Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hello everyone,

My beautiful 4 years old female corn snake named Isis was shedding this morning and then I noticed something bulging out of her vent. Upon close examination and doing some research on-line I realized that it is most likely a prolapse. I have been soaking her in thick sugar water for about 5 hours and tried to gently push it back with gloved finger with a lot of Vaseline on it. Nothing seems to work so far. It looks very bad and I have no previous experience treating it, so all advise will be very much appreciated. I keep her on very moist (with sugar water) paper towels to prevent drying out, but I am afraid that she may develop a necrosis of tissue. I don't have a vet experienced in treating reptiles.

PS - I purchased Isis when she was a tiny baby. She has never had any problems with eating, shedding, or any other health problems whatsoever. I am very upset. Please help!

Thank you very much
coldblooded2003

Well it is probably a lower intestinal prolapse. This can be caused by problems with husbandry, such as not enough heat, or parasites, or cloacoliths (uric acid stones). Temporarily, you can cut a cylinder from a condom designed for humans(dry type) & sized according to the diameter of snake. This should cover the prolapse and will keep the moistened sterile cotton &/or gauze on the tissue until you can get the snake to a vet. The condom can be adhered with first-aid tape on each end-do not make it tight. Get the snake to a vet ASAP. You can usually find a vet in your area on the following link below:
Link

I had a similar situation earlier this year with a prolapse during egglaying. Most of the clutch was bad and the female passed two abnormally large (last two) eggs about 3 days later. I suspect these oversize eggs were the cause of the prolapse. Like you, I did not have a local vet available that I felt could do anything about this.

I frequently tried to palpate her abdominal area to attempt to draw it back in and kept her in a jumbo deli cup on a bed of papertowels saturated with sugar water. Not sure why this would help (or maybe it didn't help) but the prolapse drew back in on it's own (4 days). She has since shed, eaten, and defecated so hopefully she will be fine. I will, of course, not attempt to double clutch her but I worry about her producing a second clutch anyways. Best of luck with yours, Dave

While the egg gland will contract, and the snake will try to heal itself, it is never a good idea to allow this to heal on it's own. If you do you may be dealing with a 50/50 chance of survival vs death.

Again, I don't buy it that there is not a veterinarian in your area, look at the aforementioned links in other posts, and ask around. Be prepared to travel a little bit if you really are out in the middle of nowhere. But then again, if you are that far away from civilization, you'd be prepared to travel anyways.

If your female is prolapsing after a clutch, I would definately rest her for a season, avoid double clutching for good, and possibly retire her.

Just my opinion that I figured was worthwhile sharing, good luck

Ian

Ive had a simialar situation with my brooks male. He was breeding, when he began to deficate. At first I was more worried about my female getting defication in her. Afte they were done breeding he had a prolapse, I guess from the strain of both jobs at once! A few hours later after I cleaned it and soak him in warm water, It receided back in. If the problem pursists I would seek out a vet.

Good luck Mike

Call your local Petsmart/Petco and/or zoo/nature center for a veterinary reference.

A prolapse may or may not fix itself. You don't want to run that risk.