Egg-binding advice?

[wendhend]

I am posting this inquiry for a friend, who has an egg-bound ball python but not enough money to take her to see a vet right now. He said she has been egg-bound for about three weeks. When I saw her today, she had a huge bulge at her vent area, which was obviously a bunch of eggs piled up there. I have dealt with egg-bound corn snakes before and knew that the ones close to the vent are generally pretty easy to get out. So, he asked me if I could remove them, and they came out really easy after squirting some mineral oil into her vent and then just pushing them down and out. There were three big slugs piled up right near her vent. Unfortunately there is also a fourth egg that is higher up on her body, maybe about eight inches up from her vent, that I am not comfortable messing with. We did cut one of the slugs that came out open and found it to be totally solid inside, so any kind of aspiration procedure is definitely out. The fourth eggs seems to be adhered to something. and does not move down easily, like the first three that were piled up near her vent. I am not comfortable with trying to push very hard for fear of tearing something inside and hurting her. I am just wondering if any of you guys have ever dealt with a stuck egg like that in a ball python? Will it eventually just come down and out on its own? Could manually pushing it down do serious harm? Could just leaving it alone cause problems? I realize that best anwser would be for him to take her to see the herp vet, but he really can't afford to right now. Just wondering if anyone has any insight / experience to share? Thanks!

[rabernet]

Unfortunately, if he can't take her to see a vet, it's probably going to result in her death. Especially since she's been egg bound for three weeks.

[Animals As Leaders]

You should tell your friend he shouldn't be breeding if he can't afford to bring it to the vet...

YouTube - Brian BHB Barczyk helping me with one of my snakes

[Oxylepy]

Did he seriously just move down on the snake so they are closer so she can lay them? If so that's amazing.

[Animals As Leaders]

Another one I found...

YouTube - Egg Bound Ball Python

In theory she should be able to pass the other egg(s) on her own. I hope she can, and I hope if she can't she can get the proper care. Good luck.

[musicalKeyes]

The advice on page two could be helpful, although the situation is a little different. Good luck with her! http://www.ball-pythons.net/forums/s...=118270&page=2

[rabernet]

The advice on page two could be helpful, although the situation is a little different. Good luck with her! http://www.ball-pythons.net/forums/s...=118270&page=2

Since people can set different numbers of posts per view (I have 20 to a page) it may not be page 2. Post #14 is the post I think is being referred to. Some of it is applicable to this situation. Especially the part about removing eggs.

I think this part is especially important:

b) If the egg is stuck and won't come out do the following. This is for eggs that are stuck/twisted in the ovaduct. You can tell they are stuck because when you apply pressure to the egg to move it down to the vent it will spring back into place when you remove the pressure. In this case you'll want to go to a farm supply store and get a 14 or 16 gage needle and a 20-60ml syringe. You are going to jab the female through the belly directly into the stuck egg and drain as much liquid as possible. You may have to empty the syringe a few times so keep the needle part in the female and disconnect the syringe, empty the fluid and then hook it back upto the syringe and keep draining the fluid. Once that is done the female will pass the empty egg shell in a few days. I'm not sure why but they are always able to untwist a stuck egg that has been drained. If you don't remove the egg(s) the female will die. If more than one egg is stuck do all of the stuck eggs this way.

[wendhend]

Unfortunately the eggs I removed near her vent were completely solidified, so I would have to assume the remaining egg would also be solid, and thus not a candidate for any kind of aspiration procedure. I appreciate your replies, everyone. I will share them with my friend to help him decide how he needs to proceed with this situation. Thanks again!

[wendhend]

Luckily this situation ended well. After a week, the stuck egg moved down on its own and was sitting about three or four inches from the snake's vent. It was clearly no longer adhered to anything, and I was able to lubricate her vent and push the slug down and out very easily. It looks like she is going to be just fine, thank goodness!

[snakesRkewl]

Excellent outcome and kudos to you for helping your friend through what must have been a stressful situation.