Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Any new ideas for an egg bound female? She laid 4 eggs and a bloody egg shaped mass then another egg and it looks like she has 5 more. I gave her a shot of oxytocin after about 24 hours, hoping to start labor again. It worked in another female but not in this one.
Thanks for the help.
Later
Rick

Rick,

Try some mineral oil in the cloaca.

Steve

Rick
Get a 18 gauge needle with a 3cc sringe and go thru the side of the female and suck out the yolks. She should pass the rest the next day. This only works within the first few days before the eggs start to get hard boiled and solid.
KC

I wish i had a better answer for you Rick, but it's really a tough call. Personally, I have had success and failure with aspitating and with leaving them alone.

We had a discussion about this a few weeks back and I am pretty sure the majority of us thought leaving them alone worked out better.

Good luck and keep us posted!

~ Mike Russo

Take it for what it's worth, but aspiration has worked for me on every single occasion I've employed it as a method. I've had very mixed results with letting things be and hoping for the best. I have never had success with oxytocin. In my experience oxytocin tends to only make things worse.

i've used oxytocin with mixed results...my vet told me there's a different hormone for reptiles....and as you probably know she might be low on ca.....ca helps with uterine contractions.....the first eggs might of depleted her ca

Just my two cents worth but I personally have aspirated many snakes Rick with great success,as long as you don't let it go too long .Sometimes they can harden into masses that then need an operation $$$$$$$,also with time she may develop tissue damage from the process of trying to pass the egg.I wish you success in whatever you try.

The discussion I was referring to may have been on the kingsnake or milksnake forum??

100% success rates with aspiration is awesome! When I have tried it in the past my results have been hit or miss… I even paid a vet to aspirate an egg bound Chondro back in the early 90’s and she died a few days later? Maybe I waited too long and the eggs hardened as some of you have mentioned?? Either way aspirating might be the right move since you guys seem to be achieving far better results than I have in the past!

~ Mike Russo