Florida Native Snake Rehabilitation & Rescue

Florida Native Snake Rehabilitation & Rescue Our facility in NE Florida specializes in rehabilitating sick or injured venomous & non-venomous wild snakes native to the Southeast United States.

We are fully permitted by the Florida Fish & Wildlife Commission.

10/24/2026

UPDATE on the Yellow Ratsnake that swallowed a wooden egg!
If you remember, this big fella had emergency surgery to remove the egg which had caused a complete gastrointestinal obstruction. After a period of recovery at the veterinary clinic, we were finally able to bring him back to our facility to begin rehabilitation. So far he is doing great!
He will need pain medication for the next few days and a course of antibiotics. We will be checking his incision and the sutures daily. We will keep you posted on his progress!
Many thanks to our friend Dr. Tony Colbert at Exotic Bird Hospital in Jacksonville, FL for helping us save this beautiful native snake!
*Photo of the removed egg in comments!
As a reminder, if you must use false eggs in chicken egg boxes ALWAYS nail them down to the bottom of the nest box. Alternatively, you can glue a cluster of three eggs together. Both methods prevent our native wildlife from consuming false eggs and dying as a result.

*Our small snakes-only wildlife rehabilitation facility operates on an equally small budget. If you’d like to help us help more snakes like this one, we are grateful for donations! All funds collected go towards veterinary care, medical supplies, and food for our rehabilitation patients. You can donate at either of the platforms below. Thank you!

Venmo:
https://venmo.com/u/ShastaTsoukias

OR PayPal:
https://www.paypal.me/ShastaTsoukias

*Emergency Surgery*Yesterday afternoon we took in an adult non-venomous Yellow Ratsnake that had swallowed a false woode...
10/22/2026

*Emergency Surgery*
Yesterday afternoon we took in an adult non-venomous Yellow Ratsnake that had swallowed a false wooden egg in a chicken lay box. The homeowner felt terrible it happened and had been trying to catch him for a couple months to get him help. We’re glad she finally did! Without intervention, this snake would have died a slow and painful death as these false eggs create a complete gastrointestinal obstruction.
Here at our facility we tried our best to massage the egg back out of his mouth manually, as we typically do in these cases. Unfortunately, because the egg had been in there for so long, we were unsuccessful. The decision was then made to rush him in for emergency treatment with our friend and local reptile veterinarian Dr. Tony Colbert at the Exotic Bird Hospital, Jacksonville. He was thankfully able to perform the surgery last night and he successfully removed the wooden egg. The snake spent the night at the vet hospital, and we will update you later on this poor fellow’s progress.

Emergency surgery is expensive, and we are grateful for any donations the public feels moved to give. If you would like to help, we are so thankful for you!! The preliminary estimate for this beautiful snake’s surgery & after care is between $480-$680. Donations can be given at either platform below:

Venmo:
https://venmo.com/u/ShastaTsoukias

OR PayPal:
https://www.paypal.me/ShastaTsoukias

*photo credit Dr. Tony Colbert

**photos of this snake’s intake are posted in the comments section.

‼️ Heads up, NE Florida! The local Free Snake Relocation number has CHANGED. Here are the details:
10/18/2026

‼️ Heads up, NE Florida! The local Free Snake Relocation number has CHANGED. Here are the details:

10/17/2026

We’ve had a lot of questions about how we safely rehabilitate venomous snakes. In the video, you will see a demonstration of the clear acrylic tubes we use. These tubes allow us to safely access the patient’s body so we can inject medications, treat wounds, perform assist feedings/tube feeding, and apply topical ointments. Obviously, the acrylic tubes have limitations… we cannot access the head or upper neck. In these cases other methods are used depending on the exact situation.
The snake in the video is our recent intake, the chicken wire entangled Cottonmouth. She is doing well so far!

Get your tickets now!! Hope to see you there! 🐍🍻
10/11/2026

Get your tickets now!! Hope to see you there! 🐍🍻

We took in another new rehabilitation patient a couple days ago; an injured young female Florida Cottonmouth that was ho...
10/09/2026

We took in another new rehabilitation patient a couple days ago; an injured young female Florida Cottonmouth that was hopelessly entangled in chicken wire. Injuries from entanglement are pretty consistent across the board for any wildlife and usually consist of cutting injuries, bruising, abrasions, and contusions caused by thrashing around. Animals are usually dehydrated and exhausted, and can suffer from capture myopathy (Rhabdomyolysis) which can be fatal. Sometimes bones are broken. Depending on how long an animal is entangled they can also suffer from necrotizing fasciitis which almost always needs surgical debridement.

Treatment typically includes hydration, daily soaks in diluted betadine, scrubbing out dirty open wounds, antibiotics, ant-inflammatory pain medication, and topical antimicrobial. X-rays if there is suspicion of broken bones. Entanglements typically turn into long term rehabs because snakes usually shed off the eschar (scabs) along with the skin, which leaves behind large open wounds that expose the underlying muscle. So it is a long process for these animals to heal enough to be released back into the wild. Releasing a wild animal too soon that still has open wounds is an invitation for fly strike. This is where flies lay eggs in the open wound, and the maggots then feed on the living tissue. Eventually the animal dies.

