Another Case of Tape On Snake

Aussie Pythons & Snakes Forum

Help Support Aussie Pythons & Snakes Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
Status
Not open for further replies.

cirice

New Member
Joined
Jan 16, 2016
Messages
9
Reaction score
0
My current enclosure had (not has, HAD) duct tape on the back in little segments, to keep the thermometer attached.

I got up around 2 this morning, checked on my snake (Coastal Carpet Python), and saw he had a tiny bit on his back. No big deal, I thought. A bit concerning but it was barely attached. I got him out and that's when I saw that he had what was practically a ring of tape around his belly!

I was absolutely frantic. I didn't think to check online, mainly as I currently was holding a 2m long snake and was afraid it would die. I sat down, let him wrap his back half around my arm, held his neck gently so he wouldn't try escaping, and then tried gently pulling at the tape. I gave up in seconds, as I was afraid to hurt him. So, I doused the tape area in water. The small bit on his back practically fell off, with no scales or anything, as it was like 1x2cm. The other bit however was more tough. I used scissors to carefully cut at the excess so he wouldn't get stuck again, and after half an hour of me sobbing and shaking and gently pulling, the other bit of tape came off with only a few scales. After checking him over to make sure there was no damage, I immediately rushed to the enclosure and took out all the tape.

He's back in his enclosure now, and was thankfully still using his back half with as much muscle as usual, but I'm still scared!

Will he be okay? I've filled my mind with horror stories of people I've just read who had to euthanise snakes after they got caught too bad :cry:

I'm going to let him de-stress in his enclosure for a few days, feed him as usual, and then slowly try handling him again. I'm scared he's going to associate me with pain.

What I'm most scared about, is he in pain? He's acting very spooked, understandably so, but I can't see any signs of external injury.

Anyway, lesson learned, no more tape, and I'll keep some mineral oil and q-tips nearby.
 
Vegetable oil such as olive, not mineral. Was this the cage you got at the tip? There's a lesson here for students of all sorts... NO TAPE IN A REPTILE ENCLOSURE... EVER... PERIOD. If you use oil, the exposed sticky tape will not re-stick. Hard to say if there has been any long-term damage without knowing what you did to get the tape off, but snakes don't have the mental savvy to associate you with pain after an experience like this. Sounds like you used a bit of force if you're concerned about the animal being in pain. It also depends on the depth of the skin you pulled off when removing the tape without a solvent. If you caused bleeding, there is always a risk of infection. If you remove the hazard forever, you won't need to keep Qtips and oil nearby.

I removed a large chunk of tape from a large wild Carpet earlier this week - a neighbour found it in his carport, where it had crawled into a taped-up box and got a lot of it stuck. Using olive oil and about 30 minutes, the tape came away without any major stress and no damage to the animal. I fed it a rat the same evening and sent it on its way the next morning.

Jamie
 
..

- - - Updated - - -

@pythoninfinite cable runs along the top corner of enclosure and then down the wall to sit just above the basking shelf.

Hot glue would work, maybe something a little less permanent though. Either way moral of the story is no tape in your enclosure.


I've used blu-tack (bostik brand) in the past to hold thermometer probes under heat lights and on top of heat cords in 35-40c heat. With no problems at all, melting or sticking to animals etc. the bonus is that's it's not permanent and you can move it to different locations in your enclosure.
 
I already stated in the original post that I have removed all the tape from his enclosure. In fact, my statement was "lesson learned, no more tape".

I didn't pull off any actual skin, just a couple scales, and there was no bleeding, as I already said.

Not to be rude, but once again, I really don't see why there was a useless paragraph, when all I asked was if he would be okay and how I could check for damage.

Thanks anyway.
 
Useless paragraph? How would we know if the snake would be OK when it's quite unclear how extensive the damage was - different people describe things in different ways - to some, skin might just be the thin transparent outer layer, to others it could be full thickness, exposing muscle. Clarity in your posts is important - just as you didn't tell us you knew who the enclosure you found at the tip came from, and that it was disease free etc... when you first raised the matter., but we discovered that you already knew its full history after offering you some good advice

You said you were still "scared" - to me this implies potentially more than minor damage, and that it might have still been in pain.

A bit of grace in your responses to the help members here try to give you might not go astray. My caps re: the tape were not especially for you cirice, it's important that other novices get some of these messages too...

Jamie
 
Of course I'm scared, as I can't determine whether or not he's in pain.

There was just a few scales, no real "skin", and no muscle showing, or blood. I was pretty clear in my original post.
 
It's not unusual for a bit of the sheddable epidermis to come away when cleaning up problems like this, but that's all it is, it's not actual scales or skin, just the keratinous outer layer. Unless the snake has very recently shed and the outer layer hasn't really hardened off, it will do no lasting damage, and will be fully repaired when the snake sheds next time. Unlikely to be painful to the snake once it has undergone the cleanup. When I dealt with the wild animal this week, a few transparent bits of skin came away with the tape, but it is of no lasting consequence, and any irritability is probably just from the unwanted handling.

Jamie
 
I also use small bits of tape to hold my thermostats in place, What is a good substitute for tape in holding thermostats and their wiring in place?
 
I also use small bits of tape to hold my thermostats in place, What is a good substitute for tape in holding thermostats and their wiring in place?

Where are your thermostat probes, on a flat surface? As suggested, hot glue works quite well, but it's just as easy to pull them down onto something flat with very small cable ties, ensuring that they are tight enough so that the reptiles can't get stuck under wires or cables. You can fix them through the back if you want to, and if you have your probe above the floor under a basking lamp or whatever, you can fix it to a branch, with the cable or wire tied tightly to the branch.

But please get rid of the tape - heat often softens the adhesive and it can stick very aggressively to snake skin.

Jamie
 
@pythoninfinite cable runs along the top corner of enclosure and then down the wall to sit just above the basking shelf.

Hot glue would work, maybe something a little less permanent though. Either way moral of the story is no tape in your enclosure.
 

Attachments

  • image.jpg
    image.jpg
    208.7 KB · Views: 88
I looked him over and couldn't actually find where the scales were missing, as they were very sparse and not patches of scales.

He's acting pretty normal now, though a bit jumpy, and has been slithering in the enclosure. Needless to say, I'm very relieved :D
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Latest posts

Back
Top