Please Help: Snake with Possible Broken Vertebrae

Well, I had a pigeon break his leg (an he only has one leg!) and the vet didn't splint it or pin it or anything- he was just on cage rest.

I had a one and a half year old snake get an injury from an over excited puppy to see the snake on the floor. It was unfortunate, really broke my heart. And my daughter was mortified. The snakes back "looked" broken to me and she moved rather funny. I took her to the vet who told me that there is nothing she can do, to put it on 'cage rest'. That happened over a year ago and it's hard to tell that there is anything wrong with her today... it was shocking how well she healed. I always felt that as long as she ate, drank and pooped? She was fine. And she is.

Look, if they can't splint it and your snake is eating well... what is the point of another xray??

Good luck with your snake.... !!

-Tonya

When I was young, I used to herp in woods and creeks liberally interspersed in heavily farmed country. Bush-hogs, hay-bailers, cows, wild pigs, deer, coyotes,...all heck on snakes. I have caught at least one of each of the four listed above with a healed injury that must have brought death near. Broken backs healed slightly twisted, slightly displaced upwards, to the left, or to the right. Some healed at a really clumsy-looking longitudinal angle. Some that even looked like the snake had been...maybe...pulled or stretched or longitudinally dislocated somehow.
So I did a little research at the time (late 1970's/early 80's--I know y'all would like some references...sorry), and snakes (like many reptiles in general) have an amazing capacity to survive and heal from, yes, a broken back. What is limp and dragged around will in time heal and be fully functional. (Have even seen alligators with very mangled tails living to a ripe old giant dangerous age.)
I guess this might relate to distant cousins growing tails back after ejecting them.
One would think this area would be a subject of research (and likely has been). "Healing" of spinal cord injuries, once studied, could improve the quality of life for a lot of people. (Truly I have googled nothing....but am going to as soon as I finish typing this.)

So...pamper your baby, and let him/her heal. (We humans all get scars, broken bones, and a little arthritis as we get older--but we're still the same people.)
Good Luck.

Reptiles and amphibians don't experience touch or temperature sensation the way we do. They don't feel cold the way we do, or heat the way we do. It is my understanding that they don't feel pain the way we do either. I once caught a Western Ribbon Snake feeding on minnows in a creek--that a bush-hog had cut in two. Just anterior to the anal vent. Kind of swollen down there, and sure to bring on eventual physical death...but the ribbon snake didn't seem to distracted from his focus on the minnows by the fact that he'd essentially been cut in half at some point over the last couple of days.

Hello Tonya and Vestusvates (Eric)
Thank you so much for your kind and encouraging words. I would re X Ray him only to know that it was safe once again to hold him, to take him out of his cage and pet him and have him be petted by others. Hes done a bit of animal modeling and has made a pretty damn good living for a reptile. Hes also very used to alot of affection; now I am scared even to touch him.

Eric, what you said about snake injuries also made me feel LOTS better. I can still see the lump on his back, and its quite prominent though it appears unchanged. I am worried about him, and I hope he heals as well as the snakes you mentioned. He does seem able to move below the level of the injury.

I am worried, and dont know how worried I should be. He was scheduled to eat today, and he only ate ONE large mouse; his normal is four every two weeks. Truthfully, ALL my snakes appetites were off today, ALL of them ate far less than their usual, so I dont know if all the snakes had an off day, or something has gone horridly wrong with my injured boy. On the good side, as yet he hasnt thrown up, its been hours.

Should I be concerned? This is a snake that is pretty far from being thin. Im not new to snakes, Ive had this one over 10 years, but Ive never had an severely injured snake before.

Thanks again for your kind thoughts and words,
Sincerely,
Susan

We're all here to help (as many have done for me).
The digestive process, as for all organisms with a forward opening and a rear opening, involves peristaltic muscular movement from anterior to posterior. If your snake's back is broken, 1) his ability to chemically and physically digest may be impaired/slowed by the injury; and 2) a full gullet would probably be very uncomfortable, physicaly stressing/stretching/displacing the injury.
I suspect he is not as active as normal, so he probably doesn't need as many calories. He knows best. His own, I would bet, disinclination toward being extremely active is just what will allow him to heal. The site of the break will likely remain conspicuous for the rest of his life. Just a cosmetic imperfection.
But for more primitive vertebrates, for example cold-blooded ones like snakes, physical resilience is often inversely proportional to specialization, like more sophisticated mammals.

Originally Posted by vetusvates

Reptiles and amphibians don't experience touch or temperature sensation the way we do. They don't feel cold the way we do, or heat the way we do. It is my understanding that they don't feel pain the way we do either.

For anyone who's caught his snakes tail in the lid may disagree? Is it being captured or pinched? I gotta say my snakes respond very differently to my restraining them to my getting em in the lid.

either way... with my girl I gauged my handling and the duration by her response.

Good Luck!

Tonya

I think it is a good sign that he ate at all.

I will continue to send good thoughts for you and your snakie!

Actually I'm surprised he ate at all. He could certainly go for weeks/months without having to. That he did, in my opinion is a superb sign. Doubly so--that his injury is not so serious, and that his zeal to hold onto life is strong.

Hi Eric, Tonya and Rich...
Im glad you think him eating anything at all is a positive sign. But this is actually his second meal since the injury...it happened Oct 10th. On the 16th he ate his 4 mice, but today he only ate one. Thats why I wonder if it means he has some odd new injury or some such. I know, Im likely being paranoid here but the snake cant tell me what hurts like a human can.

Sincerely,
Susan