Reptile & Amphibian Forums

In both cases the first half of the clutch was fertile, then the second half of the clutches were not calcified and the females couldn't push the slugs out...very strange...any comments?

Thanks...

What if these two females simply didn't have enough calcium storage to lay a completely healthy clutch of eggs?

Sounds logical.

the eggs appear to be on their way but they have been near the vent for a week now. How do I remove them without being too invasive? How long is it to safely let her pass them herself? I have tried gently pushing on them and she has passed two little ones about a week and a half ago, should I just wait?

The absolute best thing to do is take her to a vet especially if she has passed some a week ago.

If the eggs are calcified and stuck then you would need to worry about the muscles being stretched for too lond and causing damage.
If the eggs are slugs then you would need to worry about them rotting inside her and causing her to become septic from the eggs and not being able to expel waste.

Good luck
Shannon

I am lucky enough to have a good friend who has worked with colubrids for decades and he got them out for me.

Done right and if your lucky they come out fine, however if your unlucky, you permanently damage or kill your snake in a long and very painful manner.

Don't risk it, take her to a qualified reptile vet.

How would a Vet take them out? How long is too long to wait to see if they will pass on their own? Is there any method that I can try first without being too invasive? Thanks for the tip of taking her to the Vet but I was asking so that I hopefully wouldn't have to take her to the Vet.

I work in a vet hosp and there are ways that they can be removed, but I am not going to explain that on a message forum. I wouldn't want someone that doesn't know what they are doing to try it and cause severe damage to their snake.

You have waited almost two weeks already, in my opinion waitng a couple days is too long. There could be damage done to her already that you can't see just by looking at her.

There is nothing you can try at home that is safe for her. If you try anything at home you are risking the health of your snake!

Shannon

How do you know that I wouldn't know what I am doing? You have know idea who I am or what I have dealt with in my own collection. I asked a simple question. If you do not know than just say so. If I thought I was risking my animals life than more than likely I wouldn't perform anything and I would take her to a Vet. By the way it hasn't been two weeks since I have noticed it. She has passed two eggs a week and a half ago and about 4 days she passed some fecal matter and I noticed a swelling near her vent. And I knew that she was holding a few more that didn't get out like they were supposed to. THAT's WHY I AM ASKING here in the Hognose forum.

Have you extracted eggs from a snake before? Are you a Vet? If not someone must have taught you or told you how to perform the procedure, or offered tips on how to do it yourself. If you think divulging your precious information on a public forum would contribute to the deaths of Hognose across the country than I guess I will get the info from somewhere else.

Thanks for the help.

you may sense some frustration in my last post with your answers to me but I never run to the Vet when I think there is something wrong with my animals. I have learned alot of times that with certain tricks and trying different things yourself....it is not necessary.

What do you do if your animals get egg bound? Besides take it to work? Is there anything that an experienced hobbiest can learn to do it themselves? Is there a risk at the Vet's office? I am sure there is, just as well as in my care at home. Less of a risk? Maybe. But I would at least like to make that decision on my own and if you can help me decide on my own rather than pointing me straight to the Vet's office that might just save a snakes life. If you would rather not leave the info on a forum than please e-mail me and we can discuss it elsewhere.

I appreciate your help.

Thank you,

Brett

You are right I don't know you or anything about you. But you need to look at it from another point of view. You are asking people their opinion. I gave you my opinion. If you don't like what I have to say then simply don't respond to the message. There is no reason to get nasty about it.

If you don't want to go to the vet then don't. And if any of my reptile did become egg bound, yes, I would simply take them to work. I haven't always worked at a vet office, so just like other people I had to pay for my visits before. I know what the costs are like from both sides.

There are less risks involved at the vet because they tend to know more about the anatomy and physical make up of a snake and can tell when there is damage to the snake that the average eye may not notice.

Again this is my opinion and if you don't like what I have to say, you can simply not reply.

Shannon