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Immediate HELP please!

Cursed_Witch
06-17-2006, 10:12 PM
I havent logged in on this site forever
but i am writing because just about 30 min ago.. we were moving stuff in the backyard and we actualy squished a garter snake... poor thing is twisted and bended and can only move his head and upper part a little..

I dont know what to do, it is definetly dying. keeps opening his mouth as in a cry for help... and he is laying there with his mouth open...

can anyone please tell me what i can do?!?! any meds? any treatment ???anything??????? im afraid he wont survive the night!!!!

Cursed_Witch
06-17-2006, 11:13 PM
NEVERMIND!

hes dead

MCHouse
06-18-2006, 12:07 AM
From what you posted it sounds as if you broke his spine causing him to be paralyzed from the break down....in that situation there wasn't anything to be done except to ease the suffering......

I hate it when stuff like that happens.....

A friend and i stopped one night to try and get a snake off the road and in the effort to catch him or shoo him off the road my buddy stepped on him (it was a copperhead and when he tried to bite he lifted his foot and when he went to set it down it moved that direction and he came down on its head) crap happens sorry to hear it!

MCHouse
www.Nightbreedreptiles.com

Kingetula
06-18-2006, 12:54 AM
I come across this from time to time because of diffrent reasons. Lawn mower, car or someone tried to kill it. I hate doing it but if it is hurt and I know it will die, I go ahead and finish killing the snake. I can't stand seeing them in pain. I hate doing it but it's quick and I hope quick enough that it doesn't feel the pain.

dragonfly
06-22-2006, 02:55 AM
Big squishy group hug everyone. It is very sad when it happens but it happens a lot... I've seen a couple hampsters get dropped and their backs break. It's a very painful sight to see, and more painful knowing you can't fix it.

Cursed_Witch
06-25-2006, 11:18 PM
Big squishy group hug everyone. It is very sad when it happens but it happens a lot... I've seen a couple hampsters get dropped and their backs break. It's a very painful sight to see, and more painful knowing you can't fix it.
thank you. that is nice of you to say and so true btw


i have news..
i caught another snake today.
Is a baby one maybe about 5 or 6 inches... its tail seems cut off but healed.
Now i need to know from you people *and yes i am searching*
how to take care of it as in terms of food..
I know i read it eats crickets.. but how often and should i leave the crickets in the tank wiht him all the time??

Tula_Montage
06-26-2006, 12:20 AM
Hmm what kind of snake have you found?
Could you please post pictures.

As far as i know, most species of snakes live on a diet of meat eg prodominantly rodents, toads, lizards.

Cant imagine what snake you would feed crickets?

dragonfly
06-26-2006, 01:04 AM
thank you. that is nice of you to say and so true btw


i have news..
i caught another snake today.
Is a baby one maybe about 5 or 6 inches... its tail seems cut off but healed.
Now i need to know from you people *and yes i am searching*
how to take care of it as in terms of food..
I know i read it eats crickets.. but how often and should i leave the crickets in the tank wiht him all the time??

Well you're very welcome.

Agreed, interested as to what kind of snake it is... But if he/she is eating the crickets I'm thinking you could put one in there every 4 or so days... Sort of like feeding pinkies to a baby corn???

(I'm trying to be helpful, I'm no expert haha...But we'll see what others say).

Methinks crickets bite though... So perhaps watch when you feed them to him/her!

Oh, I found this:

Do not leave invertebrate prey, especially mealworms, kingworms, or crickets, in the enclosure with a reptile without also leaving food for the prey. If the reptile does not eat the invertebrates right away, they will soon get hungry and start feeding on whatever is available, which is usually the reptile. Many reptiles become so severely chewed up and stressed out by their prey that they require veterinary care; such reptiles, like snakes who have been attacked by rodents, can be very difficult to get self-feeding again. Another scenting trick is pithing. This involves piercing the braincase of the killed prey with a pin or nail before offering it to the reptile. Never leave live rodents in an enclosure with the reptile. Too many big boids have died or been permanently disfigured by rodent attacks.

http://www.anapsid.org/feedingtips.html

Good luck!

dragonfly
06-26-2006, 01:05 AM
Sorry for the double-post but haven't found anything on snakes eating crickets yet ^^; Got any spare pinkies?

