling it like crazy when we picked her up haha

What do I do about her being super filthy tho and she looks like she might have an old shed still stuck on her head and eyes.

She hasnt grown at all if anything looks smaller since I last saw her. My 8 months old Amel is bigger than her (She is just over 18 months old). Do you think not eating for so long will stunt her growth?

Should I take her to the vet or just see how she does on her own? Next thing to worry about is who's going to keep her, like I said she is technically my ex boyfriends but I paid for her and he was supposed to pay me back but never did. Hmm he isn't gonna be happy I think lol I might just keep her and hope she makes a full recovery :)

[Nanci]

I wouldn't say anything until you know if she's going to make it.

Could you do a couple soaks, as you would if she had a stuck shed? (Instructions in a sticky up at the top of this section). That will rehydrate her, too, and give her an extended opportunity to drink.

Then maybe try her on something really small tomorrow evening?

[Bonkers_Scar2011]

Well I have put her into a tank with lots of bedding and a hide & water bowl and covered the tank with a pillowcase so she doesn't feel like she is on display. I am gonna see how she does tomorrow morning & then give her a bath.

I am just still in shock about finding her I think. I was so sure of never seeing her again.