Strange Lump Hanging From BP's cloaca

Hi All,

I purchased a BP about a month ago and suspect that it's male.:) Just last night it pooped and i noticed this morning that there is a lump hanging out from it and it looks like it's part of the snake. :(Please see attached picture.

http://i897.photobucket.com/albums/a...SANY1710-1.jpg

What could it be and what should i do? :confused:

Thank you!!!!!

How long has it been like this? From the pics it looks like a prolapse, keep him on moist papertowels and make a vet appointment tomorrow

it looks like its just a male with his hemipenes out but i wouldnt know for certain, looks kinda big for that though, i have only seen pictures and never personally seen that yet.

That is a prolapse--definitely not hemipenes. Prolapses are serious and require immediate medical attention if they do not remedy themselves within 24 hours time. As mentioned, keep him on moist paper towels overnight until you can get him to the vet. You can mix some sugar with warm water to make a paste and apply that to the prolapsed area--that can sometimes help to shrink the prolapsed tissue, allowing it to go back into place.

Looks like his anus to me, and that he's got some hung up poop. Yeah I'd take him to the vet also.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by mlededee

That is a prolapse--definitely not hemipenes. Prolapses are serious and require immediate medical attention if they do not remedy themselves within 24 hours time. As mentioned, keep him on moist paper towels overnight until you can get him to the vet. You can mix some sugar with warm water to make a paste and apply that to the prolapsed area--that can sometimes help to shrink the prolapsed tissue, allowing it to go back into place.

---

So is it almost like a hemerroid then? I just want to know in case this ever happens to my python as well

Thank you all so much for your advice. It's about 8PM right now. I probably can't get him to a vet til tomorrow afternoon after i get back from work.

I was also advised to soak it in some sugar water for the night. Do you guys think that's necessary? Also, how often should i apply the sugar paste? It's super hot right now so how critical is it that the paper towels stay wet?

Either soak him in sugar water for a while or apply the paste once tonight and then again before you go to work tomorrow. It is critical to keep the paper towels moist--you do not want the prolapsed area to get dried out.

Oh wow, thats nuts. I have never seen this happen before but I have heard of it. Good luck dude, get that snake to the vet asap.

Good luck and keep us posted!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by boogerbob

So is it almost like a hemerroid then? I just want to know in case this ever happens to my python as well

---

The protrusion of the rectum through the anus. Usually caused by relaxation of the normal supporting structures of the rectum, hemipenes can also prolapse.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by mlededee

Either soak him in sugar water for a while or apply the paste once tonight and then again before you go to work tomorrow. It is critical to keep the paper towels moist--you do not want the prolapsed area to get dried out.

---

Will do. I'll soak him for a while before i go to bed and apply the paste tonight and tomorrow morning. I hope this will fix him. thank you!

how much should i be expecting to pay when i take him to the vet?

The cost totally depends on the vet (all vets charge different amounts) and exactly what procedures are required to fix the prolapse. Hopefully the vet will be able to put it back into place easily and it may also require a few stitches if it will not stay in place on its own. You may also want to have a fecal done at the same time to make sure the snake doesn't have any internal parasites as they can actually sometimes cause a prolapse.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Timeless

Hi All,

I purchased a BP about a month ago and suspect that it's male.:) Just last night it pooped and i noticed this morning that there is a lump hanging out from it and it looks like it's part of the snake. :(Please see attached picture.

http://i897.photobucket.com/albums/a...SANY1710-1.jpg

What could it be and what should i do? :confused:

Thank you!!!!!

