Two week old baby with snake bite Update: 3/18 Need advice

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S

Slapdash

Well-Known Member
Joined
Oct 11, 2009
Messages
501
Location
Massachusetts
I had a woman come into my work today with a two week old baby rat that her b/f had tried feeding to his snake. She said she had never seen the snake eat before and just happened to walk in after the guy had left the room and saw the baby injured(she was bit two, three times) in the corner and the snake wasn't eating it so she felt bad when she saw it and brought it into us and said she made her b/f promise never to feed live again, (I'm sure he really will :( ) At least she had enough compassion to save the poor baby. How could I say I wouldn't help her? But I've never cared for a baby this tiny and without mom or siblings what are her chances of survival. I'm guessing she's about two weeks, full fur one eye is half open. So I'm using soy formula but I'm unsure of a few things. does she still need to be stimulated to go to the bathroom because she is pooping on her own and I think she peed once as well. Also, I attached a picture of her injuries, the one on her neck is pussing :shock: will she need abs? Is she too young for them? It looks like it might abcess. Anything else I can do for her? I contacted a few people about possibly getting a surrogate mommy but in case I can't find one, is that as important at 2+weeks? I'll take ANY/ALL advice because I've only hand fed kittens before so I want to make sure I'm doing everything I can for her. Thanks in advance!

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As you are doing feed soy infant formula, letting her lick it off the end of an eyedropper or needleless syringe
so it will not go down into her lungs.
I would still stimulate just to be sure.
If she needs antibiotics, azithromycin is ok for babies, and so is clavamox.
She needs another rattie or stuffed animal to snuggle with.

Other babies just as young have survived, and some haven't.

Here are some helpful articles re raising orphans and babies. feeding schedules etc included
viewtopic.php?f=26&t=27608

Hope the baby does well
 
*Twitch*

I just can't stand the thought of live feeding, but for some reason, feeding a live baby with barely open eyes is seems even more despicable.

I'm really not liking the look of the wound on her neck. You think she can tolerate it being cleaned with saline solution? I'd hate to cause her more pain, but she might benefit from it ...
 
mamarat said:
Poor baby. The bite on her neck needs cleaning, it looks like pus in there.
Click to expand...

Yes there's definitely pus :( but I wanted to be sure on the right way to clean it before I did. Should I squeeze out the pus or not? And I have a fluid bag of sodium chloride from my diabetic girl, should I use that to flush it or something else? Thanks!
 
SQ said:
As you are doing feed soy infant formula, letting her lick it off the end of an eyedropper or needleless syringe
so it will not go down into her lungs.
I would still stimulate just to be sure.
If she needs antibiotics, azithromycin is ok for babies, and so is clavamox.
She needs another rattie or stuffed animal to snuggle with.

Other babies just as young have survived, and some haven't.

Here are some helpful articles re raising orphans and babies. feeding schedules etc included
viewtopic.php?f=26&t=27608

Hope the baby does well
Click to expand...

Yes I'm using gerber soy formula and diluting it extra right now.
She weighs 20g so I should be giving her around 1cc each feeding? Should I start her on abs now because of the bite? My vet can call in zithro to my pharmacy? Thanks again she just finished eating and she was wabbling all around after in her fleece. I think she was looking for her momma :( It took her a while to get comfortable, I got her a little stuffed toy but I'm pretty sure she's not at all interested lol Should I allow her some time with one of my rats? I'm only askign not suggesting it's a good idea because I have no idea how they'd react to such a teeny baby. And I'm not even sure whose health it would be more risky for, hers or theirs? I have very docile two old men, then two 1 year old females and a 2 month old female. And of course she'll be getting a lot of human love and contact too, sleeping in my shirt :heart: Thank you!
 
So we flushed the bite and I squeezed very gently and along with some pus the whole scab fell right off. So even though it looks painful, tis is good/normal right?

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How many times a day should I flush it and should I use any ointments?
 
Wow, I'm glad you are going to try and help her. I hope she survives.
1. I would feed her as much as she will eat, being careful as SQ says to make sure she doesn't aspirate the formula
2. I know Penicillin is safe with babies, so maybe the Clavamox would be a good choice for antibiotics.
3. I would also keep stimulating her so she pees and poops, just in case
4. I would give her a source of heat that she can move away from, so that she doesn't get chilled.
5. I would maybe try her with the 2 month old as she is still a baby herself. Or, if one of the 1 year old females has had babies in the past, I might try her with her.
Best case scenario would be to find a nursing momma with babies the same age. Then she would be getting the proper nutrition and socialization.
Good luck! I hope she does OK. I'm worried about the bite. It shouldn't be infected yet, should it? How long has it been?
Just saw your latest post:
rinse with saline several times a day as momma can't clean it for her, don't use a topical ointment. You want it to heal from the inside out. Looks good!
 
