Burnt Snakes, why?

[Bel03]

Im not going to try guess what is going on here, if this is the real story or not, i just hope these animals recover & live the lives they are meant to. I will however say that i can understand why some people find this story to be a little.....off. You must admit some things just dont seem to add up. For example.....on the 20th you posted that this person would be releasing the wc snake 'the next day'.......today you posted that you made her let it go 'ages ago'.......it hasnt even been a wk.......:? ANYWAY, as i said, no matter what the story is, i wish these animals a safe happy life.

 

[LadyJ]

I gagged and am quite teary... you're an angel for saving the snakes, but I'd put my money on cigerette burns, before I even read that suggestion that was my thought. :'(

 

[marcmarc]

Yeah I have a pic of the olive in my other thread because it's now living with me.... And if you's don't like reading the thread- don't read it. And you's don't know me so don't go making assumptions about me ok. If your not interested in knowing how the snakes are going and only want to start a flaming war then hiss off.

Hey everyone, If you want me to keep you posted on what happens with the snakes PM me as im not writing on here anymore because i dont want to start a stupid flaming war that out keyboard warriors react to so much. I'm not commentig on this anymore so like i said PM me and ill give you updates weekly
Cheers.

Keep on posting. You aren't obligated to respond to anything negative nor do you have to acknowledge anything neggo.

 

[Bluetongue1]

What is clear is that both reptiles and owner require help.

Heat mats can cause burns if the thermostat in them fails and those burns can be quite nasty. It is an unfortunate reality that snakes in particular do not respond to excessive heat applied to their bodies in the same way humans would. However, there are two facts that invalidate the owner’s claim of the heat mat being responsible. The extensive area that was burnt would require the snake to be tightly coiled and motionless throughout – an unlikely scenario. The second factor is that the artificial grass beneath the mat was unaffected. If the temperature was high enough to produce the significant burns on the snake, it was high enough to at least melt the blades on the artificial grass. As was explained for the Olive Python, a faulty mat would not cause such localized damage. There is nothing else in the enclosure that could cause it.

Given that the injuries evidently did not occur within their enclosures, they occurred when they were taken out. So they are the direct result of someone in the household. The owner has responsibility for their welfare and is clearly not enacting it. Her refusal of an offer of assistance to clean cages is further evidence of this. Regardless of who inflicted the injuries, the owner would have been aware and did nothing to address them or the situation. This far from normal and cannot be explained fully by drug use alone. It is clearly indicative or a more deep seated mental health problem which is in real need of being addressed. This is why the advice offered by Fantazmic is so very sound and should be acted upon for the good of all concerned.

Well done on looking after the reptiles – a difficult situation to find yourself in but admirably addressed.

I would almost guarantee she is a troll, especially as she has a pic of an olive in her Show us ya collection thread that has what looks to be the beginnings of the exact same injury as this olive has. Have a look at the olives head in pic 2.

If you take the time to carefully compare the photos, in particular the individual shape of various scales, you can see that it is not the same animal.

Blue

 

[snakelady96]

Thank you blue! the olive in that photo is the one with broken ribs and the thing on his head is just from bad shedding, it's not the one with the cigarette burn.

 

[ianinoz]

Yeah I have a pic of the olive in my other thread because it's now living with me.... And if you's don't like reading the thread- don't read it. And you's don't know me so don't go making assumptions about me ok. If your not interested in knowing how the snakes are going and only want to start a flaming war then hiss off.

Hey everyone, If you want me to keep you posted on what happens with the snakes PM me as im not writing on here anymore because i dont want to start a stupid flaming war that out keyboard warriors react to so much. I'm not commentig on this anymore so like i said PM me and ill give you updates weekly
Cheers.

Well I for one am interested in how the injured snakes are going. Ignore the trolls who want to flame and bait here, they're not worth your trouble to argue with them.

Those snakes are fortunate that you rescued them.

I wouldn't wait for the vet to contact the RSPCA (he may be dragging his feet because he is reluctant to be involved in any criminal matters or to go to court to give evidence). I'd be onto the blower to the RSPCA myself, and show them the animals (and photos of them as you found them) and I'd tell who the vet was who saw them.
I certainly wouldn't wait for anyone else to take action. But that's me, I've never been one to avoid stepping on toes and making waves when I think it's necessary.

