Snake problem

[Zabimaru1911]

I have a pinstripe spider het for ghost BP he's approximately 2.5 years of age 950 - 1000 grams. He's never had any health problems to date and has been a good eater and very active. He's been mating with my yellow belly female for like 3 weeks now. Idk why this has occured he has not been attacked or snagged on anything. I never leave love food in with him and he gets handled 2 - 3 times a week. If someone could tell,me what's going on with him I would really appreciate it. He is currently going into shed. Here are a few pics of the problem.

[Albert Clark]

Wow! Sorry for the dilemma. Looks like this may be a infected hemipene or at the least a irritated hemipene. What type of substrate are you using in the breeding tub? He needs to be pulled from your breeding plans for now and put on paper towels. Also I would have a herp vet look at this. May be a piece of the substrate imbedded in or on the hemipene. It possibly could be a burn. How are you heating the enclosure? My gut instinct is telling me it's a hemipene issue though. Yeah, just looked at the picture a little more closely. Infected hemipene! Herp vet asap! Reptiles will go into shed more quickly and more frequently when they are ill. Put him on paper towel bedding until he sees the Herp vet. Hope this helps and hope i'm wrong.

[Albert Clark]

Do you think you will be able to get him to the vet?

[Albert Clark]

Just out of curiosity, have you separated them during the 3 week mating period?

[pitontheprowl]

Is that his hemi hanging out?

[Albert Clark]

Is that his hemi hanging out?

Wow! Yeah Rob, I think
you are right. A protruding, everted hemipene. Looks very painful too. Poor guy.

[chairman]

In tortoises, this kind of injury would have honey applied to it and would then be wrapped up until you could get to a vet to have things put back where they belong or amputated. Is a similar approach suggested for ball pythons?

[REM955]

I found this online when looking up everted hemipene. This is for geckos, but I imagine similar treatment may apply.
Herp Everted Hemipenis (http://www.reptilesmagazine.com/Reptile-Health/Habitats-Care/Herp-Everted-Hemipenis/)

In the end, you still need to go to a vet, amputated willy or not.

[Albert Clark]

I found this online when looking up everted hemipene. This is for geckos, but I imagine similar treatment may apply.
Herp Everted Hemipenis (http://www.reptilesmagazine.com/Reptile-Health/Habitats-Care/Herp-Everted-Hemipenis/)

In the end, you still need to go to a vet, amputated willy or not.

Thanks for that REM! That was very helpful.

[Zabimaru1911]

I appreciate everyone's advice. I'm treating it now with sugar paste and wrapped it in gauze. I don't have access to a herp vet close to me. If there's any more advice anyone can offer up for ho,e treatment until I can get him to a vet.

[Albert Clark]

What type of substrate was he on when he was breeding the female yellow belly? This looks very serious and painful. There may be foreign bodies from the substrate imbedded in his hemipene and also in the cloacal region .

[REM955]

I appreciate everyone's advice. I'm treating it now with sugar paste and wrapped it in gauze. I don't have access to a herp vet close to me. If there's any more advice anyone can offer up for ho,e treatment until I can get him to a vet.

What is this sugar paste? I am fairly certain you are not referring to a confectionery ingredient.

[chairman]

Sugar can reduce swelling but honey is usually recommended because it is mildly antibacterial. However, either are just a short-term stop-gap. Visiting just about any vet with small animal experience would probably work. Reptile vets are always preferred but in an emergency situation an ordinary vet is still a well trained doctor (in theory...).

[Zabimaru1911]

I didn't have any honey on hand and it's just like you said a stop gap. I've had several kinds of reptiles before and in my experience with gets in my area has been "there's nothing I can really do" as a reply so I have to travel 2-3 hours away to find a vet that can handle,the problem. To answer the question he was on aspen and has been for quite some time without incident. I checked his nether regions and haven't seen any substrate lodged there, he usually clears it all away because he prefers to sleep on the glass in his tank. I'm why he's just weird like that.

[Albert Clark]

I ask about the substrate bc some loose substrates have been linked to causing this issue in breeding males. This is why some breeders only allow breeding to take place on unprinted newspaper, regular newspaper , paper towels or fabric cageliners. Just a word to the wise and maybe a consideration for the future. Hope he heals and returns to producing nice clutches for you. Good luck.

[SerpentineDream]

Do you have a health or natural food store near you? Medical manuka honey is your best bet. It's used for treating burns, wounds and infections in both humans and animals. Most health food places carry it or you can order it online for overnight delivery.