This young lady pictured below has injuries that are typically associated with wire entanglement. She also has an injured left eye. She is currently stabilized until she can see the marvelous Dr. Cory Woliver for a full exam. We will keep you updated!

Many thanks to Southern Snake lady, Shan Nichols, and Jon Neal for rescuing this lovely native snake!

*Our small snakes-only wildlife rehabilitation facility operates on an equally small budget. If you’d like to help us help more snakes like this one, we are grateful for donations! All funds collected go towards veterinary care, medical supplies, and food for our rehabilitation patients. You can donate at either of the platforms below. Thank you!

Venmo:
https://venmo.com/u/ShastaTsoukias

OR PayPal:
https://www.paypal.me/ShastaTsoukias

Spa Day? 🫧💅This lovely Florida Cottonmouth (aka Water Moccasin) came to us a couple years ago with some cutting injuries...
10/06/2026

Spa Day? 🫧💅
This lovely Florida Cottonmouth (aka Water Moccasin) came to us a couple years ago with some cutting injuries associated with nylon mesh entanglement. How do we treat cases like that here at our wildlife rehabilitation facility?

VERY CAREFULLY! 🙃

After a thorough exam upon intake and a consultation with our fabulous veterinarian, treatment often includes a soak in clean warm water so the patient can get a drink. (Entangled animals are often very dehydrated). Afterwards, the snake is then transferred to another appropriately sized tub for a 20 minute soak in diluted Betadine; this cleans the skin and wounds. Next, the open wounds are manually irrigated and scrubbed to remove any remaining dirt and debris. Last, the animal is carefully wrapped in a warm towel to dry the skin; this allows topical antibacterial salve or paste to stick to the open wounds.

This cleaning process is time consuming as it’s done daily to reduce infection risk and keep the wounds clean so they may heal. Non-venomous snakes take less time to treat on a daily basis, as we don’t need PPE equipment to work with them. The same process obviously takes much longer in venomous species as extra steps and care must be taken to prevent the handler from being bitten.

What if the wounds are very deep, large, or necrotic? In these cases, our veterinarian surgically debrides and then sutures the wound closed. A course of systemic antibiotics are then administered to prevent infection.

*Our small snakes-only wildlife rehabilitation facility operates on an equally small budget. If you’d like to help us help more snakes like this one, we are grateful for donations! All funds collected go towards veterinary care, medical supplies, and food for our rehabilitation patients. You can donate at either of the platforms below. Thank you!

Venmo:
https://venmo.com/u/ShastaTsoukias

OR PayPal:
https://www.paypal.me/ShastaTsoukias

10/04/2026

Release update! 🎉
The injured young male Eastern Diamondback we took in a week and a half ago was released back into the wild! If you remember, the homeowner had thrown a number of concrete blocks on him before Southern Snake Lady arrived to relocate him. Finding him in this scenario, she rescued him instead and we took him in for immediate medical assessment and treatment. He was a very lucky fellow and managed to escape his ordeal with only some significant bruising and abrasions. He was treated with pain/ anti-inflammatory medication, ate a nice meal, and he recovered quite nicely for us. He was such a polite boy!
This situation could have ended way worse with broken bones or mortal injuries and we are so glad for this positive outcome. Many thanks to those who helped rescue this lovely vulnerable species!
Photo of how he was found in comments.

* Our small snakes-only wildlife rehabilitation facility operates on an equally small budget. If you’d like to help us help more snakes like this one, we are grateful for donations! All funds collected go towards veterinary care, medical supplies, and food for our rehabilitation patients. You can donate at either of the platforms below. Thank you!

Venmo:
https://venmo.com/u/ShastaTsoukias

OR PayPal:
https://www.paypal.me/ShastaTsoukias

We recently took in an injured common Garter Snake from a kind homeowner that found him in her yard. She was able to dro...
09/30/2026

We recently took in an injured common Garter Snake from a kind homeowner that found him in her yard. She was able to drop him off, so we could promptly give him an exam and consult with our veterinarian.
Sadly, even after medical intervention, his condition continued to rapidly deteriorate and the difficult decision was made to humanely euthanize him.

It’s an unfortunate necessity that sometimes the best treatment we can offer here isn’t rehabilitation but a peaceful end free of suffering. We don’t always know the cause of the injuries in the patients we take in here. Some possibilities include natural failed predator attempts (hawks, opossums, etc), feral cats, backyard dogs, lawnmowers or w**d whackers, or even direct human persecution.
While it’s nice to know the cause, sometimes it’s not possible.

More importantly…. We are ALWAYS grateful to the kind and empathetic community members that recognize that a snake is an animal capable of experiencing fear, pain, and suffering. We are grateful for these folks that care enough to find the time to bring these injured animals to us for care.

*If you’d like to help us help more snakes like this one, we are grateful for donations! All funds collected go towards veterinary care, medical supplies, and food for our rehabilitation patients. You can donate at either of the platforms below. Thank you!

Venmo:
https://venmo.com/u/ShastaTsoukias

OR PayPal:
https://www.paypal.me/ShastaTsoukias

Address

Ponte Vedra Beach, FL
32081

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