Reptile & Amphibian Forums

One of my females has a retained egg, at least that is what I think it is. She laid this past spring, so if it is an egg it has been there for a while. It is a hard mass just a couple inches from her cloaca. Does anyone have any experience on how to get her to pass this? Is surgury the only option? I would rather not go the surgury route, just because I am not sure how good my herp vet is with reptile surgury, but if that is the only way, then that's what I'll do. Any help is appreciated.
Justin J
AAR

We had a platinum phase grey-banded kingsnake that retained an egg. It was a while before anyone noticed it, so surgery was the only option. A retained egg, and the surgery required to remove it, can do quite a number on the ovaduct, and ours was not able to breed afterward. If it is a retained egg, and it has been a while, I would say that surgery is your only option to remove it. She will probably not be able to breed again either way, but you never know. This is merely my experience with retained eggs, so I may be wrong, but I'd like to hear if anyone else has had a better experience with this condition.

Evan Jamison

EnD Constrictors

take her for an ultrasound it costs alot less than surgery and it will tell you for sure, and if it is not a retained egg the problem may be more easily solved with a good long soak in some warm water could just be a big clump of poop