Cursed_Witch
06-26-2006, 01:12 AM
Hmm what kind of snake have you found?
Could you please post pictures.

As far as i know, most species of snakes live on a diet of meat eg prodominantly rodents, toads, lizards.

Cant imagine what snake you would feed crickets?

its another garter snake

dragonfly
06-26-2006, 01:17 AM
This is wierd...Maybe it'll help a tad...

http://www.musicplayer.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=1;t=024405;p=1

And this bit of info from this possibly legit but possibly not website:

"There are many types of snakes and a variety of ways to feed them. Some snakes eat only fish and crickets (Garter snakes) while most snakes eat mice and rats (Boas, Pythons, etc.)."

http://www.petinfo4u.com/snakes.htm


I'm off for now - good luck again!

Cursed_Witch
06-26-2006, 01:25 AM
yes it is a garter snake
does anyone have one?

id like to know how its done
and fish?!?! how weird is that

dragonfly
06-26-2006, 01:29 AM
I don't (don't think you can have them in BC Canada >.>)

But this may help...

http://www.anapsid.org/gartcare.html

Yeah, fish is wierd... and very smelly.

Billybobob
06-26-2006, 01:30 AM
yes it is a garter snake
does anyone have one?

id like to know how its done
and fish?!?! how weird is that

I have never known anyone to feed a garter crickets or any other insect for that matter. They may eat thouse things in the wild but it makes for a very bad captive diet.

Most people feed them fish by putting live fish in the water bowl.

It is sill recommended that you try to get them feeding on mice though.

Cursed_Witch
06-26-2006, 01:30 AM
I don't (don't think you can have them in BC Canada >.>)

But this may help...

http://www.anapsid.org/gartcare.html

Yeah, fish is wierd... and very smelly.
alright then. i wont keep you here any longer
thanks for all the help
ill check that site out..

later dragon

Cursed_Witch
06-26-2006, 01:32 AM
I have never known anyone to feed a garter crickets or any other insect for that matter. They may eat thouse things in the wild but it makes for a very bad captive diet.

Most people feed them fish by putting live fish in the water bowl.

It is sill recommended that you try to get them feeding on mice though.

i never hread about the fish before.
I caught it from the wild so i assume i should keep him on crickets or wahtever it eats..
SO if i were to feed him fish.. what type should it be?

and btw.. the snake is about 5inches! baby..no pinkie will be small enough

Cursed_Witch
06-26-2006, 01:34 AM
btw! HI billbybob!

long time no talk

dragonfly
06-26-2006, 01:36 AM
alright then. i wont keep you here any longer
thanks for all the help
ill check that site out..

later dragon

No worries, keep me
:cheers:

susang
06-26-2006, 01:38 AM
Most people feed them fish by putting live fish in the water bowl. On occasion we have caught a garter snake kept it for a week or two. We would buy feeder fish put two or three is a clear glass bowl and put it the tank and watch them eat, very fascinating. susan

Billybobob
06-26-2006, 01:39 AM
i never hread about the fish before.
I caught it from the wild so i assume i should keep him on crickets or wahtever it eats..
SO if i were to feed him fish.. what type should it be?

and btw.. the snake is about 5inches! baby..no pinkie will be small enough

In the wild they would be able to get a larger variety of insects so they might be able to get a compleat diet from insects alone. But in captivity I would say to not feed a diet of just crickets (infact I would not offer any insects).

For a garter that small I would recommend guppies or minnows. And that you try to get it on pinkys as soon as possible.

Cursed_Witch
06-26-2006, 01:41 AM
On occasion we have caught a garter snake kept it for a week or two. We would buy feeder fish put two or three is a clear glass bowl and put it the tank and watch them eat, very fascinating. susan

hey thanks susan for the help

so you think i should be fine with the feeder fish..
but tell me.. why did you keep it only for a week or two?

