But then he had a dirty mind (that he projected on to everyone else), and his idea of universal symbolism where a certain item means the same thing in every dream seems pretty simplistic to me. Sometimes a snake is just a snake. Whatever he might think the reptile in your dream represents I see this situation your wacky unconscious conjured up as an affirmation of your kindness, your nurturing side; putting your discomfort/fear aside to save a hapless critter in peril of getting trampled. When I had my precious kitty Gojira I was always dreaming I had to rescue her from my the weirdest situations, like we were in a switching yard with huge locomotives and freight cars going everywhere, and she was freaking out, not knowing which way to run and I was terrified of her getting squashed. It's a mom thing, I think...
~hugs, Veronica