spine injury

[Rydair]

First of all hello all! I've never posted here before because I have never been involved with cornsnakes until very recently. Burmese pythons are my specialty.

2 days ago a group of children in my neighborhood brought me a newborn cornsnake. I am not familiar with the names of morphs of cornsnakes but it has very bright highlights and deep redish-brown markings, a common coloration I'm sure. They are not native to my area so I'm assuming it escaped or was let go. It took just a few seconds of looking at him to see that hes been a plaything for the local cats. It seems that he has some sort of spinal injury about half way down his body. His tail shows some reflex when touched but i'm pretty sure its involuntary, he makes no effort to hold on to anything with the second half of his body.

I'm wondering if anyone here has had any experience with this type of injury as I have not in any species of snake. Does anyone know if digestion will be a problem for him. I know the degree of his injury will have a huge part to play. I guess I'm just wondering if there's any hope of recovery or if life is possible for a snake with a broken back.

Thanks for any input!

[Nanci]

If he can crawl, he has a chance. He needs to be able to eat, shed, and poop. Only time will tell. Are you sure he isn't an Eastern Milksnake?

[Iguanagirl8662]

Are you sure it is an injury and he wasn't just hatched that way. It may just be a kink in the spine which it hatched out with but they tend to do just fine. I have a few corns and a king that are like that.

If you could post a picture it would help others to figure out what is wrong with it. I would also suggest taking it to the vet and maybe getting an xray done.

[Rydair]

I managed a petco for 2 years and he is textbook pet store cornsnake. He can get around but only when there's good traction i.e. aspen bedding, when hes in a feeding container he moves the first half of his body around fine but struggles to pull the rest of his body. I tried feeding him today mostly just to experiment. He didn't eat, but I didn't really expect him to after all this trauma. The more I watch him the closer I get to being 100% sure that the reflexes in his tail are involuntary thus suggesting either temporary or permanent paralysis below the injury. For now I'm hoping that the injury has caused some inflammation around the vertebrae which could be the cause of temporary paralysis.

[Rydair]

he has a very small puncture at the site of the injury which is almost certainly from a cat tooth. It seems to be healing well though.

[Zulu3]

What are your plans for the little guy?

[Rydair]

Well i have a habit of taking in animals that need a permanent quiet place to live. That's why the kids knew to bring him here. So I think he'll stay with me if he lives. I just hope he gets better.

[MinLynn]

Good luck with the poor baby! I hope he makes it for you. Of all the rescues I've taken in,none have been severly injured so I'm no help on that end. Just wanted wish you luck!

[Rydair]

I apologize for the poor quality of the pictures they were taken with a video camera with very little photo options...including focus apparently.

The close up is the worst of 2 punctures

In the picture of the whole snake the place where he is bent is the point of injury. From that point on there is very little movement.

[danielle]

Looks like the puncture occured on the side rib area which could be good if the broken ribs didn't puncture anything else. Maybe in a week or two trying feeding in a small delicup again and see if it can feed, otherwise.......

[Rydair]

sorry cant figure out how to edit my last post I was confused about which picture i uploaded...

the red circle of this pic is where the point of injury is.

[Zulu3]

Does it look like he has been bitten? He may need some antibiotic ointment on any wounds if he has any. Cat mouths are dirty things.

He is handsome, I hope he makes it

Ali

[Emily1188]

That looks like an Eastern Milksnake hatchling to me...

http://www.jkcassady.com/images/2milksnake.jpg

http://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/content/dep/herps/photos/snakes/eastern%20milk%20snake.jpg

[Zulu3]

The head looks corn to me, but the pictures are a bit blurry.

[Iguanagirl8662]

Looks like the puncture occured on the side rib area which could be good if the broken ribs didn't puncture anything else. Maybe in a week or two trying feeding in a small delicup again and see if it can feed, otherwise.......

I agree, in a week or two tey feeding it and if it eats it will most likely make it. Make sure to keep the wound clean. I also believe that it is an Eastern Milksnake.

