large cut

[d_virginiana]

Wow, for some reason I was thinking you were talking about a cut going longways down his belly!

If he's looking at you or following you with his head or tongue that's a sign he's probably alert... It's not 100% but they tend to get despondent and not very alert if there's an infection spreading through their body.

Have you noticed urates (white stuff)? If he's been drinking and passing urates, that's a good sign since that injury would make you wonder about injuries to the intestines.

[guidofatherof5]

Attachment 9975

Not near the injury I was expecting to see. Still a serious issue to be addressed.

[aquamentus_11]

So is it eating and I'd also like to know about urates/poop. Also, are you using any heat? I don't know your background so forgive me, but you may or may not know that reptile immune systems benefit from a proper amount of heat. While room temp is tolerated normally, it'd be nice to add an UTH or heat bulb if you haven't already. I have high hopes for him if it's been this long and he's still kickin. Strong work.

[EKS56]

Not as bad as I had envisioned.

[snakegirl909]

I haven't seen any urates. I have him on a heat mat, but I am thinking of getting a bulb also. Do you think he would benefit from a UVB bulb? He does flick his tongue out a lot which I know is a good thing. He hasn't eaten either. I've offered him both night crawlers, and fish.

[guidofatherof5]

Hydration is very important. Injured snake sometime neglect the water dish. Be sure he is drinking.

[slipknot711]

im really hoping this guy pulls thru

[guidofatherof5]

im really hoping this guy pulls thru

So are we.

[slipknot711]

seems like a trooper so far. just hopefully everything heals up ok and starts to eat soon! sif all goes well with the cut going across like that shedding may not be much of an issue. just the occasional checks to make sure all the skin is off

[ConcinusMan]

If you run into a situation like this again where they are cut all the way through the skin with anything hanging out like you described, that's something that calls for sutures. A good substitute is super glue and duct tape. Any foreign material should be flushed out first. Never use peroxide on deep wounds. I wouldn't even use it for superficial wounds on a snake. A skin cleaner/antiseptic with Chlorhexidine gluconate or weak diluted iodine is best. Peroxide damages healthy tissue and the duration of effectiveness is very short.

At this point it's been so long that I don't know if there's anything you should do but keep it clean. Paper towels for substrate helps. I don't want to recommend any antiseptic simply because I can't tell what's going on from those pics. If it's still open to the inside body cavity it needs to be closed up until it heals shut. The tape and superglue can be removed rather easily once the snake is ready to shed since the old skin just separates from the scales making it easy to peel off.

The snake looks malnourished too. If you can't get him to eat soon (keep meals very small) any efforts to treat the wound won't really matter much. You did hopefully read a care sheet and provide the right temperatures/environment otherwise a snake won't eat, injured or not. Warmth is essential for digestion, immunity, and healing.

I was also VERY surprised that he survived.

I'm not. As long as no internal organs were damaged and it didn't bleed to death, they can survive and recover from massive trauma far worse than that. I hit one with a lawn mower broke it's back, took most of the skin off the back, exposing ribs. Found that snake about a year later, slightly kinked, all healed up, and much bigger and that was without treatment. Last time I saw him I was sure he would bleed to death.

Your snake isn't "out of the woods" yet. That wound needs to close and he needs to put on some weight.