---

looks like a small prolapse first i've ever seen other then pix in books at least it don't look that bad (still can be fatal if I'm not mistaken) seen one way worse then that over at mvp forum of a green tree python. but the guy got lucky and it retracted back in by itself a few hours after happening

i may be mistaken but isn't prolapse usually caused by over feeding or dehydrated or a combo of the 2. i know green tree pythons are prone to them first i've seen of a ball python getting one (but i aint looking for ball pythons with prolapse either)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by boogerbob

So is it almost like a hemerroid then? I just want to know in case this ever happens to my python as well

---

I'd say no aint nothing like a roid as they aint fatal. think of it like this you sit down to go potty you look down to see part of your bowels in the toilet. he is very lucky that is all that is sticking out i seen pics where looked like 1/3 of the snakes bowels were out. when i found out my baby green tree pythons were prone to prolapses i did all the research on prolapse as i could.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by ice#1

looks like a small prolapse first i've ever seen other then pix in books at least it don't look that bad (still can be fatal if I'm not mistaken) seen one way worse then that over at mvp forum of a green tree python. but the guy got lucky and it retracted back in by itself a few hours after happening

i may be mistaken but isn't prolapse usually caused by over feeding or dehydrated or a combo of the 2. i know green tree pythons are prone to them first i've seen of a ball python getting one (but i aint looking for ball pythons with prolapse either)

---

I was gonna ask what are some of the reasons it could happen. I was away for three weeks and was told the last feeding was on the 7th of august. But The last time it was checked on before i returned, Thurs or Friday or last week, it hadn't pooed. When i checked on it saturday, there was poo so then i fed it on sunday, 8/22 and it pooed last night. Isn't that kinda quick? So when you said over feeding, i'm suspecting if that was the case.

As he's soaking right now, there's white matter excreting from the protrusion. What is that stuff? He's also trying to find a million ways to get out of the soak

It can be caused by overfeeding, dehydration, constipation, internal parasites or sometimes unknown causes. The white matter you see may be urates. It could also be some dead tissue sloughing off (once the prolapse is exposed to air and starts to dry out the tissue starts to die).

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by mlededee

It can be caused by overfeeding, dehydration, constipation, internal parasites or sometimes unknown causes. The white matter you see may be urates. It could also be some dead tissue sloughing off (once the prolapse is exposed to air and starts to dry out the tissue starts to die).

---

Oo. I c. Could, if they are, the urates be coming out because the sugar water is shrinking the protrusion, therefore pushing it out, or is it more of a nervous thing? Can too much sugar in the water be a bad thing? I'm also noticing faint trails of blood in the sugar water.

Urates could be coming out because soaking can encourage them to empty their bowels. If it was urates though, I would think it would mostly come out all at once unless there is just some stuck on the prolapsed area. Blood is not so much a good thing, but if the prolapse has been rubbed raw or something than it may bleed some. If it is coming out from somewhere internally though I would definitely have a fecal done.

I once rescued a baby ball python and it prolapsed--turns out it was loaded with internal parasites. My vet fixed the prolapse, put in a few stitches and we treated it for the parasites and it never had any further problems.

thanks for your feedback. I'll call the vet tomorrow and see if they can squeeze me in. I see a lot that this requires "immediate" attention. How many days do you think we can hang in there for before it turns for the worst?

You should get him in to see a vet within 24 hours of when the prolapse happened. If you tell the vet that the snake is prolapsed, they should be willing to see him quickly as they will understand that it is an emergency.

me myself i don't wait for any of my snakes to poop before feeding again i go by how active they become if they are going all over there cages in search of food they are hungry(now if they got an odd shape or a hard belly i don't feed) but other then that i feed every Friday and 9 out of 10 times they poop on Saturday or Sunday. my blood is usually the one that don't fallow along the norm like the others. going on a month 1/2 since my blood pooped but she's grown a few inches in that time and no hard mass in her belly. but bloods can go 6 months with out pooping I've heard and read. never had one go that long on me so can't say for sure but others have.

but yeah i would get him her in to see vet asp even if vet tells you drop it off and he'll work on it after hours for you i myself would want it to stay with the vet a few days after if any surgery is done. most say thanks to the admin for the new info on prolapses and good to know they are getting better at dealing with them last time i heard of a green doing this they say once it happens expect it to happen again. and the stitches would help keep it from happening again

OP Any updates?

yeah how is that baby doing