Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I purchased a male Lavender Albino from "The Reptile Ranch" a few months back and i was very disappointed with what i got ... though the price was rather cheap for an adult male They assured me the snake was in good health. when i open the box to get him out it smelled funny (like fishy), it turn out he defecated, but that wasn't the end of the smell ... that ordor remained till the snake had his 1st shed (with me), he was so skinny I cool see his back bone and there was something weird hanging out his back end.
Here's a pic of that male next to my "green male" they both are `02 hatched.

Now here's the problem. The lavender male has these weird looking things coming out (well I had to pull it out) of his tail ... not from his "poo-poo hole" from the other end. Here's a pic

it isn't alive and it's paper thin.

Now the thing is this isn't the first time I've seen this in a snake, I purchased a gray banded male a while back and he had the same thing coming out of him ... have you seen this before? Is it normal in males? what does it mean?

i haven't seen this in any of the males i raised, so it's weird 4 me

Any info will be great.
Thanx

~ZF

Zenny,
Was this between the scales on his tail? Do you suspect it to be a parasite? If so I would dose it with Panucur or take it to a vet. Is he eating for you well? Do the fecals look normal? If they smell irregular then I would suspect parasitic.
Weird looking. I have never seen that before. It kinda looks like part of a tapeworm, but it would not be coming out of the scales but rather the mouth or cloaca(poo poo hole) LOL
John Lassiter

Actually it came right put of his hemi-penes, it wasn't alive or nothing... his feces looks normal, smell worst than my other snakes, but normal looking. he eats great... takes any thing live, f/t, rat, mouse, N E thing, i just hope he's ok.

I would get him checked out just to be on the safe side. All I can say is keep feeding him regularly and he will catch up with the others soon enough.
Do you think it could be a piece of wood shaving? Just a guess.
John Lassiter

Wood Shaving ... definitely not, I got this lil guy on newspaper so there's no way wood could get up there, and I pulled out another two of those things when I first got him. At first I thought his hemi-penes had dried up but they came out without a problem, it hadn't come back, then all off a sudden I went and check on him (he's cooling down) and I saw one this time instead of two.

~ZF

Thats a parasitic worm of some kind. Just curious why do you think it came from his hemipenes ? The Hemipenes are visible unless they pop them out or if its a baby you can manually pop them. The hemipenes and the mud pipe come out of the same area (the vent) of a snake. So what you may think of as coming from his hemipenes is actually coming from his intestines. Also for snake poop its not so much on how it looks but rather the smell. If it smells considerably bad something is usally going on. I get weird looking poo's from my snakes from time to time and they are clean. There are warning signs to look for in poop like blood or worms or eggs or exceptionally runny poo but smell is up there. Also I see that you have another snake right in with him feeding no less. Thats a real bad idea as parasites migrate that way. You may want to get any snake thats been in contact with him a fecal done. A good general rule is to keep any new snakes seperate from the existing collection for a few weeks in case you do get something with a bug. Get that snake to a Vet and maybe bring some stool samples of other snakes with you to get tested. Good luck !

Keith
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the reason i said it came out of his hemipenes was cuz i manually pulled it out of there, it didn't come out of his cloaca, when i first got him i took two out of the same area one on each side of the tail that's why i suspected it cam from the hemipenes... i know it was a bad move to put the "new" snake next to an existing one in my collection but i had to show the seller the great difference in size when i first purchased the lavender. The green male in he pic is doing great, and the lavender had actually put on some weight, so that's why i wasn't really leaning towards the parasite conclusion, but it's still a thought. The only option i have now is taking this guy to the vet...

Let this be a lesson when things are a lil too good to be true the usually are just that "too good to be true"

Thanx for the help.

~ZF

Put them each in individual plastic boxes and have the boxes next to each other so they don't come in direct contact. I agree that it definitely looks like a parasitic worm, probably not a nematode so Panacur wouldn't work. Many of these worms are capable of entering a new host simply by skin contact, not oral ingestion. So quarantine that snake and every snake that's touched it.
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chickabowwow

Thanx for the Advice.
~ZF

ive seen them a couple of times on imported mandarins i pull them out with a tweesers and give them a wide spectrum deworm

.

looks like a tapeworm, i would get him to the vet, cause if it if a tape worm and he eats that thing will eat all the nutrients out of his stomach. good luck

ken
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0.1 Albino Cal. King (Fokker)
0.0.1 Cal. King (Spot)
1.0 Reverse Okeetee Corn (trouble)
0.1 Creamsicle Corn (Titan)
0.0.2 Anery (Thanks Jimmy)(Frodo, and Sam Wise)
1.2 Dogs(2 Boxers, Cookie and Joe, Lhasa Apso, George)
1.0 Betta
0.1 Wife
0.1 Kid

I'll take him to the vet, but it looks nothing like a tape worm, and it came out of his hemi-penes so I know it can't be a tape worm, probably some other form of parasite, but thanx.
~ZF

I agree it definately doesn't look like a tapeworm as there are no segments to the "stuff" you showed us in the photo. Again my naked eye observation.