[Zulu3]

well there you go =) i twas wrong

[Rydair]

Sooo...what i gather is that some people are more interested in what species he is than his actual problem...and that life may be possible if he can perform the basic functions of eating shedding and pooping. So since the verdict is that hes an Eastern Milksnake are you suggesting that he has a better chance in nature, being a native species, or a better chance in a controlled environment?

I understand the bit about kinked corns being hatched this way, but it is obviously an injury resulting in either temporary or permanent paralysis of the second half of his body. Does anyone have actual experience with spinal injuries in snakes?

[Rich in KY]

There have been people on here with similar type injuries. I don't recall any specific names at the moment.

But here are some basic tips. Keep him on paper towels. Treat the wound with Neo-sporin. After 10 days or so, I would offer a small meal and see how he does.

If he can digest the meal properly, there should be no reason for him to survive. I do recall one example where a snake with a fairly serious spine injury completely recovered. There are also many examples of snakes that just don't make it.

Good luck! Keep us posted on his progression.

[Rydair]

Ok that sounds good. As I've mentioned before i have very little experience with small species of snakes. I know corns will start on pinkis or small lizards. What about this guy? The pinkis I picked up for him worry me because i dont want the area around the injury to stretch too much when he eats. Is it possible to feed crickets as a starter? Or will he most likely not go for that?

[Rich in KY]

That is where the knowing the species would help. I don't know about the diets for milk snakes.

But you could cut a frozen pink in half. That would give it a small meal.

[Nanci]

I think you could tell the difference by comparing the neck area. Kings have a thick, stocky neck. Corns have a little skinny pencil neck. I can't see it clearly enough in your pics to tell.

[JustineNYC]

Ok that sounds good. As I've mentioned before i have very little experience with small species of snakes. I know corns will start on pinkis or small lizards. What about this guy? The pinkis I picked up for him worry me because i dont want the area around the injury to stretch too much when he eats. Is it possible to feed crickets as a starter? Or will he most likely not go for that?

I would get the smallest pinky I could fine, and slice the head off with a razor blade while it is still frozen, and feed that (obviously after defrosting it). Thats pretty small.

[Emily1188]

I happened to be interested in the species because Eastern Milks are notoriously difficult to feed in captivity - so it is quite relevant to the problem.

[haydnrobinson]

Good luck with the little guy, hope he turns out ok. Maybe a vet would be able to help classify him and advise you better.

[Lyreiania]

Hi...just saw this. My own snake fractured his spine. Though I did my best for him and with him he ended up dying because he could not shed, and developed a skin problem we could not heal. I dont know how your little one broke his spine, or if indeed his spine is broken. He may have been born like that...some snakes are kinked, naturally. And some of them can do and be just fine. If it was a traumatic injury, it may be a bit different, depending on where it is and the extent of the break.

Have you taken XRays? What does your vet think?

I wish you the best with your little one,
Sincerely,
Susan

[Kaminoke]

I have a Thayeri king snake that got loose in the pet store as a hatchling. When he was found he had a broken back much higher up than the snake you have pictured. Every vet said that the best thing to do was to put him to sleep - he wasn't moving his lower side at all. Instead, we put him in a tank in a quiet place and basically just left him alone for a couple of weeks. He moved around very little, but he could drink and cool off or warm up just fine. Weeks later he started to move more. We never picked him up, and since he was still at a healthy weight we didn't feed him. Then he started to move his lower body again - the paralysis was temporary. He was offered extremely small meals.

Today, about 2 years later, he is a happy healthy snake. He has a small kink in his spine that you can feel when he's moving in your hands, and he has some trouble getting larger prey past that kink. So he's fed multiple smaller items instead.

So... get Xrays and such if you want. But I think it might be best to treat the puncture wound, but otherwise just leave him alone. Offer him mouse tails if you want him to get some food. Handle him as little as possible, give him a quiet place to recover, and hope for the best.