Billybobob
06-26-2006, 01:44 AM
btw! HI billbybob!

long time no talk

Do you actually remember me? Because we really did not get along that well. Well no hard feeling here I just want your new snake to get the care it needs.
:cheers:

Cursed_Witch
06-26-2006, 01:47 AM
Do you actually remember me? Because we really did not get along that well. Well no hard feeling here I just want your new snake to get the care it needs.
:cheers:

yes bob.. i know we didnt get along realy well at first
but as far as i rememeber before i dissapeared.. we were actually getting along fine... and i know i said this at some point that.. funny how things were cool after the temper probs we had.

anyways thank you again for the help. i dont feel like i want to keep this snake. cause i already have stewie.
did you see his new pics btw? i had a new post in the pic gallery that sais picture update

Billybobob
06-26-2006, 02:07 AM
Yeah I seen him, he is looking good by the way. :cheers:

Cursed_Witch
06-26-2006, 02:10 AM
Yeah I seen him, he is looking good by the way. :cheers:

thanks ive been taking good care of him
tahnks to all the help i got from here

but he has been giving me a hard time eating lately
so i had to leave the food overnight for him and wake up in the morning with the food gone.

Tula_Montage
06-26-2006, 02:26 AM
So you are going to attempt to keep a wild caught specimen?
If so are you prepared for the many problems you may face?

pgr8dnlvr
06-26-2006, 02:33 AM
Did I hear someone say you are in BC Canada? Where abouts?

Anyway, I have a fair bit of experience with keeping garter snakes <even though I know it is illegal, blah dee blah blah! lol>

The thing with Garter snakes is that they need LOTS of room compared to other snakes, and they definitely thrive on a diet of small fish, guppies or baby swordtails when young, feeder goldfish when older, both of which are easily attainable at local petshops. If you are in BC I can even tell ya which pet shops.

Anyway that cricket thing is a load of malarkey. It is soooooooo hard to get them to accept crickets. Another fool-proof food I have found is tadpoles and frogs. Unfortunately though, they would have to be from tree frogs as all but the very smallest bullfrog tadpoles would not do. :(

As far as other alternate foods you can try earthworms, dew worms, and BROWN <not those plentiful black> slugs. I have heard of many snakes doing really really well with the dew worms. Feedings should be a little more frequent than with your average snake. I find at least every three days is best.

Now for space. Even thigh they are very small these guys need lots of room. For instance I wouldn't house a young adult or an adult in anything smaller than about 4' long for any length of time. Babies of course could go in say, a 20 gallon aquarium. You need to have lots of natural hiding places and a very large water bowl big enough for the snake to swim in, not just soak. I have found using the eco earth or coconut dirt with a nice thick fluffy layer of moss on it works well for substrate but of course going with the nice natural viv is much harder to clean when cleaning day comes!

With these guys I find that the full spectrum lighting and very low heats in your warm areas < 80 - 85 degrees> are best as far as lighting needs.

Anyway if you need more info. PM me if you want. I definitely feel that a garter snake taken care of properly in captivity will thrive if given the chance. Another super cool thing is that if you are lucky enough and find a female around late spring in a little while you will likely be surprised with lots and lots of babies! They have live babies and its so cool to see them born!

Rebecca

dragonfly
06-26-2006, 04:43 AM
Did I hear someone say you are in BC Canada? Where abouts?


I'd be the BC person...Port Moody. ^^

And nice info on the garters! o.o

Illegal, maybe, but so....very....pretty.

susang
06-26-2006, 10:10 AM
why did you keep it only for a week or two?
There was always such an abundance in wild we just let our kids have the experience of watching them and than releasing. When we lived in the desert we did the same with rosey boas (but they ate mice). susan

Jay@PJCReptiles
06-26-2006, 11:49 AM
Ok, I just have to add my input on this one. We live Maine, USA and my son has been catching garter snakes most of his life. We have successfully kept them from spring to fall. I feel they should be set free to hibernate on their own. They are not like corn snakes, that just bumate. I would think if the garter is from Canada, than the same applies. There is a book called Garter and Water Snakes published by AVS. I know you can get this book from Mike Greathouse at www.reptiliandreams.com I am not sure on the shipping to Canada but I used to work for the US Postal Service and we let people ship books to Canada. Garters do eat feeder fish, small gold fish type ones that are cheap, like 20 to 30 cents a piece. We love the books published by AVS (Advanced Vivarium Systems). I hope this helps you out.
Good Luck
PJ & Jay