You know sometimes snakes extend the hemipenes and when they retract they pull in aspen or pine shavings that can become stuck and can also cause an infection. Something to consider.

I do agree with everyone else about stinky "poo", it's usually not a good sign.

here is a link to some tapewrom pics on the net.

http://images.search.yahoo.com/search/images/view?back=http://images.search.yahoo.com/search/images?_adv_prop=images&fr=FP-tab-web-t&va=tapeworm&vf=all&h=175&w=158&imgcurl=www.thepetcenter.com/exa/tapes1.jpg&imgurl=www.thepetcenter.com/exa/tapes1.jpg&size=11.0kB&name=tapes1.jpg&rcurl=http://www.thepetcenter.com/exa/worms.html&rurl=http://www.thepetcenter.com/exa/worms.html&p=tapeworm&type=jpeg&no=1&tt=2,207

Good luck,
Russ

Thanx for the link, and i really doubt it's substrate cuz i keep this lil guy on newspaper, i will have him examined by the vet ASAP.
Thanx again for you input.

~ZF

Could it be that the snake had a stuck hemipene and that is what you may have pulled out of the snake? Not sure how often it happens in snakes but I've heard more about lizards being sent to the Vet to have their hemipenes taken care of that have become stuck outside the animal, or in worse cases, removed from the animal if enough damage had occured. Just a guess on my part, I may very well be way off base.

Steve

The very first time I saw this I thought that's what it was and I attempted to pull on out with some tweezers and it came out without a problem. So I tried the other one and it slipped out freely ... now this is the 2nd time this has occurred in this particular snake ... hopefully the vet will be able to solve/treat this problem.
Thanx for the input though.
~ZF

It is a sperm plug, not the actual hemipene and not a parasite. Sometimes stuff like secretions from the must glands nearby gets clogged up in the inverted hemipene and festers hence the smell. If you grab the plug with the tweezers and slowly pull on it, they come out. Not sure why they form but they are common in some species of lizards. I have not noticed them very often in snakes but they do happen. Still your snake is thin so a vet checkup might be a good idea. At the very least make sure you keep him hydrated until you can get some food into him. Is he feeding? That is usually the best indication of a snakes health.
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Rick Staub
R&R Reptiles

3wsazThanx, That makes a lot of sense, and I'm really leaning toward that conclusion, any how he's still gonna get another visit to the vet. the weird thing is he has a great appetite, i fed him for a few weeks then i "cooled him down" but I'll take him out so i know everything is OK. he's gained weight since i took that pic, so i hope everything is OK.

most recent pic of him

and I would agree its a sperm plug.

.

Given the snake is so thin I think its would be safest to assume some sort of worm or fluck and get it to a vet. You should also look to isolate it from the rest of your animals. In any case a routine vet check and quaranteen is good practice.

Thanx... i plan on doing just that, he's actually put on some weight since that pic so i think he'll do fine eventually

Here's his most recent pic.

Thanx Again

~ZF

That is much better. Given the weight gain I'd say Ric nailed it. Its still a good idea to have some protocol for introducing new animals to a collection.

ee
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Rick Staub
R&R Reptiles

I've seen MANY male snakes shed sperm plugs at all times of the year. From kingsnake to chondros to ball pythons. Looks like a dried sperm plug to me.

Brandon Osborne

Ive kept snakes for years and Ive never seen sperm plugs like that from males. I wonder if its the results of dust or debris from bedding getting into the vent ? Ive always kept my snakes on either newspaper, newsprint or paper towel so maybe thats why ????

Keith
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.

Sperm Plugs act as "chastity belt" according to British researches to plug the cloaca from further mating with other males!!!!!
http://www.bio.usyd.edu.au/Shinelab/shine/reprints/261chastitybelts.pdf