Did I hurt her?

mhartmann · #1 (**permalink**) 07-13-2010, 06:09 AM

Hey everyone. It's probably been a year since I last posted on her. I've had Samantha, my Peruvian boa for about three years now. She's 4, 7.5 feet long and really healthy. I try to take the best care of her as I possibly can. Anyway, I feel pretty stupid because I had her our tonight and she was sliding around the kitchen, and little did I know, there was this hole at the end of the floorboard by the stove, and he launched into it, and was half way in before I could grab her. My wife and I held onto the other half of her body for dear life as she wiggled and inched her way into the hole. She is super strong, and I was pulling on her pretty hard. Anyway, I was mostly hold on to her and trying to pull her back little by little, and after about half an hour, she decided to give up and slid out very quickly. It didn't look like she had been injured, but I'm not sure. I'm planning to call the vet tomorrow and maybe take her in after a few days of letting her calm down in her cage. What do you guys think? Think it's possible she might have cracked a rib or anything? I can take pics later in a day or two. She didn't hiss or anything when I picked her up which is a good sign. Anyway, I'm shaken up by the whole event. Even though I might get some deserved flames for letting that happen, it's good to get it off my chest. So feel free to comment however, and I definitely welcome any advice.
Michael

Sakara · #2 (**permalink**) 07-13-2010, 06:14 AM

I would check her over. she may have ruffled some scales or something. maybe scratched herself up. the only way to know if she broke anything would be a vet. hopefully she's fine and just a little angry from not being able to explore her new hide lol

Stargazer · #3 (**permalink**) 07-13-2010, 06:14 AM

I had a similar thing happen with my 5' BCI last summer. I took her to the photography studio for a photo shoot. She climbed into the sofa behind the cushions and got halfway in. The cushions were attached so the only way to get her out was to pull her out. She fought pretty hard and I could feel some crunching while I was pulling. But it didn't hurt her at all. She was fine after that. I'd say keep an eye on yours for a day or two to make sure he's okay.

kenyabloodstone · #4 (**permalink**) 07-13-2010, 06:17 AM

I had a similar experience but with curtain blinds. My BCI went through the little strings that hold the curtains together and got tangled in 2 of them and I had to carefully pull her back out because she got stuck.

I don't think anyone should flame you for an accident. Things happen to everyone.

I hope she is okay and just keep an eye on her like Sakara and Star said.

HERPHAPPY · #5 (**permalink**) 07-13-2010, 06:31 AM

Yeah, no one needs to 'cast any stones' over this one! We've all had a version of this happen at some point! You CAN cause internal injuries including cracked ribs....but let's hope not...an xray at the vet might be good? It's best to try to hang onto the snake hoping they tire when they cannot progress, without actually pulling them out....but that said, it may depend on just how hazardous it is to allow any forward progression? (wild snakes crawl fatally into chicken wire/bird netting, they can't back out...) Hope your pal is ok! It happens, they are snakes!

Sakara · #6 (**permalink**) 07-13-2010, 06:44 AM

since we are sharing stories. i admit I had one lol. last year I took my baby girl aurora to formation with me. my hubby picked us up in my car and when I went to sit in the car, I raised my arm, with her attached up so I could put on my seat belt. not thinking about my sunroof being open, I tried to put my arm down and it stopped. I looked up and there she was attempting to crawl INTO the sunroof!! I flipped! I managed to pull her out after a minute or 2... she was covered in grease and just dirty. I almost cried because i could have lost my baby inside the frame if my car!!! took her home and washed her off. she was fine other then a few bent scales.

we have all been there, lol. hopefully she's just fine

mhartmann · #7 (**permalink**) 07-13-2010, 04:49 PM

Thanks for the comments everyone. I feel better, and I'll check on Samantha over the next few days. She's a giant noodle muscle so hopefully she'll be ok. And I won't be letting her roam around my kitchen anymore. btw, good to recognize some of you still here on the site.

nitram · #8 (**permalink**) 07-13-2010, 05:13 PM

thats happened to me where one of my big girls decided to go behind the frame of my bed, looking to venture forward into the abyss under/behind my bed.
i held on to her without pulling, but i could feel her pulling vigorously (these are strong freakin animals, im 6'3" and about 220lbs and she had me on my toes!). eventually i felt her loosen up, and i was able to pull her back gently with little resistance. she was angry with me as she took a few strikes at me, but other than that she was fine.
good luck with your little friend, im sure it will be fine, these are hardy animals.

