Injured Elaphe taeniura friesi

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Posted by Nightflight99 on May 24, 2000 at 11:51:28:

My Elaphe taeniura friesi tends to be a moody snake, and he is a very shy and delicate feeder as well. Sometimes he will feed right away, sometimes it takes repeated attempts and days to get him to feed. He will only take live mice in his enclosure. The last time he fed was May 12. I have since tried to feed him on three different days, and he has shown no interest each time. I decided to try again today, and while offering a live hopper, he started slashing his tail, and spraying blood, apparently coming from the tail region, onto the enclosure walls. Each whip sprayed more blood drops onto the walls, indicating an injury by the tail. The mouse was immediately removed, and while inspecting him, I also noticed that he is turning slightly opague, indicating an upcoming shed, which may have been the reason for his unwillingness to feed this time. I was not able to locate the wound in his agitated state, and did not want to stress him any further, so I placed him inside a pillow sleeve in his enclosure, so that he would face as little disturbance as possible. I also noticed that part of his hemipenis was exposed and visible while searching for the location of the wound. It appeared to be a wound at the very end of the tail, even though this is not certain. I watched the entire feeding attempt, and was not able to see a bite or any unusually aggressive behavior of the hopper, though I cannot imagine what could have led to a bleeding wound, other than a bite by the rodent. I am planning to give him plenty of rest, and leave him inside the pillow sleeve for about 2-3 days, in order to minimize disturbances. The sleeve is large enough for him to thermoregulate throughout the enclosure. Any hints and tips for treatment will be appreciated.

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: My Elaphe taeniura friesi tends to be a moody snake, and he is a very shy and delicate feeder as well. Sometimes he will feed right away, sometimes it takes repeated attempts and days to get him to feed. He will only take live mice in his enclosure. The last time he fed was May 12. I have since tried to feed him on three different days, and he has shown no interest each time. I decided to try again today, and while offering a live hopper, he started slashing his tail, and spraying blood, apparently coming from the tail region, onto the enclosure walls. Each whip sprayed more blood drops onto the walls, indicating an injury by the tail. The mouse was immediately removed, and while inspecting him, I also noticed that he is turning slightly opague, indicating an upcoming shed, which may have been the reason for his unwillingness to feed this time. I was not able to locate the wound in his agitated state, and did not want to stress him any further, so I placed him inside a pillow sleeve in his enclosure, so that he would face as little disturbance as possible. I also noticed that part of his hemipenis was exposed and visible while searching for the location of the wound. It appeared to be a wound at the very end of the tail, even though this is not certain. I watched the entire feeding attempt, and was not able to see a bite or any unusually aggressive behavior of the hopper, though I cannot imagine what could have led to a bleeding wound, other than a bite by the rodent. I am planning to give him plenty of rest, and leave him inside the pillow sleeve for about 2-3 days, in order to minimize disturbances. The sleeve is large enough for him to thermoregulate throughout the enclosure. Any hints and tips for treatment will be appreciated.

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