NEED MEDICAL Advise PLEASE help

[Malice]

So, I have a 1 yr old Emerald tree boa, for some reason, its vent always stays open, a little.. and after it poops, sometimes it looks like it has a minor prolapse. anyways its happened a few tiems before... and i always managed to put it back in, but this time.. it was pretty bad.. I took it into the vet, and the vet said that it didnt seem to be its intestines.. but the snakes Uterus. Its Uterus actually prolapsed out... anyway the Vet gave me two choices I could either put the snake down, or I could give it surgery, and have the Uterus removed... He then gave me a 50-50 chance the snake lives.. So I opted for the surgery, and he removed the uterus... the snake is still alive, it happened 3 days ago... but i noticed again today, that the vent is still open... and not closed... what the hell is going on... the vent should be closed not open.... what am i supposed to do... nothing is hanging out obviously, but the vent is open.. has anyone ever had this happen to them before.. has anyone heard of this or can anyone give me any advise please!!! any help would be appreciated...

[Smilts]

is it possible that it is open a bit dew to swelling after the trama of surgery?

[Chu'Wuti]

Oh, wow, how frightening! Here you went to considerable expense to ensure the snake wouldn't have this problem and it still is. I've never had to deal with this kind of problem, so I'm no help at all, but I sure wish I had a solution. You must be so worried about your snake!

[Aaron_S]

What the hell?! You SPAYED a snake? That has to be a first.

Anyways, I think your vet was wrong. Did you tell the person who you got it from of this problem? Is it a wild caught animal or a captive bred one? Personally, I think it might be wild caught and possibly has some parasites or something.

[gonesnakee]

I think Emeralds can be prone to prolapse, just another one of the many reasons why they are not a begginer snake.
I'm also under the impression that yopur Vet was out to lunch on this & inadvertantly "butchered" your snake because he/she didn't know how to deal with it otherwise.
There is a lady that posts here under "Nett". She has tons of experience with ETBs & other snakes & also knows your Vet stuff really well. I'd suggest trying to contact her for advice if she doesn't post here after seeing this. Mark

[Malice]

well, the snake is a captive bred, ive had it since it was only a couple of weeks old.. it has no parasites, the vet was very nice, and not only is a vet, but keeps snakes himself. The prolapse was too far out to put back in, and the other issue was that, this happens every time the snake poops.. it was not an isolated incident.. If the snake was older and it only happened once, then he would rather put it back in, but this has happened many times already, and it happens everytime it poops.. he said he thought that maybe the problem was the muscles that hold the uterus were weak and maybe underdeveloped while it was forming before it is was born. The snake seems to still be doing ok, I turned the heat up and its moving around and not dead yet which is a good start. I am probably going to not feed for at least a month and a small meal at that. There was a little bit of blood being released from the vent, but it all seemed to stop, and the snake is alert and aware of its surroundings... obviously breeding is now out of the question, but the vent is now closed... hopefully it will all work out... i was wondering if anyone else has any experience in this... and was wondering if anyone has any experience with prolapsing in emeralds... I have more then 1 emerald and a few GTP.. I have never encoutnered these problems with any of my snakes... I will post a picture soon as I find usb cable for my camera.

[Aaron_S]

You do know a snake needs to open it's vent to use the washroom right? Are you sure it was a prolapse?

Where did you get this snake from? It doesn't sound like it's a healthy animal.

[Malice]

You do know a snake needs to open it's vent to use the washroom right? Are you sure it was a prolapse?

Where did you get this snake from? It doesn't sound like it's a healthy animal.



this response is practically spam.

[mykee]

It's not spam from someone who has 1300 posts dude. This just goes to show that vets (yours included) are idiots when it comes to reptiles. I spayed reptile. Priceless.

[gonesnakee]

On the topic of spayed reptiles I have actually done so myself as well. It was a CK that was eggbound & she basically prolasped most of her oviduct? with a bunch of eggs all twisted around in there (I'm talking on the outside of course). Myself & buddy tried to sort it all out but she was somewhat "hooped" so to speak. We took some fly tying string, gently pulled the prolapse out a bit more, tied it off & snipped it. There was nothing protruding after & of course we sterilized everything with alcohol etc. prior & believe it or not she was feeding like nothing happened within a day or so. I gave the snake to some friends (experienced keepers of course) & to the best of my knowledge she is still there many years later now. She suffered no ill effects from doing so. There was no way we could have left the huge prolapse or stuck it back inside (remember there were eggs twisted around in there as well 3 or 4? can't recall exactly). Anyhow it worked & she was fine & thrived after. I would not recommend anyone else doing so, but I have been there & done that before. The decision to do so was based on the eggs & the fact it was a huge prolapse. In this case here I still can't say I agree it was the right thing to do, but thats just my opinion. Mark

[Aaron_S]

So I stand corrected. Mark now was the first person to spay a snake. Well to my knowledge. The same occurance might have happened before by somebody else. Very interesting story.

Malice, I don't believe it's spam when I only asked where you got your snake from. You said it wasn't wild caught but you never said if it was from a breeder (what is their name if you did?) or if it came from a pet store. I also believe your vet was wrong. It doesn't sound quite like he diagnosed it right. If he did then you wouldn't be experiencing any further problems.

[gonesnakee]

Likley not the first. It has been my experience with Vets in reguards to prolapses that they ALWAYS want to put it back inside. The only cases I have experience with have always been with egg bound females & in most cases where the Vet got into a big hurry trying to manually express eggs (manipulate them out by hand). A Vet visit lasts like 15 minutes & I find they rush it WAY too much. Years ago after losing a snake that the vet prolapsed for me :( I stopped going. I only go to them if Meds are required. Haven't been for years (touches wood). In the case of females with stuck eggs I have been able to manipulate them out myself over a period of days, even weeks. I have alos left others for the snake to do herself & have found that they can do so rather well. I have had eggs laid from first clutches with second clutches & even had eggs retained thru winter brumation laid with the first clutch the next year. Long story short its better to let Mother Nature run her course & let the snake handle it herself. A Vet in a rush can be a death sentence for a snake that would otherwise be fine over time. Also its somewnat of a myth that retained eggs will kill your snake. They can of course but only in the case where they break inside or cause intestinal blockages etc. I have had snakes with eggs in them over the winter before & laid in the spring though. Talking like from Sept thru May kinda deal, no ill effects. Vets & snakes can be a very grey area anyway. Mark

[Aaron_S]

Geeez just take the credit that I'm trying to give you :P I did only say that I knew of.

I've never experienced it with a snake. Nor have I had an eggbound female but that's due to the fact I've never bred a snake. Just to touch on the subject of what Mark is trying to say. Make sure if this happens to you that talk to someone knowledgable about the whole thing. They hopefully will give you some proper advice or direct to where you could get some.

[gonesnakee]

Back to my orginal suggestion to try & contact Nett. She knows her stuff & is pretty much a Vet (actual schooling etc.) Cheers Mark