Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi everyone. I posted below "The saga continues", about my female corn. She has now laid all of her eggs but one. It is right at her cloaca, and has been there since the 8th. She is very thin and hungry. Should I go ahead and feed her a full size mouse, or will digesting and passing feces be a problem for her with an egg still retained?

The other option would be to feed her smaller sized mice for now.

Advice please?
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Kent

0.1 Hypomelanistic striped cornsnake
1.0 Lavender cornsnake
1.2 Gray-banded kingsnakes, blairs phase

Ok... the retained egg can kill her.... you need to take her to the vet or someone who can help get the egg out. Feces is mostly solids... which is mostly rodent fur. The fur won't be able to pass through the cloaca and will slowly back up and kill the snake. Imagine not being able to poo and all those things your body doesn't want and has no need for....sitting....rotting... its sad. So the answer to your question... yes, you can feed her....but that egg needs out! The insides of the egg will harden and make very difficult to come out, if not taken care of asap.
Kin
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~Sober Serpents~
www.freewebs.com/soberserpents
Tons of Corns, Creamsicles, A Black Rat, A pair of Leucistic Black Rat X Leucistic Texas Rat Intergrades, Thayeri, Cal Kings, A Jungle Corn, Ball Pythons, A Pair of Albino Nelsons Milksnakes, Colombian RTBs, Leopard Geckos, Crested Geckos, 2 Snapping Turtles, an Eastern Box Turtle, a Bearded Dragon...probably more i'm forgetting...

yes technically they are correct....and usually the female won't eat with an egg stuck at her vent.....usually...I have had some big girls eat,defecate and pass later....

...ok....it needs aspirated....if you know how...
...or it needs to just be popped out...if you know how...

....sounds simple ,,is simple.....you just have to do it correctly....and yes even VETS will just squeeze the egg out and kill your snake from shock and trauma....trust me...I saw it once...now I do it all....actually I just popped an egg out of a snow motley this morning...when another drops down I'll pop it out...they are big and getting harder....sucks...she laid 3 then stopped...?...don't know why...there are alot left....(the other solution is to put her down...)...

...so....good luck...if it is directly at the vent....you can use a probe (bigger) to put mineral oil, olive oil would work I guess.....inside and lube her up a bit....and pop it out....you will hopefully not break too many rib tips off.....really...

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......JY

I sent you a PM.
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Kent

0.1 Hypomelanistic striped cornsnake
1.0 Lavender cornsnake
1.2 Gray-banded kingsnakes, blairs phase

I currently am watching a female rat snake with one retained egg. It is pretty near the vent, but I can't coax it out. However, she did pass feces yesterday, with egg still stuck. I fed her as well during this, and I plan on watching her progress with digestion and bowel movement, but I expect no problems.

>>Ok... the retained egg can kill her.... you need to take her to the vet or someone who can help get the egg out. Feces is mostly solids... which is mostly rodent fur. The fur won't be able to pass through the cloaca and will slowly back up and kill the snake. Imagine not being able to poo and all those things your body doesn't want and has no need for....sitting....rotting... its sad. So the answer to your question... yes, you can feed her....but that egg needs out! The insides of the egg will harden and make very difficult to come out, if not taken care of asap.
>>Kin
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>>~Sober Serpents~
>>www.freewebs.com/soberserpents
>>Tons of Corns, Creamsicles, A Black Rat, A pair of Leucistic Black Rat X Leucistic Texas Rat Intergrades, Thayeri, Cal Kings, A Jungle Corn, Ball Pythons, A Pair of Albino Nelsons Milksnakes, Colombian RTBs, Leopard Geckos, Crested Geckos, 2 Snapping Turtles, an Eastern Box Turtle, a Bearded Dragon...probably more i'm forgetting...
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Jack Jeansonne

I couldn't bring myself to try aspirating the egg, even though I brought home an 18 gauge needle and syringe from work. So I was handling her tonight, and started applying gentle pressure to the egg. She didn't seem to mind so I kept up the pressure.

After a few minutes, I could see that her cloaca was starting to open. I continued, and was able to push the egg out fairly easily. It was a large yellowish, obviously infertile egg. It was very squishy, like a water balloon.

After I returned her to her cage, she was very active, so I offered her a freshly killed adult mouse. She took it without hesitation, so I feel alot better about her recovery. She has lost alot of weight, but not her appetite.

Thanks everyone for your suggestions.

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Kent

0.1 Hypomelanistic striped cornsnake
1.0 Lavender cornsnake
1.2 Gray-banded kingsnakes, blairs phase