Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I came home yesterday to find my snow corn laying eggs. She had passed 6 horrible looking eggs and was stuck on the seventh one. a huge bulge was near her cloaca.

I didn't want to disturb her so I closed her nestbox up and put her back in the rack?

Heres the pics I snapped

PROBLEM IS...

24 hours later and she is still trying to pass the same egg???
She had rotated her position a couple times and i watched for a good couple hours and saw little pushing but very heavy breathing.

I know what you will all say is go to the vet. But there are no appointments till Friday???
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www.BetterBoa.com

4.3 BCIs (Zeus, Athena, Xena, Jocasta, Menelaus, Aphodite, Hades)
4.4 Corn snakes

You still made the appointment, right?,......because if she doesn't pass it, she'll REALLY need help by then!

If the vet can't palpate the egg(s) out, then he/she will have to stick a large syringe between the ribs, and draw out enough egg contents for it to be passed.

hope things go well for her!

~Doug
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"Better to be silent and thought a fool, than to open mouth and remove any doubt!"

See if she'll eat. I have found that snakes which retain an egg will eventually expell it once they get an energy boost. I'd offer her a half-sized mouse. I'd also return her to her normal cage - retained eggs aren't any good.

Tim

Third Eye

I have an amel female that was also egg bound after passing 6 good eggs. Once you have someone show you how to do it then it is easy. I read how to do it on line and since there are no real good reptile vets in my area my wife and I decided to do it ourselves and we were succesful.

Here is a pic of the bad egg and syringe with yolk inside it. Once we did two rounds of aspirations the egss was very easy to palpatate out of the cloaca.

I think possible complications need to be brought up, that were not mentioned.
If you do not aspirate propery, you can damage the inside of the snake - either if the snake moves while the syringe is inside or if you are not inside the egg when you try to aspirate.
Second, you can break the snakes' back, or cause other damage while trying to palpate, or push the egg out. If the egg seaps inside the snake after being aspirated or bursts while being forced out, the snake can get an infection.
Just wanted to bring that up.
It is best if a vet does these procedures. It is best if the snake is anesthetized, so she can not fight the procedure and cause complications.
Best of luck
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****Misty****

www.sneakyserpents.com

"The more things change, the more they remain Insane"

I have heard that if you aspirate an egg, it can make the female infertile. Is this true?
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Ethans Den

I dont see how that could happen unless you damage her reproductive system. If done Properly, while aspirating, you should be inside the egg, which shouldnt effect the female at all.
I had never heard that before, though
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****Misty****

www.sneakyserpents.com

"The more things change, the more they remain Insane"

Not true. I've aspirated eggs in several females and they all went on to successfully reproduce. It's not the first step I take though - I try to feed the snake and see if it can get the egg out on its own.

Tim

Good to know! Thanks! Hopefully I'll never need to worry about it, though.
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Ethans Den

That's right,......several problems "can" arise during, or after this. That's why (for the snake's well-being) I don't recommend that people do this themselves, even though this procedure is straight-forward, and fairly simple.

The small price a vet would charge for this is certainly worth a proven female breeder's health,......or heaven forbid, even her replacement, then several years of raising again.

~Doug
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"Better to be silent and thought a fool, than to open mouth and remove any doubt!"

I absolutely agree.
If your husbandry is good, egg binding should be a rare occurrence. Unless you really know what you are doing - let a vet do it. Spend the money - it's generally the right thing to do.
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I decided my old sig was too big.

I guess my saying I read how to do it on the internet sounded a little careless but that is where I first found the info. I did consult with a few people who have done this a couple of times. My wife was trained in nursing school on proper use of syringes and this is a skill/experience that I felt we needed since our rescue will be up and operational this time next year. Plus none of the vets in our area that I talked to have never done an aspiration. This is hte first time I have ever had an egg bound snake and she will most likely be relegated to full time pet status now only she she did have a tuff time with her first clutch. She is almost 50 inches long and had good weight before breeding but I guess she just isn't a good breeder. So far so good on my other two clutches with 4 more die to lay in the next month.

I guess it may have been a little irresponsible to make it sound as over simplified as I did but I really didn't trust my local vets since they have consulted with me a few times on some of the snake cases that have come threw their office. I honestly felt it was in the best interest of my snake for me and my wife to perform it. She is doing well now and resting comfortably in a sterile bin for the next 24 hours.

ment to say, "4 more due to lay"..not die to lay..lol

I have left her alone for 2 days now and still nothing. I also provided another nestbox incase that was her problem. she has not moved at all and only nudges me slightly. I also have misted her down 3 times now and she instantly drinks all the droplets off her coils. I watched her drink for a half hour.

I tried to massage it down which only caused it to go back a bit farther. I am going to offer a few fuzzies or small hopper and se if that will help her pass it.

I will keep you all posted
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www.BetterBoa.com

4.3 BCIs (Zeus, Athena, Xena, Jocasta, Menelaus, Aphodite, Hades)
4.4 Corn snakes

it probably be best to take her to a vet, especialy if it appears she has more eggs behind the blocked one. If an egg ruptures inside of her, it can become infected and kill her.

I did have a female who had a single egg stuck in her for some time. She was able to pass urates and some solid fecal matter around the egg. Taking her out quite often and getting her 'active' and giving her long soaks as well as carefully trying to drain the egg with a syringe didn't get the egg to move on its own. However, I did try feeding her a smaller than normal prey, and she was able to pass the egg on her own a week later. She was highly active during all this time.

If your seems to be sluggish or otherwise not acting normal, definitely get her to a vet. It is also very possible I was just lucky with no serious complications arising.

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PHLdyPayne