Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Just got my first clutch of eggs from this female; they seem mostly infertile, but some may be good. Yesterday she laid two slugs on the substrata rather than in the laying box. Now today she has a rectal prolapse. My reptile vet is on vacation and the emergency vet hasn't a clue, so I soaked her to get the substrata rinsed off, and used an antibiotic ointment on a q-tip to coat the prolapse and gently push it back in. I've got her in my quarentine tank with paper towels. She's basking alternately with scrabbling around trying to get out and seems to be in no pain.

Is there anything more I should be doing for now. My vet won't be back for two weeks, and he's the only reptile vet in town.

last year on this forum...try doing a search on prolapse.

I think it had something to do with soaking the dragon in a sugar water solution---and it worked for several people. I would try this first as the surgery is not always successful.

HTH
DM

Yes, it was sugar water soaks. If she should happen to prolapse again the sugar water baths will help bring the swelling down and help keep the tissue soft until you can get her to your reptile vet. For right now it seems your doing everything you can do with the paper towel substrate, keeping her in a clean environment, and as comfortable as possible until you can get her seen by the vet.
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Mystical-Dragons Web Site
Webshots photos

Hello,
I had a female who had a prolapse last year. I took her to the vet and she suggested I use a syringe with a with a 10-15% saline solution(NaCl/table salt) and water. Basically you just need a hypertonic solution so fluid can be flow out of the cells in the prolapsed area. Right now the prolapse is probably swollen so the saline solution will bring down the swelling. If there is fecal build up you can give her a bath to get rid of that but be very careful not to remove any living tissue because she will bleed and fecal matter and open lesions is not good. Then you can use the cutip method but you can use oil to pop it right back in. Hopefully this gets you through the weekend.
Good luck,
Randy

P.S.
I am not vet, I am just a person sharing my experiences
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www.AlphaDragonZ.com

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edited sig file 1/29/05 [phw]

Thanks, everyone. Yeah, I searched the forum after I posted and saw the bit about the sugar water. So far, she's doing ok, but there is one very odd thing. She laid another egg today! I was really surprised at this, but she did not prolapse again, for which I am grateful. Why another egg several days after laying her clutch? Any ideas?

Leslie

How old is she?

Age can be a factor in prolaspes with egg binding (although she is passing them, she is doing it late and may be struggling to lay them) Parasites can also cause this and that will have to be treated
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www.reptilerooms.com

She's only three. And this is her first breeding season. I sort of expected infertile eggs, but this lay most and then one at a time is new to me.

She laid another infertile egg today! But she is alert and has good color, and the prolapse has not returned, so I'm crossing my fingers. My good vet called me; he says that sometimes a first time female will lay and then drop slugs, although it is not common. He also says I did good with returning the prolapse and that if it is holding, she'll probably be fine. I sure hope he's right!

Leslie