Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Help! I looked in the tank today and saw blood...immediately I start checking everyone for injury...ok, the girls are fine. However upon examining my male I find he has he has what appears to be a hemipenes prolapse. My heart sank...how do I fix this? Is he going to die? I just fed everyone the day before yesterday, frozen so I knew that there was no chance of injury from mouse bites. Poor guy, it was so huge, and looked dry, just hanging there by about a half inch. This is the first time I've ever seen this, and I just don't know what to do. He's a good breeding male, and I'd hate to lose him. I called my reptile guy and he said soak him (which I already was) to clean it up and reduce some of the swelling, see if maybe it will retract on its own. Any other suggestions? This one is not only a good breeder, but he's a sweety! Has never bit and just likes to hang out...

Keep the tissue moist so it doesn't die. If soaking (you can try a sugar solution) doesn't reduce the swelling enough to allow "easy" retraction, then take it to the vet. Don't wait as time increases the chance the tissue won't be viable. After the soak, a water based lube (plain KY) can be used to keep it moist. Even if the tissue needs to be amputated, the snake can still use the other hemipene (assuming it's not damaged) for succussfull breeding.

Ian

Thank you Ian! A couple more questions though....
How do I know if it has been damaged and will need to be amputated? How do I know if necropsy has set in? I want to say this happened 2 days ago, so how long do I wait to see if he retracts on his own? I've actually placed the bowl with sugar solution in his cage next to his drinking water so he could soak on his own if he wants, he didn't seem to be in a hurry to get out of it last night.... I just feel so bad, poor guy looks like this really hurts! Plus, silly question, I know the KY will help keep the tissue moist, but will it also help with retraction being a lubricant and all?
And, like I said, I have never seen this before, just knew what it was immediately because it didn't look like intestine..
And how do I know this is just one of the hemipenes? there's two bulbs on the end.. There's still blood flow from what I can see, he's leaving a red trail behind him....(not a whole lot, just noticeable)

If it's been two days, then it's definately time to take it to the vet. Usually if you catch it right away and the tissue is fresh, you can wait work at it for half a day. If no progress at that time, it isn't worth waiting any longer.
Fresh tissue will look pink and supple. Damaged tissue will redden, and dying tissue will keep getting darker until it's black or deep dark red. The vet will be able to figure out what to keep and what to cut if need be.
As for the ky, yes, it definately helps that it is a lubricant as well. However the key is to get down the inflammation; if that doesn't occur, the hemipene will not go back in and stay.

Hemipenes are different shapes among different species, but in all species (that I know of) there are two distinct hemi-penes... that is one will be on the left, and the other on the right side of the body's midline.

Good luck!

Ian

Pour some plain sugar on it to help shrink it back in the pocket.
This worked for me when my corns popped on me a few times.

Mike

Thanks Mike, I did do that as well as the sugar water soaks, and tried the powdered sugar...lol. From what I was told, it should shrivel up and fall off in time as long as he is healthy and should cause no further problems leaving him still able to breed with the other. After this however, I'm not sure if I want to put him back in with the girls...lol. Poor guy.
Anyone else have this happen where it did just shrivel up and fall off?

This doesn't cause the hemipenes to shrivel, fall off. It relaxes the muscles so it "falls" back in place. I've done it a few times with male corns who went on to do their thing.

Mike

Using sugar has nothing to do with relaxation of the muscles. If over used it can actually cause tissue to shrivel up. When applied in high concentration to tissues (especially edematous tissues) it will cause water within the cells to move to the area of high sugar concentration. The result will decrease edema and swelling. Once the tissue is normal in size then it can retract on its own or be carefully manually placed back into normal position after copious lubrication. If the tissue is not swollen or edematous and high concentration sugar solution or sugar is placed directly on the tissues it will cause the same movement of water and the tissues will become shriveled up and dried out. If it has been several days you need to see a vet that can assess the tissues and either amputate the affected tissue or treat him to save the hemipene. It is cruel to just allow the tissue to necrose, shrivel up, and fall off. Unless that is how you would want to be treated.
-----
Michael McFadden, M.S., D.V.M.

Good info I didn't know. The few times I tried the sugar routine the hemipenes went back into the pocket and the snake went on normally. Guess there's more to prolapses that would make a trip to the vet necessary. My past experiences with vets in my area, for egg retention cases, resulted in dead animals within 1-2 months of the office procedure. This has made me very gun-shy concerning vets, and my opinion hasn't changed.

Mike

as a vet tech i wanted to say something, but then its the same old "i dont trust vets" crap... maybe more will listen cuz its from a DVM, not an RVT...
-----
hanging out under heat lights burns up my brain cells!!