If you think she's likely turn nasty, I'd also visit the local magistate and apply for an AVO against her.

yeah you are being really skeptical and keep trying to find a hole in the story... if you have nothing nice or constructive to post dont post at all =/

I agree with that sentiment.

 

[snakelady96]

Yeah you are right ianinoz I'm not responding to them anymore, they can start a flame war between themselves if they like. Now the story just gets better and better hey! Shes gone and caught another baby spotted monitor- not sure if i mentioned i made her let an adult one go! And she has every intention of keeping it, and i am TOTALLY against keeping wild animals no matter what the age is- that sort of stuff really does get me fuming! So now i have decided that i am definetly going to be making some phone calls! First im going to HOD EPA and see what my options are (i want my identity to be kept private) and then depending on what they say im going to go into our local EPA and discuss the issue with them and im pretty sure they are most likely to have a representative of RSPCA here so hopefully they will seize the animals from her.

I should be getting an email/ phone call from my friend in Cairns tomorrow saying how they are going and some pics of the carpet and olive from last week compared to this week.
So hopefully they will be getting better!

 

[mje772003]

All the best snakelady i wish you all the best

 

[mysnakesau]

......i want my identity to be kept private)......

You'd want to be careful what you write here. Your identity won't stay private on an open forum. How do you know those people don't visit this forum?

I hope the monitor latches on to her and rips her finger off. Even youngsters can inflick nasty wounds. I will have to go a google this one though, not sure how big the spotted monitors are, but my baby ackie didn't cease to try and rip a piece of flesh of my hand once. He grabbed a mouth full of skin and shook it with all his might. His little teeth marked my skin but that was all, but a few years older he would have won that round.

 

[ianinoz]

Yeah you are right ianinoz I'm not responding to them anymore, they can start a flame war between themselves if they like. Now the story just gets better and better hey! Shes gone and caught another baby spotted monitor- not sure if i mentioned i made her let an adult one go! And she has every intention of keeping it, and i am TOTALLY against keeping wild animals no matter what the age is- that sort of stuff really does get me fuming! So now i have decided that i am definetly going to be making some phone calls! First im going to HOD EPA and see what my options are (i want my identity to be kept private) and then depending on what they say im going to go into our local EPA and discuss the issue with them and im pretty sure they are most likely to have a representative of RSPCA here so hopefully they will seize the animals from her.

I should be getting an email/ phone call from my friend in Cairns tomorrow saying how they are going and some pics of the carpet and olive from last week compared to this week.
So hopefully they will be getting better!

I'm opposed to capturing wild lizards, snakes and frogs and birds and imprisoning them in enclosures or cages. Yes I know all us did this when we were kids.
But we didn't know how stressful it is for wild animal like a lizard or snake to be handled when it's not used to interaction with people (or a person it trusts) , it's not fair on the animal.

This is the reason why I've never tried or been tempted to catch Lizzy (or her baby or her boyfriend Scrapper), or my resident yard bluetongue/s). I enjoy interacting with them and the fact that it's their choice to interact with me, especially Lizzy who has become like a family member and I've become very fond off over the last 12 months (because she's such a friendly and sweet natured and tame (now) EWS.
She even enjoys tickles under the chin and the occasional handsurf.

She comes inside when it suits her, and if she indicates she'd like a food treat , but coming really close to me and looking into my eyes (asking for a treat) , I''m only too happy to provide a nice juicy mealworm or cricket or cockroach if I've caught one inside the house , she used to get small pieces of cooked meat , but hasn[had these since April , it's been all insects since (I even catch cockroaches and moths for her rather than spraying them and I keep them in a used mealworm punnet just for her). She is totally free and has the run of the house.

I'd love to have some nice snakes but unfortunately my wife will never like snakes in the house , even if it's the most docile,tame and friendly snake in the universe.

Rambling ..... hope those injured snakes are on the mend. Do you think they'll ever trust anyone again after being being tortured by their last owner ?

 

[mysnakesau]

Just before winter we discovered we had a resident water dragon. Now that the weather is warming up I hope to see him back. I am currently fixing up my garden to add a small water pond so hopefully to attract him and his mates back. I have heaps of blueys. In my native garden I made a tunnel underground for them and have dense, bushy plants so they can hide well. Unfortunately it fills up with water when it rains too much but the blueys aren't silly. They move to higher, dry ground, often under our house.

