Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I posted my video of the unfortunate Slug extraction I had to do last weekend and I thought if anyone would appreciate it, it would be other Boa enthusiasts on Kingsnake.

Boaphile joked about almost having to try or do this procedure a few weeks back and then I got the ugly task of being faced with the same situation except my girl was not able to get this slug out on her own.. even after letting her try for over 4 hours. Plus if I recall the Boaphile example actually had a good outcome with live babies.. I was not so lucky.

So what happened.. was the video just too long? to gross or was it just too early in the morning to watch??

I thought it was gross but educational and wanted to see if anyone here had an easier way or if this has been done in the past and how I did compared to the experts.

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Thanks
Shawn Morelan
www.Southernboids.com

My delay was only 10 or 15 minutes. If you remember most of the rest of the babies appeared dead and certainly would have died if another minute or two had passed. I was very fortunate.

I thought the video was perfect. The female allowing you to do that to her was perfect. The fact that you had rubber gloves on was perfect. I was not preparing to use any gloves myself. Great idea. The fact that you posted this video is perfect too.

This is the exact kind of resource that is great for people to have. Many folks just would have no idea what to do if they encountered that same situation. You have now visually planted the seed with the many people that will watch that video. Someday, someone els is going to do what you did precisely because YOU showed them how you did it.

I say again, perfect!
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I am not sure if I gave her 4 hours to try on her own -or that it just took me that long to actually determine it had to be done and I was the only one there to do it.

I actually have much more tape but it is like jumping off the high dive.. Inside my mind I was trying to actually move and grab her tail but in reality I was sitting there with a scared look on my face wondering:

Is this what I should do?

Better yet HOW do I do it?

and last.. will she take off my face if I try!

She hissed 1 time when I first touched her and that was it, I truly believe when she realized I was trying to help she moved her head to the back of the cage and literally worked with me - or at least didn’t try to eat my face. Of course she is super gentle but as we all know they can be a tad unpredictable mood wise when having babies. Had she been mean I am not sure it would have happened.

One last note.. on insertion MAKE A LEFT!! I had the unfortunate experience of not knowing where to exactly “go” to find the slug.. I went straight in and I think I probed her with my finger then thought.. HEY. .this does not feel right. I could feel the slug but there was a membrane between the slug and the finger… So.. Barely go in and make a sharp LEFT to get to the right canal!

I did apologize to her when I realized where I was.. kinda funny now- but terrifying and embarrassing for me and her when it happened. We bonded.

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Thanks
Shawn Morelan
www.Southernboids.com

Tracy was there with me and since I had no idea what I was doing she put up with all my demands for items and help. I need gloves.. I need lube...push here, hold this AHH.. tear.. NEED MORE GLOVES!!!!! NEED MORE GLOVES!

She also taped it for me and even gets in the act with the hemostats! Slug was too hard to squish down yet still to soft to grab with the stats.

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Thanks
Shawn Morelan
www.Southernboids.com

There are just so many things I wanna...giggity giggity.

Pretty interesting stuff. Hope I never have to do that!

Very few times in the boa world when I say 'better you than me!'

this thread made me smile & laugh...
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Sincerely, Jason
www.NortheastSnakes.com
NortheastSnakes@verizon.net

There are just so many things I wanna SAY (stupid insert key)
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Sincerely, Jason
www.NortheastSnakes.com
NortheastSnakes@verizon.net

That's funny I'll remember left LOL.
A big decision you had top make.In the end
the right decision.
Thanks for the great info.I watched it last night
& couldn't believe that fem. As you state she knew
you were trying to help.
I really do believe that she new.Lar M
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Boas By Klevitz

What if one were to try and soak the boa? It works for boas having bathroom issues. I was giving this thought last year cause of water births in humans and boas have babies best I am told with misting.

We did put her in a sweater box with 85 degree water but we did not submerge her. I still had hope for live babies after this slug so I was scared to actually force her under.

We did our best to soak the area and let het sit for a minute to soften things up. This is actually where I figured out about GOING LEFT to find the slug. When we put her in the water she contracted a few times and finally we seen some liquid come out and I noticed it was not coming straight out but from the side. So.. when finished I followed that back in.

I’m afraid we could have soaked her all night and that thing still would have been rock solid. Had I known she only had slugs I would have soaked her much longer. I was open to ANY suggestions other than the one I was stuck with.

This is the Hypo female about a week before her due date.

The last is her as a baby in early 04 which we produced from the beautiful Hypo female above and a stunning orange and pink Hog male.

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Thanks
Shawn Morelan
www.Southernboids.com

Great job, thanks for sharing! It is incredible how the female just laid there for you. I hope I never have to go through that, but if I do, at least now I have an idea of how to go about it. Of course I will have to show the video to the snake in distress too, so she will know how to behave properly during the procedure!

Btw, is it just me, or does the last sound in the video sound like you're barfing...?

Thanks again! Mark
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uncommonboa.com

I have a weak stomach so I was barely OK during the procedure but when I got a wiff of that year old egg I started to get ill..

Lucky I had a trash can there so I wrapped it up tight and disposed of immediately. There may have been a few minutes more of the gagging but I never did actually hurl. Very close though!
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Thanks
Shawn Morelan
www.Southernboids.com

Very educational. Great post, thanks. Adam

Excellent video. A great learning tool. Thanks for posting it, and I hope you never have to do it again.
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Kare

"keep smiling; it makes people wonder what you're up to!"

great job!
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Greg Holland
GMHERPS Hunting & Reptiles
www.imageevent.com/gmherps
gmherps@gmail.com

Nice Shawn, I hope she is on the mend! Keep a close eye one her I had a female struggle with a slug in 05, so I could have told you that you need to go to the left. I ended up losing that female to an infection that was most likely caused by the slug!

Good Luck

Al Brown/Brown's Boas

that is amazing. Sorry you had to do that and I hope momma is okay. Thank you very much for sharing the video.

My albino in '03 must have tired out giving birth to her premature litter because when I checked on her, a still born was hanging out of her vent. I gave her a little over an hour to get it out, she was moving around but the baby was not coming out, so I had to pull it the rest of the way myself. I guess I was very lucky there were no others or slugs left in there.
Thanks again for sharing.
-April
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'There is a very fine line between "hobby" and "mental illness."' -Rainshadow