Ball Python Egg Bound

Hi everyone, I'm hoping you guys can give me some advice.

First of all this is our first year to breed our snakes.

March 31st our BP laid 4 eggs. We took them that night. April 1st she had another egg, it was cold and she dropped it while laying over her log in the cage. The next day or 2 she had 2 bad eggs.

We thought she had more eggs in her. She was exhausted but she kept trying to lay more eggs. I took her to the vet, he got one egg out, it was rotten smelling. He took a radiograph and could see 3 more developed eggs in her and 2 more (maybe) bad eggs, (not developed).

The doctor told me she was egg bound, she was very weak and her uterus was very thin and "wore out". He said she looked to be bred out. I was very upset. He said he could do surgery and try to get the remaining eggs out of her but he thought they were attached to her inside and she most likely will not survive the surgery. So, I brought her home to die. :(

He told me BP's will lay eggs even if you never breed her. I have more BP's and they have never laid any eggs when not bred.

MY biggest question is, when BP's seem to be having trouble laying eggs, what should I do other than take her to the vet?

I soaked my BP in warm water and put some KY jelly around but that did not help her. After watching the vet I saw what he did which was use a Q-tip and insert it in her all around the egg and he pushed it right out.

Any advice you can give me is appreciated.

while I don't have any advice, I just wanted to say that I'm very sorry that all this is happening. :(
I wish there was something we could do...


best wishes....
Courtney

Sorry to hear that. I had the same promblem but with a dog of mines. She was old and when she elivered her babies there where two that where stuck in her. We brong her to the vet and the said it was her uterus. It was bad. They operated on her. after the surgery she died. So I can relate to your story very well. I hope you can hatch the remaining eggs and start all over and let her memory live on with her babies.

I would give you the advice of getting another vet. One that actually knows what he is doing.

My exotics vet would probably have given a shot of calcium, as that is what helps muscle contractions. The vet also could have aspirated all of the contents out of the remaining eggs and then just waited for the shells to be expelled(they wouldn't have hurt the snake being empty like that).

My advice to you is to soak your snake is warm water for an hour to loosen her up, and then gently try to massage the eggs out. Call around town for another GOOD vet tomorrow morning and get her seen, at least to aspirate the eggs' contents. Keep her warm and humid(not wet) until then. How is she housed?

I send many good luck vibes to your and your snakey girl!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by SatanicIntention

I would give you the advice of getting another vet. One that actually knows what he is doing.

My exotics vet would probably have given a shot of calcium, as that is what helps muscle contractions. The vet also could have aspirated all of the contents out of the remaining eggs and then just waited for the shells to be expelled(they wouldn't have hurt the snake being empty like that).

My advice to you is to soak your snake is warm water for an hour to loosen her up, and then gently try to massage the eggs out. Call around town for another GOOD vet tomorrow morning and get her seen, at least to aspirate the eggs' contents. Keep her warm and humid(not wet) until then. How is she housed?

I send many good luck vibes to your and your snakey girl!

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That sounds like pretty good advice but the way he tells the story is similar to what happened to my dog. I know ones a reptile and ones a mammal, But i believe his vet in a way

I know my fair share of info on egg bound corns, but not balls, I don't see to much diffrence seeing as being egg bound is the same as being eggbound.

But i agree with becky! New vet. Maybe DaemoNox will chime in, she had an eggbound cornsnake last year, and she pulled through, and is gravid, and looks a whole lot better this year! So don't give up hope!:D Good luck.

Yeah its always good to get a second opinion.

Well with dogs, it's possible to get them spayed.. Which is what should have been done before she even had a heat cycle. We really don't need anymore dogs/cats in the world..

/rant over

Also, snakes can breed up into their 30's I'm sure. I doubt this snake is that old, as the OP said it's their first breeding season. Also, her vet said that Ball Pythons can lay eggs without ever being with a male, which we all know is untrue. They are certainly not like chickens nor are they like mammals. With mammals, you can give them oxytocin to help the contractions, but in reptiles/snakes, they need a good shot of calcium as their bodies are generally low in content from forming the eggs as well as the neonates. Soaking them also helps get the blood flowing and loosens everything up so the eggs can pass.

is there a way for the vet to check if the female may have problems prior to actually breeding the snakes to prevent this from happening?

by the way sorry about your snake :\

Thank you all. The problem is there are no more reptile vets near me.

We soak her in warm water. She is trying really hard now to get the eggs out. She gets on her limb and struggles.

This is her cage, this is when we took the eggs from her.


http://i5.tinypic.com/43ol5xy.jpg

http://i12.tinypic.com/4dfh5j9.jpg