What do you do when your venomous snake gets sick or hurt?

So, what do you do, and why? Honest answers please.

Hey Tanith,
Great post..... I treat what I can my self and if it is beyond what I can do or help, I take it to my vet...... For the experianced reptile keeper there are things we can do to help our captives if they get sick or injured...... But when bigger, more serious problems occur the animal should be seen by a vet without delay....

Treat what i can myself. if its beyound my knowledge i call other keepers with knowledge and experiance to aid in treatment. If it beyound those resources contact a vet for treatment and then double check his findings and ideas for treatment with other sources before allowing treatment. Then go with what is the obvious best source of treatment for the animals needs.

Any animal kept in captivity is 100% the responsibility of the person keeping it. If that person is unable to supply that animal with the care that it needs and deserves they have absolutely no right to keep it.

you are right evan, however most vets (reptiles,exotics or otherwise)will not or do not have the experience in treating hots ............ so sometimes we may find ourselves having to call more experienced keepers, or colaborate with vets.. bringing in fecals but them not actually seeing the animals for various reasons. it's hard enough to find a good reptile vet as it is but to find a reptile vet whom treats hots is even harder. however you should try a 100% to find the best treament or person to trat your animal, just because its a reptile and hot for that matter doesnt mean its any less of an animal... everything with in your power should be done to take appropriate care of the animal

Any animal kept in captivity is 100% the responsibility of the person keeping it. If that person is unable to supply that animal with the care that it needs and deserves they have absolutely no right to keep it.

I agree that a keeper is responsible for the care of the kpet animals; however I could never agree that I must supply an animal with the care that it deserves. Care that they deserve is an extremely subjective abstract concept - while care that they need is a much more concrete requirement for healthy survival. Abstract concepts, thought up on the whim and fancy of others can be quite troublesome. Abstract concepts are often the ammunition or the reasoning of the ultra extreme animal rights movement who believe that animals deserve to be free and unkept. Be careful of what you say in such regard, as the extremists are not above using your own words against you to achieve their goals and give you what they believe you deserve.

Best regards,
Glenn B

Well seeing that no vets in my area deal with hots I have to handle anything that comes up. This has made me more aware of proper temps and humidity. Thankfully nothing major has come up. And hopefully it won't.

The one thing for certain is that all animals get sick eventually. I guess for a snake that could take 30 years but it's still going to need medical care unless it drops dead of a heart attack.
That's one problem with hots. You buy one and you have a good vet. 10 years later the vet moves away. What do you do? I think you HAVE to learn how to do many things yourself because you can never count on having a competent professional around.
This happened to me, 'cept it only took four years. Hopefully Cascabelle and Lowly Worm will stay healthy until I have someone else, although I do have a vet who will consult and give me meds.

PS I talked to a woman the other day who was bragging about having spent 45 dollars on a vet for a rat. My vet bills for the past 12 months have been several hundred dollars including the one the rats ran up but I was trying really hard to look impressed.

PPS the amounts of ps's I use is proportional to to the amount of caffiene I've consumed.

I'll treat the real minor stuff at home but I'd make the 90 minute drive down to your vet for anything more serious.
I have a local herp vet that's pretty good for my non venomous stuff.

I think if you can't handle the heat, then stay outta the kitchen! For one, if you can't take it to a vet, or care for it yourself, then don't even think about keeping hots.