Please Help, lawnmower injury

[adamanteus]

Nick, the crazyness is all part of the game! There are no easy answers....Yes, in the wild he would most certainly be dead by now...but he isn't in the wild. Prolonging his suffering...who really knows, you can only do what you think is best. You already saved him, so no need for guilt. If you feel it would help, force feed him, this might not cause him to start eating straight away, but after a few forced feedings he may well start to do it for himself.

If this was my situation I would do this...

Leave him alone for the next five days, no contact at all. Then offer an easy to swallow meal. If he doesn't take it within a few hours I would force feed him. I would then offer food every third or fourth day, forcing if he doesn't take it for himself. After two weeks of this (if he survives the stress) I would re-assess the situation. It's not easy, but hard choices need to be made. Others might have different ideas of where to go from here, but that is what I would do.

[drache]

Originally Posted by adamanteus

If this was my situation I would do this...

Leave him alone for the next five days, no contact at all. Then offer an easy to swallow meal. If he doesn't take it within a few hours I would force feed him. I would then offer food every third or fourth day, forcing if he doesn't take it for himself. After two weeks of this (if he survives the stress) I would re-assess the situation.

that sounds like an excellent course of action

[Lori P]

Oh my gosh, I just read this post. And I'm sitting here all dewey eyed and snivelly. (Hubby may just decide I've really lost it if he comes by and asks me what's wrong, and I blurt out "The lawnmower snake won't eeeaaaaaaatttttt!!!!") Ok, Chuck, you have got a whole fan club here rooting for you-- you have GOT to pull it together and bite the next thing you see!!!!

Nick, you are awesome. You've done everything possible to help this guy. The video of him was so sad... so obvious he has lost a lot of range of motion... but like others have said, he may get it back. And I'm fairly new to snakes, so I'm not sure I understand their pain responses and tolerance yet, but he was so active and curious I would think he wouldn't be hurting too bad... altho I know most wild animals are experts at masking pain and illness.

Anyway, keep up the good work and lots of good Karma coming Chuck's way!!!!!!

Lori

[0TG]

lol, Thanks Lori!

I will follow James advice and leave him alone until Friday or Saturday and try a worm again. In the mean time looks like I've got a lot of reading to do on forcefeeding.

[Odie]

Nick, you just need to get a really long really short wheel chair
A snake wheel chair
Hope it turns out well

[enigma200316]

Best of luck to ya Nick we all hope it turn out well........

[Lori P]

Originally Posted by Odie

Nick, you just need to get a really long really short wheel chair
A snake wheel chair
Hope it turns out well

ROFL... we'll all chip in, Nick, and get a tiny skateboard all outfitted for Chuck... Can you see us standing in front of grocery stores with a banner, "Fundraising today! Help Chuck roll again!" Hi, ma'am, can you donate today to help an unfortunate er, snake get on his--- er--- feet-- again? Ma'am? Omg, she's fainted...."

Yeah. Coffee's kicking in.

[LushLulu85]

PMSL lori. i think it might be a good idea to cut down on the coffee lol

Nice i believe you have done an amazing job so far. i dont really believe in fate but i think if this snake is going to pass then it will nomatter what you do. all you can do is what you have been doing and that is all you can to keep it happy. I am sending my love and prayers in the next post! xxx

[0TG]

Well, that's that. I left him alone for five days and then offered him a small frog and left them together for 24 hours. He did not eat the frog. I forcefed him a pinky.

All in all, it went rather smoothly and was not as difficult or stressful as I had anticipated. I got all my materials and laid them out on the table, having each one easily accessible. I laid a towel down and put the snake on that and then put another towel on top of his body, allowing only his head to stick out.

I grabbed the base of his head and held it firmly. I then opened his mouth with a toothpick (I cut the sharp points of both ends) and laid it across his mouth to keep it open. Here was my one mistake: I found the smallest pinky out of my 100's of pinks and figured he was large enough to eat it, not taking into account that they turn into absolute mush. During the process I actually had to cut the pinky in half and just fed the head to him. I forced the pink down his throat with the head of a nail. I then held his mouth closed firmly and gently massaged the pinks head down to his stomach.

I've put him in a container with paper towels as a substrate, a hide, and a water dish. This way it will be easy to tell if he regurges. I'll keep you all posted.

[enigma200316]

sorry you had to force him ,but its for the best and I hope all turns out for you..........