Reptile & Amphibian Forums

hi guys,

i was feeding my neonates yesterday with rat pinkies. all but one ate. the one which did not eat was preparing to shed. i watch it while it was in the process. to my surprise, it was displaying passing motions while shedding and i managed to see red bulge sticking in and out from the vent multiple times. there were no urates nor poop but just the red bulge. it was not that huge but still got me worried. this morning, i re-checked. it had shed successfully and the red bulge isnt there anymore.

should i be worried? if so, what should i do?

what could have caused the prolapse?

by the way, what's a q-tip?

thanks in advance for any replies.

cheers

Its normal. They typically try to pass feces/urates while shedding. During the passing processing, tissue (red bulge) exposes itself. This is not a prolapse. It becomes a prolapse when the animal can't/won't retract the tissue when it has completed passing, or in this case, attempted to pass.

A q-tip is a cotton swab, often used to clean out your ears (q-tip is just a brand of these). Q-tips are often used to re-insert the tissue should it not retract on its own. I would not suggest this method with neonates however. For neonates, I would use a small, ball-tipped, sexing probed, lubricated with K-Y Jelly (obviously, not the warming, scented, or flavored stuff the significant other prefers). Typically, one may suggest taking a neonate to a vet. I did this with my first prolapse and the animal never survived the process. I chalked it up to "the vet should stick with cats & dogs" and chose to deal with my next prolapse on my own. The q-tip worked like a charm (much older animal though).

Again, when you wake up the next morning and the tissue is still out is when you need to worry. Will be hard to miss. If it is still out, the animal will not be perched normally.

Bart

I had a prolapse on my adult female, and it's definitely not something you can miss. However, I did take her to a vet...who did know about reptiles...and she's doing fine so far. I will be holding my breath until the next defication!
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4.5~Cornsnakes
1.2.2~Green tree python
1.0~ATB
Dogs, cats, horses....
www.franclycac.com

Sorry to hear that MegF. Hope she makes it. All the best.

"Prevention Is Better Than Cure!"
Relating to the quote above, The Complete Chondro suggest that the use of reverse osmosis water could eliminate the problem at its root. Personally I have yet to try this. Therefore, does it really works?

Thanks in advance

regards
-firdaus-

No one is really going to be able to tell you what works for preventing prolapses because the verdict is still out as too what causes them. Most will say it is related to the size of prey you feed it and/or the frequency you feed it. I am not sure I buy into this school of thought but I do agree that you need to reduce the prey size and frequency afterwards to give the tissue time to heal before it needs to defecate again. Some say the water it drinks causes it and some think it has to do with stress. I am sure there are other theories out there as well. Not going to go into what I beleive as it serves no real purposes. I use RO water but it has nothing to do with the prevention of prolapses. Our well water is really bad and spring water leaves mineral deposits on the sides of the cage and clogs my sprayer (though I rarely use it). Of course, using RO water may start a whole other controversy as to whether or not it causes kidney failure due to the removal of some of the minerals. Point is, nobody has the answers, only suggestions based on their beliefs, what they have read, or what they have heard. In the end, its all just opinions.

Bart

I have no idea why my girl prolapsed. She is kept in proper temps and humidity. She is only fed every two weeks on a rat weanling. Her water for years was reverse osmosis as our city used chloramines to purify (deadly to snakes). I now use the well water we have here which is quite pure-it's filtered thru about 3 ft. of sand. She had deficated 4 days before-a large poop with urates and had eaten only 3 days before the prolapse occured. I could almost understand if she had deficated and prolapsed, but she had done that already with no problems at all. The small amount of fecal we had tested negative for parasites. My food source is nearby...well fed animals that I pick out myself and then have euthanized. I bring them home and freeze them myself. I also provide live plants for cleaner air and I believe, good growing energy in the cage. I also leave the windows to the snake room open quite often to make sure the air in the room stays fresh and circulated. I think that sometimes things just happen. Perhaps if I took crappy care of them, they would never have a problem! I think they would know that they would die if that were the case
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4.5~Cornsnakes
1.2.2~Green tree python
1.0~ATB
Dogs, cats, horses....
www.franclycac.com

While there are some "obvious" prolapse causes like huge meals that are reasonable - prolapses can and do occur for no apparent reason. One more time - in perfect conditions with small measl GTP's cna and do prolapse with no clear cause. 10 animals in carbon copy conditions and only one prolapses = typical.

Another thing to be aware of, beyond the basic challenge of reinsertion and getting it to stay (sometiems purse stiches are required) is antibiotics. Baytril (or the like) should alwasy be given to an animla that has prolapsed as the most common casue fo death by prolapse is actually the secondary infections.

This is a slow heal and it isn't "done" until you've had 3 meals, and poops, and a shed.

All the best,

Ross
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Spruce Nubble Farm, Inc. - Green Tree Pythons, Carpet Pythons, Carpondros, Kinkajous, Horses
http://www.SpruceNubbleFarm.com
69 Spruce Nubble Road
Strong, ME 04983
(207)-684-3539
eFax: (512)-853-3820

It's been 6 weeks since the prolapse. The stitches have been out for 4. She is getting soaked every 3-4 days and she appears to be due to shed. Do you think I should wait until she sheds (and possibly deficates at the same time) or should I try to feed her tomorrow? I was planning on a very small mouse. She's definitely hungry. She's out all evening hunting in her enclosure and climbing everywhere. I'm paranoid though....
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4.5~Cornsnakes
1.2.2~Green tree python
1.0~ATB
Dogs, cats, horses....
www.franclycac.com