Reptile & Amphibian Forums

i have about a dozen garter babies that are maybe 7 mo. old. they were born at my house, and their mom was born at my house, but the grandma was caught wild. one of the babies seems to have a prolapse. i have been reading about soaking in sugar water, and maybe gently being able to replace this if it doesnt fix on its own?..... i soaked the snake in regular water, then i saw in one of the archive messages it said it was necessary to use sugar water.

im just a casual snake keeper and havent encoutered this before. im not sure i can afford full vet treatment for a baby semi/wildcaught snake.. can anyoine tell me anything - what i might do and how drastic is this? do snakes usually survive this? what can happen if i havent treated it correctly? thanks so much for any information
nitesky

i resoaked the snake in sugar water but the flesh looked very dry. i had put neosporin but it hadnt helped.
hope someone can tell me the outcomes for this snake, or if there is no choice but involve a vet...... i would feel terrible if i caused the snake harm .

Keeping the prolapse moist and trying to gently replace it is all that a keeper can do. Unfortunately it's rarely successfull if not found immediately. A vet visit is best for this critter.

If left out, the tissue swells, and is harder to replace (usually the inflammation needs to be treated medically first). The lack of circulation to the tissue eventually leads to it dying, and at this point (without seeing the extent of the prolapse) it's about a 50:50 chance of the animal dying. The odds are against you in such a young animal. Either way, I'm sure it's quite painfull, and you may see anorexia and lethargy as further symptoms down the road.

I hope this helps.

Ian

thanks for the help. i think i just caught this one too late. we soaked a long time but it isnt re hydrating.
it occurred to me that right before this i put them in a temp. tank while i cleaned theirs. there were some leftover shavings there that i didnt think about but maybe he ingested some (or some other way they caused it) they were never exposed to those shaivings before. (they werent cedar) . either way......
thanks for the help.

The sugar water soaks help because they draw some moisture out of the tissue and reduce the swelling. I've also heard a lot of success stories involving applying preparation H daily (at least) to the exposed tissue. During this period you should keep the snake on something clean that won't tend to adhere to the tissue; slightly damp paper towels work well. The paper towels should be replaced daily so they don't start growing bacteria, mold etc. As long as the tissue has not turned black / necrotic there is still a chance he will be able to retract it.

-Alice