Reptile Forum, Reptile Classifieds - CaptiveBred

quasimodo · Posted: Thu Apr 26, 2007 1:57 pm Post subject: ADVICE NEEDED VERY QUICKLY PLEASE

My Bull snake Esmeralda has finished laying her eggs, 23 of them BUT there is still one inside her. It has moved right down to the vent but since yesterday afternoon she has moved around normally, eaten two freshly killed mice and drunk plenty of water, with NO sign of her being in the least inclined to pop the egg out.

I have arranged a Vet visit later today, but in the mean-time any suggestions please as to what to do ? I am going to soak her nether regions in warm water, then squirt a wee amount of liquid paraffin into her cloaca and try gently squeezing the egg out - DOES THIS SOUND CORRECT ? The Vet said to try lubrication. Thank goodness that she is so gentle, she is a big girl.

Morbid · Posted: Thu Apr 26, 2007 2:01 pm Post subject:

I think that your vet has given you a piece of good advice.
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arietans · Contributing Member Joined: 16 Apr 2007 Posts: 101

Your vet is right.
I certainly wouldn't try parrafin, but you may have success with it.

Put her in luke warm water for awhile, and gently massage her
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quasimodo · Posted: Thu Apr 26, 2007 2:57 pm Post subject:

No panic about the liquid parafin, it is not the heating stuff but is used for constipation in animals. It was originally from a vet to be squirted into the mouth of - if I remember correctly - a cat. It can help a cat to pass a fur-ball. Please do not try it on a cat though unless you have been to a vet, I would hate to be the cause of any suffering.

quasimodo · Posted: Thu Apr 26, 2007 10:08 pm Post subject:

Vet agreed with what I had done, and gave her injections to try to restart contractions, plus some calcium. If nothing by tomorrow mid-day, she well may have to have a c-section. The egg does not want to move, and it is not quite at the cloaca. Esmeralda weighed 1.6kg which is pretty good considering she has just laid 23 eggs Surprised

Ah well, must now wait until tomorrow

Mwoxy · Contributing Member Joined: 17 Dec 2005 Posts: 148

If the egg is close enough to the cloaca, you could empty the egg with a syringe, then gently extract the emptied egg. This can be done via the cloaca or through the side of the snake.I would certainly recommend this over the animal being opened up. The above procedure, should be a doddle for a vet.

http://www.corn-utopia.com/Corn%20Utopia%20on%20the%20Web/Photo%20&%20Image%20Stockpile%20-%20CornUtopia/Kathy%20aspirating%20egg%20yolk%20by%20syringe%20-%20CAPTION.jpg

This is Kathy Love performing the very procedure.

I have had a few snakes retain eggs, the oxytocin/calcium injections rarely work.

Good luck

Cheers

Mark

quasimodo · Posted: Fri Apr 27, 2007 6:15 pm Post subject:

THANK YOU to everyone who has given advice. Back to the vet today, but today I managed to get an appointment with a really good herp vet. Esmeralda has been sedated and because she was then all floppy the vet managed to squeeze the egg out... Very Happy

It has been marked and will be incubated with the rest of the eggs. Whew.

I have not picked her up from the vets yet, going soon when she wakes up a bit more. Wondering just how big this egg is, the other eggs were all huge enough - photo of egg no. 8 in my previous message 'Here we go..'

Again, thank you to all who replied