Joanne said:
Wow, I'm glad you are going to try and help her. I hope she survives.
1. I would feed her as much as she will eat, being careful as SQ says to make sure she doesn't aspirate the formula
2. I know Penicillin is safe with babies, so maybe the Clavamox would be a good choice for antibiotics.
3. I would also keep stimulating her so she pees and poops, just in case
4. I would give her a source of heat that she can move away from, so that she doesn't get chilled.
5. I would maybe try her with the 2 month old as she is still a baby herself. Or, if one of the 1 year old females has had babies in the past, I might try her with her.
Best case scenario would be to find a nursing momma with babies the same age. Then she would be getting the proper nutrition and socialization.
Good luck! I hope she does OK. I'm worried about the bite. It shouldn't be infected yet, should it? How long has it been?
Just saw your latest post:
rinse with saline several times a day as momma can't clean it for her, don't use a topical ointment. You want it to heal from the inside out. Looks good!
Click to expand...

Thanks! She's a fiesty one but is enjoying sleeping curled in my hand in my hoodie pocket, she's very warm :heart: She has a microwavable heating pillow wrapped in fleece on one side of her tote. The only thing I'm a little concerned about is she yips and chirps more than I thought she would lol She squeeks every time she wants to get by my hand or up my sleeve if I won't let her but also when she's trying to get comfy in my hand in my pocket she does a little too, is this normal baby stuff too? Like she would with siblings or if not I'm wondering if her bites might be hurting a little? Thanks again everyone!
 
Some babies are pretty vocal. You should hear them when momma gets up or moves! LOL
I guess I feel noisy is good. Noisy and active is WAY better than quiet. That shows they have lots of energy.
Any luck finding a surrogate mom?
 
Joanne said:
Some babies are pretty vocal. You should hear them when momma gets up or moves! LOL
I guess I feel noisy is good. Noisy and active is WAY better than quiet. That shows they have lots of energy.
Any luck finding a surrogate mom?
Click to expand...

True, she's strong and active! lol Still waiting to hear on possible surrogate moms but keeping my fingers crossed! Thanks again!
 
Clean out her wounds a few times a day, even 4 times a day. Try to keep squeezing them each time, get every bit of infection out of there.
Poor sweetie. You know you are an angel for doing this, her guardian angel.
 
Baby rats chirp a lot ... they sound like a nest of baby birds LOL so her eeeping is normal.
Snuggling her in your bra will keep her warm and toasty and let her hear your heartbeat
After her eyes are open, and she is mobile, the other baby might be a good snuggle companion ....
or you could adopt a 6 week old baby girl to snuggle with her.
But a foster mama with a litter would be best.

Looking forward to lots of updates and pics
 
Wow, that little baby had something looking out for it. How lucky!!!
Can't wait to hear how she's doing. I hope you find a momma/babies. ):

So it's a girl? We're sure? Can you tell if it's a dumbo or fancy yet? owo
 
How's the little thing doing? I hope you can find a replacement mom for her.

The poor, tiny, little doll. Such a huge stroke of luck that she landed with you. :flowers:
 
She's doing really well so far, but unfortunately the rescue doesn't have a single nursing mommy :( I really hope she'll still be alright! Her neck wound has practically healed overnight! We've been flushing it at least 4-5 times a day. You can just make it out in the first picture. Her tail on the other hand looks a little more red today, looks so painful poor sweetie. :cry: I only have two new concerns, she's eating well and gets so excited when she smells the formula, it's too funny! But, I've been using a 1 cc syringe and as of today she's been trying to power suck with the roof of her mouth but it's just not possible with the syringe and I don't want to put more than a drop in her mouth so she doesn't choke lol, so I feel horrible and I'm not sure what to do when she does that.. One of my vets works out of a wildlife rehab center that raises baby squirrels often so I'm going to ask him about getting a catac nipple but that wouldn't be until Sunday :( . The other thing is, I am a little concerned about her having pneumonia, ever since I read about listening for clicking noises when breathing in one of the articles on caring for orphaned babies,I think I'm making myself paranoid. Probably also because we lost a rat a couple of years ago to it who was only 7-8 weeks and we had absolutely no symptoms and she just crashed one day, we had only had her for 2 weeks. Her breathing sounds alright but hear and there I can hear a faint noise which could be considered a "click" or it's jut her trying to suckle my skin which she does but I can't be sure what I'm hearing or not because she's so tiny. but, my vet will be calling in clavamox tomorrow anyways. She's active though and her eyes are both open as of tonight, but just barely :D And she lovvvees snuggling in my hand/shirt. Oh and I'm pretty positive she has standard ears/coat and that it is a girl, I saw nipples yesterday in the sunlight but can't quite see them now! lol I posted a pic, anyone else think girl as well? Thanks again everyone!

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