Need urgent help!!!

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Need urgent help!!!

Postby Spider » Mon Oct 25, 2010 7:25 pm

To give you guys a little background , I bought a 1.7m red tail boa from a female friend's husband.
When I came back from work today I noticed It was having problems shedding. So I took the snake and placed it in the bath in luke warm water.
This worked like a bomb BUT this is the problem - I left the bathroom for Just 5 seconds and the snake decided it wanted to go through the handrailing on the side of the bath.He is now stuc between the handrail and the bath. I have tried pulling gently to no avail.
I don't want to touch the snake too hard as it's skin will still be very sensitive.
He can not go any further than he is now. He is also making very strange hissing noises which I guess isfrom difficulty breathing.

How can I get him out without stressing or hurting him :smt010

I swear I'm never gonna leave a snake alone again!
“When spider webs unite, they can tie up a lion”
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Re: Need urgent help!!!

Postby Wolf777 » Mon Oct 25, 2010 7:33 pm

Have you tried lubricating him and then pulling? If he is really stuck then you are going to have to carefully remove the handrailing with bolt cutters or even a grinder as a last resort. Some railings are glued on, see if tha is the case and maybe you can seperate it from the tub, just be carefull.
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Re: Need urgent help!!!

Postby Spider » Mon Oct 25, 2010 7:37 pm

I cant really see how the railling is attached but I am really considering breaking the it from the bath. What would be the best lubrication substance to use so that I dont do more harm to the snake?
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Re: Need urgent help!!!

Postby glencoco » Mon Oct 25, 2010 7:44 pm

Spider wrote:I cant really see how the railling is attached but I am really considering breaking the it from the bath. What would be the best lubrication substance to use so that I dont do more harm to the snake?

Butter, or any natural oil.
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Re: Need urgent help!!!

Postby Wolf777 » Mon Oct 25, 2010 7:48 pm

I would say vaseline, water or maybe even some olive oil as I know these are harmless, I guess anything that won't cause harm (like glencoco mentioned). If that doesn't work then I would break the railing off as carefully as possible.
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Re: Need urgent help!!!

Postby Spider » Mon Oct 25, 2010 7:48 pm

I am going to try it. I hope it will work as the snake's diameter at the thickest part is about 70mm and the gap in between the railing and bath is only 30mm!
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Re: Need urgent help!!!

Postby Spider » Mon Oct 25, 2010 7:49 pm

He has now been stuck for one hour :smt010
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Re: Need urgent help!!!

Postby Wolf777 » Mon Oct 25, 2010 8:19 pm

How's he doing?
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Re: Need urgent help!!!

Postby glencoco » Mon Oct 25, 2010 8:40 pm

Put a blanket over his head to calm him down when you do it.
Less chance of him getting hurt, less chance of you getting hurt.
If you do decide to cut it, please use a hacksaw so that you can control the break, otherwise you may end up with broken ribs if you try to smash it.
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Re: Need urgent help!!!

Postby glencoco » Mon Oct 25, 2010 8:43 pm

2 hours now, is he still breathing weirdly?
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Re: Need urgent help!!!

Postby Spider » Mon Oct 25, 2010 8:52 pm

Hey guys , he is fine!!!!! :D
The butter worked. I aplied it to the stucked area and to the bath and then slowly pulled on him to make him try and reverse as well. The process of pulling slowly took about 40 mins!
But he is finally free and only has a little skin left on he's head that needs to be shedded.
I'm going to leave him be to recover from this stessfull situation.
This has been the most stressfull time of my life!

Let my dumbness be a lesson to everyone that thinks you can leave a snake out of your sight for just a short while.

I'm so happy and reliefed, and what a way to bond with my new snake.

Thanks for all the advice people, thats why I joined this wonderfull site. You guys are awesome!
“When spider webs unite, they can tie up a lion”
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Re: Need urgent help!!!

Postby Wolf777 » Mon Oct 25, 2010 9:02 pm

Glad he is ok.
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Re: Need urgent help!!!

Postby Bushviper » Tue Oct 26, 2010 8:14 am

Spider wrote:Let my dumbness be a lesson to everyone that thinks you can leave a snake out of your sight for just a short while.


Everyone makes mistakes and I am sure you never expected the snake to get stuck there. Others will learn from it so it was not a waste.

Glad to hear the snake is fine.
It is easier to ask for forgiveness than permission.

Those who are afraid to ask are ashamed of learning.
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Re: Need urgent help!!!

Postby groovy » Tue Oct 26, 2010 5:06 pm

I am glad you learned your lesson and that all is fine with the Boa! You are not the first person to make such a mistake, the same happend to me with almost the same size Boa.. Luckily no-one was hurt, but it was not fun! Mistakes is how you learn, unfortunately you can't always learn from other peoples mistakes. You have to make some of your own..
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Re: Need urgent help!!!

Postby glencoco » Tue Oct 26, 2010 5:58 pm

Glad that he's OK, I got very worried past the 2h mask.
Also: Yay for butter! :)
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