This is an old photo. My garden is pretty much overgrown now.

 

[Waterrat]

I'm opposed to capturing wild lizards, snakes and frogs and birds and imprisoning them in enclosures or cages. Yes I know all us did this when we were kids.
But we didn't know how stressful it is for wild animal like a lizard or snake to be handled when it's not used to interaction with people (or a person it trusts) , it's not fair on the animal.

And are we any wiser today? How do you know what kind of stress level, if any, handling inflicts on wild reptiles? Is such thing measurable? Reptiles get chased by predators, wild fires, disturbed by grazing stock, passing cars, etc.. Stress is a part of life in the wild. How often do you thing any given reptile is handled by a person in its entire life? Most of them never!
"imprisoning" wildlife often prolongs their life span and provides stress free (predators free) life with regular feeds, water and other luxuries they don't have in the bush. I am not suggesting that we should capture and keep wild animals but I am offering a different angle to look at the matter as opposed to animal liberationist morons.

 

[waruikazi]

Michael then how do we explain the higher incidence of WC reptiles not thriving in captivity?

 

[mysnakesau]

My lacy is thriving. Mind you, he is only here temporarily but he is eating & healing well. Hasn't taken a nose dive which is good. But of course this is just one example. Not all are the same.

 

[Waterrat]

Michael then how do we explain the higher incidence of WC reptiles not thriving in captivity?

GOrdo, I don't necessarily agree with that assumption. I posted somewhere else that we collected many reptiles in the 70s and 80s and most of them did OK, even on display at a Zoo. Of course, there are exceptions, e.g. monitors but most species of snakes handle captivity well.

 

[ianinoz]

Just me, but I'd rather have my friendly lizard free to come and go as she pleases and have her choose to visit inside with us - for warmth, for security, for food, and as is often the case now, just to hang out.
Nothing wrong with encouraging her by having mealworms and crickets on hand to offer to her by hand as yummy treats when she visits.

Plus I don't want to need a licence to have her (imprisoned in an enclosure) .

 

[waruikazi]

Michael i do have a fair ammount of experience with W/C snakes, i found a few species prone to dropping dead. Most adult pythons would spend most of their time coiled up with there heads covered and weren't that keen on feeding. It doesn't mean they can't do well in captivity but i do think there is a lower rate of snakes thriving in captivity particularly when they were WC as adults.

 

[phantomreptiles]

And are we any wiser today? How do you know what kind of stress level, if any, handling inflicts on wild reptiles? Is such thing measurable? Reptiles get chased by predators, wild fires, disturbed by grazing stock, passing cars, etc.. Stress is a part of life in the wild. How often do you thing any given reptile is handled by a person in its entire life? Most of them never!
"imprisoning" wildlife often prolongs their life span and provides stress free (predators free) life with regular feeds, water and other luxuries they don't have in the bush. I am not suggesting that we should capture and keep wild animals but I am offering a different angle to look at the matter as opposed to animal liberationist morons.

Hmm interesting, but most stress on "wild" animals are an indirect cause of us humans, we remove all their habitat, we scare and kill them with vehicles, we clear their land so we can raise food for us, they are subjected to many more predators because we have also destroyed those homes.
I don't know what's worse - imprisonment for a wild animal or persecution in the "wild"???????
All caused by us charming humans.....tough one indeed.

 

[Waterrat]

So, back to the burned snakes .........

 

[rajohn1]

Burnt snakes

May be from normal (incandescent) light globes, frosted ones get hotter than clear ones. I wouldn’t put anything over 60 watts in a cage without a mesh cover, (but something like 100 watts can get seriously hot). Also any exposed live wires or a live light socket fitting with no globe may cause burns. Also a broken light globe (in a live socket). I also recall there were some heat rocks that had some issues on the market a while back.

Note that there are 240 volt heat mats being sold, which are claimed to be safe-low voltage. However I think what they mean is low power as they are only a few watts, I believe they would could still be extremely dangerous as there is 240 volts up to where the cable attaches to the mat.

I'm not sure how hot mesh covers can get with high wattage heat globes in them, but I suspect they could possibly get too hot.

Also if you use a US heat mat with an plug adapter it is going to get much, much hotter than it is supposed to. Not sure if it would burn the snake but I bet some people have used them in Australia.




John