OVMtruckie · #9 (**permalink**) 07-13-2010, 09:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sakara

since we are sharing stories. i admit I had one lol. last year I took my baby girl aurora to formation with me. my hubby picked us up in my car and when I went to sit in the car, I raised my arm, with her attached up so I could put on my seat belt. not thinking about my sunroof being open, I tried to put my arm down and it stopped. I looked up and there she was attempting to crawl INTO the sunroof!! I flipped! I managed to pull her out after a minute or 2... she was covered in grease and just dirty. I almost cried because i could have lost my baby inside the frame if my car!!! took her home and washed her off. she was fine other then a few bent scales.

we have all been there, lol. hopefully she's just fine

Something similar to this happened to me with my first ball python a while ago. I was in college and living on campus at the time and went home for a holiday weekend and brought the snake with me. Well after the weekend was over my mom drove me back to school. I had the snake in a collapsable cardboard box like the one you get live feeders in. Well, low and behold I fell asleep in the car and he made his way into a HVAC hole under the dashboard of the car near the console. We sat in the parking lot in front of my dorm hall for several long hours trying to lure him out, disassemble the car to get to him, feel for him, anything but drive away. Well I ended up missing a day of classes and my mom missed a day of work and we gave up and she drove the car an hour to the dealership back home. Unfortunately, the mechanic was afraid of snakes and refused to work on the car for about a week. Finally we got someone who would disassemble the car and get the snake but it was too late. This was the one and only escape I have ever had. I am now entirely over protective of how I secure my snakes and enclosures, but I will never have another snake killed because of carelessness or lack of precautions. Its good to hear your snake is doing ok and I hope for the best. You haven't kept herps long enough if you haven't had an escape at one point or another.

mongoose5971 · #10 (**permalink**) 07-13-2010, 10:45 PM

Wow, OVMtruckie that's awful! Back when I worked at a reptile shop I had to help some college kids get their ball python out of the inside of their car seat. It's a good thing I helped, because they were not making any progress at all. I once had a large boa squeeze herself into the small opening on my steering wheel. She was so stuck I thought for sure I was going to lose her. Now I will tell anyone: NEVER carry a snake in a car outside a container!

OVMtruckie · #11 (**permalink**) 07-13-2010, 11:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mongoose5971

Wow, OVMtruckie that's awful! Back when I worked at a reptile shop I had to help some college kids get their ball python out of the inside of their car seat. It's a good thing I helped, because they were not making any progress at all. I once had a large boa squeeze herself into the small opening on my steering wheel. She was so stuck I thought for sure I was going to lose her. Now I will tell anyone: NEVER carry a snake in a car outside a container!

Yeah I know, it sucked. I would have to agree with your advice. Cars are nothing but trouble.

HERPHAPPY · #12 (**permalink**) 07-13-2010, 11:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by OVMtruckie

.... I am now entirely over protective of how I secure my snakes and enclosures, but I will never have another snake killed because of carelessness or lack of precautions.
.....

No such thing as "over-protective"!!!! Sorry for your loss and terrible lesson...

Aquarius · #13 (**permalink**) 07-15-2010, 09:25 PM

My RTB got into the couch once. I sit with him and have tea or watch tv or whatever, and he crawls on me, the couch, or sometimes the floor. One day he started sticking his head between the cushions and I would pull him back. This happened probably three times before he got smart and zoomed in there as quickly as possible! I was so shocked and he moved so fast that he was about half way in by the time I got a good hold on him. I was still sort of new to owning snakes so I was too afraid of hurting him to pull him out. So a removed dust cover and some prying later that day I got my snake back.

Part of me thinks he learned his lesson because he has yet to try that hard to get anywhere since.

TammyJamaica · #14 (**permalink**) 07-15-2010, 09:40 PM

Hi! I remember you. I think your snake will be OK but I agree that a trip to the vet would not hurt!

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