Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi,
I have had Ball Pythons for a few years now and got three clutches of eggs this year. 2 of my clutches had babies with something sticking out where the yolk sac attaches. I took them to my vet immediately and she said that it was an abdominal hernia, but that she had never heard of that in snakes before.
So my question is has anyone ever had this happen to them? Is it a genetic problem that will happen whenever these females lay eggs?
I am at a complete loss here and would appreciate any input on the matter. Thanks in advance!

Rebecca

are you sure the umbilical cord wasn't still attached?...one of our hatchlings still had his...but it was gona a few days after hatching...he's shed now and all is well

Yeah, sounds like the "umbilicus"! I've had that many times! You need to inquire on here before you spend money on a vet.

I thought it might be the umbilical cord, but when it didn't go away over night I got worried. When I took him to the vet she said that it was part of his intestines hanging out.

Find a new Vet, and run from the one your using now.
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South Central Herpetological

.....cut off wrong things....kill the snake....

you'll love that when it's a pastel ghost....?....
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what did vet do?

(I had one baby with a huge herniated gut and the yolk sac actually burst it open, ripped, yes it died...)
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two things.....

one is just a little thin piece of umbilical cord still attatched...it will fall off...

one is the big fat piece of intestines still attatched to the cord and it is ALL sticking out of the still unclosed and often too far open hole in the snakes gut (belly button location),...

....people I showed the gut sticking out have said...cut it off...I say....UUUM..shove it back in...it is their gut....

you NEED to know the difference people....

one falls off and one needs to be shoved back into the snake,,,hold the hole shut for a minute...and wet the baby and stick it in a deli-cup and back into the incubator till it stays shut....it also keeps the scuttle,fruti,forrid flies off of the open hole...(yes maggots will eat at the hole and into the snake)

it takes 3 hours to 2 days....the faster the better....you cannot let the gut dry out or get rubbed....keep it moist in the cup and shove it back in....IF it is gut....

once shut it stays shut if you don't squeeze it too hard and reopen the hole....

......I had like 5 this year..so far...I hope no more......so big and so fat the gut didn't stay in at first....it's also caused by SLITTING the eggs TOO early.....and the baby runs out of egg too fast...

we need pics.....

.......camera, camera.....it's here...LOL.....

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That is a very helpful post! I was concerned that so many people said to leave it alone and it would be ok, but now I understand that without pictures it would be easy to assume an attached umbilicus. However, these were definitely NOT little umbilical cords, there were big fat intestines! Both snakes are closed up already so I cannot take pictures but if I have another one (I hope not) then I will post pics.
It is also nice to see that I am not the only person with this problem. I was worried that I had some weird genetic problem in my breeders. Do you know what the recovery rate is of babies with hernias? And if they have any developmental problems?
I found it odd that I couldn't find any information on the web about hatchlings and hernias. There was also no mention of them in the books and videos I bought about Ball Python breeding. I would be interested to know how many people have had this happen before?
Thanks to everyone who has replied, every post has helped me understand a little better!

it happens alot.....

when the baby comes out of the egg , we need to find it right away....then you/I just pull off the yellow dead umbilicus , I use my fingers and just sqeeze the dead part , it is soft and falls off.....the intestine part needs to be pushed back inside the hole in the belly...again I just use fingers, and at times it goes right in and stays in....if it does or doesn't stay in, either way,,,I just stick them in a wetted deli-cup and back into incubator to have the gut go back in them by itself and to stay there.....it usually goes well..at times it doesn't....

if it stays in....they will be fine and after shedding will be just like normal....

if it doesn't stay in it needs to be pushed in...either with fingers or after awhile even a BIG probe is used....I don't have that fake skin band aid stuff or I would try it....I cannot use any tape or band aids on them due to the fact they are wet....real wet.....and I keep them wet....I was going to try a rubber band to hold that part of the body tighter but in like a second you realize it would either slip down immediately...or cut off their circulation....so it was out...

if it doesn't stay in....at times the end of it will rot and it may or may not kill the snake....I just kept pulling off the dead tissue and it healed after awhile....at first I wasn't sure how much needed to go back in and how much needed to fall off...just like these other wanna-be breeders on here.....I learned that it all went back in (all the gut not cord)....after awhile I learned to push what needed back in and use enough forse to do it ....not mess around being careful....doctors hurt people all the time to save them....LOL......

I actually had one with the tip of the gut out and I stuck it in a box too soon....forrid flies got to it and ate the dead out of the belly button.....I washed it off and kept an eye on it....it bloated and was full of air...I planned on it dieing......it shed and was fine and ate right away....(pastel orange ghost female) ate before her sister (POG)....SO KEEP THEM IN A CUP IN INCUBATOR TILL THEY HEAL...

I have cameras....I am lazy and computer stupid?...and I really cannot believe there isn't pics of this already....I need to look.........I'll start with VPI site...Dave should make a page on this....
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