In the post below about the beautiful little snow boa, there is discussion about how to handle the umbilical cord when it doesn't separate on its own.

I just had my first litter of baby boas born a week ago. 23 live babies, yeah! 5 did not separate from the yolk sack on their own. There was additional tissue like in the picture of the little snow boa when I pinched off the cord. Those 5 were very weak. Two were so weak I let them go to the freezer.

What I did was place them in their own boxes, on extra heat, and soaked them in their water dishes a hour or so a day. When I removed them from their water dishes I dabbed iodine on the umbilical area to disinfect it and help it dry out. One of the three in 'sick bay' was moved into 'general population' yesterday and is all healed up. They have all become normally active, but it took a few days for them to perk up.

Does this sound to you guys like I did the right thing?

Thanks for any comments and/or suggestions.

ShadyLady

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• I have ?? related to umbilical cords too - ShadyLady, Wed Aug 16 09:32:12 2006
• RE: I have ?? related to umbilical cords too - vcaruso15, Wed Aug 16 11:29:16 2006