Posted by:
joeysgreen
at Sun Nov 22 22:35:00 2009 [ Email Message ] [ Show All Posts by joeysgreen ]
I havn't seen enough ball pythons to really comment on the spurs. It is possible that this is a normal, however uncommon presentation. The key is, if they have changed. What did they look like before? I'm sure others will have more to comment on this.
Does your vet see many other small exotics? Perhaps he may have a smaller endoscope to get a peek inside the cloaca to look for abnormalities. On the other hand, I wouldn't get overly worried about the red threads that you say. I've only rarely seen it myself, but small irritation around the vent after a shed or stool with a bit of bloody mucous is not uncommon. I must stress small amount (as your description seems to agree with), and that it is an inconsistent event. Stool consistency, and frequency should all be normal. Your snake should not be presenting any other abnormal symptoms like anorexia, diarrhea, lethargy, skin tenting/folding etc. If disease or injury is found with your spurs, than perhaps the two events are related.
So this post doesn't offer a whole lot of solid information, but should hopefully get you thinking in the right direction. See www.arav.com for herp vets in your greater area should you think a second opinion is warranted after your initial vet consultation. You can also suggest www.vin.com to your vet if they would like a good networking and reference site for vets. The reptile experts on that site are second to none!
Mader's Reptile Medicine and Surgery is a good help for a vet interested in seeing reptiles, however for the odd particular case like this, I'm unsure if it would help a whole lot. The main key for vets is to depart the abnormal from the normal. If this case moves beyond that to sample collections and other diagnostics, then this text would be of more use.
I hope all goes well 
Ian
[ Hide Replies ]
|
RE: Picture - joeysgreen, Sun Nov 22 22:35:00 2009