Eastern Milk Snakes, Wound Question?

I recently found a pair of Eastern Milk Snakes at my brothers house in MA. From looking at the tails, I believe that I have a 1.1 pair. I am not sure, but I will be probing them to see later on.

The male is doing great. He shed last night and is looking quite spiffy. Here is a couple of pics of him:







As I said, he is looking very good. Me, on the other hand, I am going in for a second surgery on that wrist, but enough about me.

The female is a different story. She is very active and was in the middle of shedding when I came home about an hour ago. So I assisted and got the last little bit off.

When I originally found her about 10 days ago, I noticed that she had a wound on her side about half way down her body. It was really difficult to see what the wound was, because it was scabbed over and dirty. I tried to clean it, but figured it would be better to leave it alone until after she shed. Now that she has shed, I am a bit concerned.

In this first pic, she looks pretty good


Here is the wound and I tried to get a close up on it.






What little bit of brown you see on the wound is dried up shed/skin and scab. The wound looks ok, but there are a couple of ribs sticking out and broken. It doesn't appear to be infected.

I am very scared of this wound. I called my regular vet when I first found them, he told me to contact the fish and game because his office will not see wild reptiles. I decided to hold off on that until I could see what was going on better. Now that I know what I am dealing with, I called him again, just in case I could get him to change his mind. No Luck!

I don't know what I should do. I would like the advice of a qualified vet, but I am leery about calling the fish and game.

I have cleaned it out and put some neosporin on it. There is a possibility that it will heal on it's own, as long as it doesn't get infected, but I am not sure.

She is very active and bit me about 3 times while I held her. She is usually very docile, but not today. Probably because she can see better now that she shed.

I am looking to the Fauna community for some advice on what to do? I am willing to do anything I can to help this little girl. I am not a person of a lot of means at this time because I am out of work, nursing an injury right now and waiting for my next scheduled surgery to come up.

Thank you all in advance!

Wayne

that wound will more than likely need surgery(Stitching/pulling tissue over), bones showing is not good, and the wound will have to be covered with skin. id get that snake to a vet who will treat it ASAP.

Mooing Tricycle said:

that wound will more than likely need surgery(Stitching/pulling tissue over), bones showing is not good, and the wound will have to be covered with skin. id get that snake to a vet who will treat it ASAP.

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I'm in the process of trying to find another vet that will see her. When I found her, I knew she had a small wound, but I had no idea it was that bad or I would have gotten her seen already. I have only had her for about 10 days or so.

I am leery about calling the F&G, because they will probably take her and probably have her euthanized. I don't think she is at that point, yet. She is very active, she has a good weight and besides the wound, she appears to be OK.

I am looking for a vet, but I thought I would check here too! I'm not very active on Fauna, but I am VERY active at CS.com. I know these communities and most of the people that frequent them are caring and are riddled with information.

Wayne

MedusaCoils said:

I am leery about calling the F&G, because they will probably take her and probably have her euthanized.

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Why do you think that?

The collection of the snakes in Massachusetts was perfectly legal.

The possession of up to two Eastern Milks is allowed in New Hampshire... you can't sell them but you, as an individual, are allowed to own up to two without any permits. Makes breeding a tricky proposition but unless these two are adding to an existing group and exceeding your limit, there's no reason they'd be confiscated.

I really doubt that fish and wildlife is going to help you with any veterinary care or costs... but their indifference doesn't mean they're going to euthanize the snake.

... and go see a vet. Other than "keep it clean" and "see a vet" any additional advice for the care or treatment of the injury is just irresponsible if it's coming from an internet message board.

Seamus Haley said:

Why do you think that?

The collection of the snakes in Massachusetts was perfectly legal.

The possession of up to two Eastern Milks is allowed in New Hampshire... you can't sell them but you, as an individual, are allowed to own up to two without any permits. Makes breeding a tricky proposition but unless these two are adding to an existing group and exceeding your limit, there's no reason they'd be confiscated.

I really doubt that fish and wildlife is going to help you with any veterinary care or costs... but their indifference doesn't mean they're going to euthanize the snake.

... and go see a vet. Other than "keep it clean" and "see a vet" any additional advice for the care or treatment of the injury is just irresponsible if it's coming from an internet message board.

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Thanks for help!

You are wise beyond your years!!

Wayne

Seamus Haley said:

Why do you think that?

The collection of the snakes in Massachusetts was perfectly legal............................. edited for space!

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Let me say for real this time, Thank you for your information. I am sorry about my last response. You had good information in that post. Maybe it was your approach? But that is neither here nor there now! I did check on what you said and You are right about keeping the animals in NH! Here is the link:

http://www.wildlife.state.nh.us/Wildlife/Nongame/RAARP/herp_rules.htm

Earlier today, I was working on getting this snake to a vet. That isn't going all that well, but I do have something set up on Monday. I have explained everything to the Vet, emailed the same pics that I posted here, and they are under the impression that if the snake has lived this long, (at least ten days in my care) and whatever length of time in the wild, then it's not in any "immediate" danger.

I have been given detailed direction on how to care for the wound until she can be seen. Most of which was already given to me in detail by a excellent member of this forum! HHMoore, you are a wealth of info! Thank you!

That's where I am now!

Thanks!

Wayne

Just an update! After a trip to the vet and over $212 dollars spent. The snake was put on an antibiotic. I brought her, earlier this week and she was put on baytril and an antibiotic ointment. The vet recommended that I contact Tufts University to see if they are doing anything with Skin Graphs, because any surgery to fix the wound would be futile and useless. They did do an xray, and to everyones surprise, there doesn't appear to be anything broken!

Since seeing the vet, the wound has dried up considerably and looks a whole lot better. It has scabbed over again and she has remained very active. She doesn't like the antibiotic or the salve, and she keeps trying to soak, but I have made it difficult for her, because I gave her a small water bowl. They are also treating her for worms. Being a W/C specimen, that is no surprise.

Thanks everyone for your imput!

Wayne

that looks painful,try to get her used to it....GOOD LUCK

I found a baby eastern milk snake at my grandparents house. It looked normal at first, but then I noticed it had weird brownish scab things all over it. I was wondering if anyone would know what this was and is there is any way to help it