Prolapse in baby ball python. Please help??

[Sophi]

Hi,

Quick introduction...
My boyfriend works at a local pet shop and today someone came by with a baby ball python to get rid of it. He said he was leaving the state and couldn't take the snake with him. He brought all the snakes stuff with him, heat mat, day and night light bulbs, twenty long gallon tank, heat and humidity gauge and a water bowl. (a small one, big enough for the snake to drink from but probably not big enough to soak in.) he didn't have any hides at all. my boyfriend is a big softy and took the snake home at the end of his shift.

The snake is estimated at about 5-6 months old and is significantly smaller than our 7th month old ball python. He's not as large and he's absolutely not as thick. His previous owner said he was feeding on frozen thawed mice every week. We feed our girl rat pups right now so we are planning on offering him those instead as it looks like he needs to gain some weight. He also has a few stuck scales, but nothing too bad. For the most part he looks very lively and healthy. He has a lot of energy and is absolutely fine with being handled. He's a real sweet snake.

While setting up an enclosure for him and got him a hide box and we gave him a bath and noticed what looked like a prolapse on his bottom. (vent? Whatever the snake term is...) like A little red bump on his bum. He didn't have it before and after his bath it's completely dissappeared. I've been checking on him over the course of the night and it's not there anymore and he seems to be doing just fine. He's exploring his new tank and sitting by the heater.

I have a ball python, a kingsnake, lizards and geckos but I've never seen this in an animal before. I looked into it a bit but a lot of what I saw was people who's snakes have a prolapse permanently outside of them. Is it possible it wasn't a prolapse at all? Maybe it was his hemipeins? My snakes are both female so I've never seen those either.

I was thinking it could be a sign of dehydration? Especially if he hasn't had a bowl to soak in until now.

Also, how worried should I be and should I consider getting him checked out by a vet? He's been through a lot these past 24 hours and I don't want to stress him out.

To be safe I have been keeping him in a separate part of the house and he hasn't been introduced to any of my other animals.

Thank you guys.

[Sophi]

I plan on keeping him and I have no problem paying for him to be checked out by an exotics vet but if I don't have to that would be great. I'm still paying off my last vet bills.

[Aaron_S]

Should get checked by a vet.

Doesn't sound like a prolapse but tough to call without pics or anything.

Lastly, snake's don't need to soak to hydrate. They are built to retain humidity so they should rarely even drink when properly fed.

[Sophi]

Should get checked by a vet.

Doesn't sound like a prolapse but tough to call without pics or anything.

Lastly, snake's don't need to soak to hydrate. They are built to retain humidity so they should rarely even drink when properly fed.

Wow, I didn't know that. I am worried about him being under fed. He's a little skinny for a ball python. His previous owner said he has been eating on fridays. Our snakes eat on Thursday so I was planning on trying to feed him then. Hopefully he will take to rat pups as I think they are a bit more where he should be at size wise.

Thanks. I would have gotten pictures but it was gone as soon as he came out of the bath. If it happens again I will for sure.

I volunteer at a shelter next to an animal hospital that has an exotics department. I got in once a week so I will probably try to set up an appointment for him next time I go in. Just to be safe.

[Minkness]

Could be maybe he just went to the bathroom and was just slow pulling stuff back in? I know my MBK does that sometimes but she pulls it in, in about a minute.....

My question is....could mites cause allergic reactions like hives?

No idea but hope he's ok.

[Albert Clark]

I'm going along with Mink in that the bp was probably going to void and you caught the tail end of it (no pun intended). Could it be that he everted his hemipenes? Sure. One thing is for sure is that if it's a true prolapse you will see it again and it may not withdraw back in. Exotic vet is always a good thing just to have a baseline on a new animal. Good luck. As far as allergic reactions to mites ,is possible ,but not likely. All IMO only. Also eversion of the hemipenes is a occurrence that happens more with older bp's. This guy is pretty young at 5 to 6 mos. old.

[Sophi]

Thanks for all the advice guys.

He's a great little snake. We spent a lot of time together today and again, I didn't find anything out of the ordinary. No wierd butt bumps, no nothing. He's does seem to have a few stuck scales along his body, but nothing on his eyes or nose or anything. The guy who dropped him off dropped off a lot of stuff too and he had a shedding aid so I'm assuming his last shed wasn't perfect.

No signs of mites. I gave him a bath and a pretty good once over. I've a a dealing with snake mites before in my skink and it was a pain in the ***. I managed to stop the problem before it got bad but it's not an experience i ever want to repeat. Just to be safe I'm keeping him in a separate room for the time being.