Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I had my mexican milk lay 9 eggs and bind up on a tenth one this spring. This was my first experience with this and I did not find any helpful posts other than "take it to a vet or it's dead, or let it take it's corse - I think I read that somewhere. Having a good supply of siblings ranging back to 07's and not having the money to take it to the vet, I decided to wait it out. The snake stayed egg bound for @60 days, with the swelling only shrinking slightly. I checked on her a couple of days ago and it had vanished. I can't even find it in the bedding. Just a note on what is possable. The female looks great!

...once a female ovulates, the ovum has to come out the vent...it cannot be resorbed....resorbing an ovum can only happen before ovulation...if the egg was at the vent it has to come out, or it is still in there....they do get hard ata times...they can adhere to the oviduct....which will maybe cause her death if she gets gravid again....I have heard of a female that suposedly laid a clutch and it contained an egg, hard and dark from the previous years' clutch......I cannot verify this...

I can verify that they can die...sometimes quickly and at times it takes awhile.....

does she eat???........defecate?.......hmmmm...usually they don't...so it is good if she eats and defecates....

....feel for the egg in her, (palpate)....how far from vent is it if it's still there.....

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JY
Scales-N-Tails
reptiles ltd.

The egg remained right at the vent for 60 days. I fed her only large rat pinks while she was eggbound. She obviously finally passed it although the only thing I could find looked more like feces than an old egg.

Egg binding is traumatic for a snake and lead to a multitude of problems. Blood poisoning, etc.If you cant afford a vet you are left with few options. I have manually palpated them before both that year and the following. In each case the snake went off feed and died. Necropsy revealed a twisted oviduct, which would not make them candidates for future breedings anyways. My recommendation would be to retire her as a breeder, she can live out her life as your show animal but please dont try and pass her on to someone unsuspecting. Good luck!

I've had a number of snakes that became eggbound...

I have had surgery done on them (expensive, and often the snake is retired after that). I've also tried just leaving them alone but usually they end up dying instead of passing the egg.

What I do now is take a syringe and drain the egg(s) from the outside. The snake usually then passes the egg within a couple of days. They have also gone on to lay successfully the following year after this procedure.
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Paul Weaver
Carolina Herps

Problem there is that the egg many times isnt fertile to begin with so there is no liquid to be removed. It does seem the best approach though.

In my experience egg binding usually ends badly no matter what method of removal you choose, but you can get lucky now and then.. Just this week I had a female that has successfully produced for me the last 5 years in a row with no issues lay 9 good eggs and bind up with 3 left in her.. I was lucky this time as they were very close to the vent and I was able to easily manipulate them out. She looks good and fed this morning with no hesitation.

I have tried just about everything with bound snakes over the years.. Vet visits, warm baths, meds, palpitation, etc.. But, when the bound eggs are not very close to the vent I have had the best luck just leaving them alone. I raise the temps a little, offer small meals and a fair amount of the time eggs will pass, be reabsorbed, or moved down close enough to the vent were I am able the gently pinch them out.. I have done this successfully several times and every one of the females has gone on to produce good eggs for me the following season... You would have to imagine that wild snakes that bind up would go on to breed again.. Right?

Good Luck!

~ Mike Russo

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I would imagine, like primative human childbirth, there is quite a bit of mortality due to "female problems". We "see" more adult males than females and assume that its because males are less cautious due to sex drive, maybe something else is at work? Likely a combination.

...you said it went away...cool,,,she is eating again....cool too

....stuck eggs...

you let them alone for a day or two

you have to aspirate then early, due to the egg either growing larger while still inside female, and picking up more fluids,
or the stuck egg's yolk will start to solidify....so you have to aspirate quickly before it gets too solid...and doesn't go through the syringe....let someone else show you and help you the first few times you ever have to do this people....you need three hands (or two hands and your teeth)......aspirating eggs is easy as pie.....and works well.....

manually palpating stuck eggs...__I have been told many times by many old timers...to never push and egg out...or try to....the oviduct is usually twisted as mentioned...and if you push egg out you can tear the oviduct....I have pushed them out if they are right at the vent...usually if they are "right there" and she doesn't push them out,,,she was just "usually" tired and dehydrated probably....and the egg was just not pushed out...so it usually doesn;t hurt too much to push it out....IF you leave it for a day or three, it will grow, and pushing it right out will hurt more,,be careful.....as for eggs stuck up inches or so...I have been told to actually push them upwards towards the head a little bit and let female alone for the night....theoretically the egg moved along and looped the oviduct and not actually twisted it...so pushing it up will help the oviduct realign and can be passed by the female....at times....

...make sure they are warm
...make sure they are hydrated
make sure the egg laying nest/chamber is adequate...you have to leave it in for female to try and get eggs out ....makes her happy...secure.....make sure it's not too dry or wet for the specific species....

...want another idea...been done by snake dudes....not by me, and they say they bred her again the next year...!..here goes...
they took the female, put her in the fridge (or freezer?) and cooled her off real well, freezer I think, after she is asleep pretty much, they cut a small insicion in the side by the stuck eggs, push eggs out the side, cut small hole in oviduct and take out eggs....place oviduct back into female (you CANNOT sew up an oviduct ,too thin a membrane)...sewed up the female and left her heal....fed small and all....warmed up well....said they did it a few times, ...I wouldn't try this at home....!!!

...bottom line...give female what she needs(warmth,fed well,nest,security) and leave them alone....good luck all....
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JY
Scales-N-Tails
reptiles ltd.

That sounds like good info. I'd have to add that even aspirating eggs or ones that cant be aspirated can be stuck in the oviduct and therefore render her a breeding risk. Worth a try for sure.