Sperm Plug in a female?

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Originally Posted by Black_Shark

Thank you but this is not an infectionious discharge aka pus. It happened around a month ago also and in that time, it has not A) Shown any signs of inflammation B) Shown any signs of infection (smell, redness, discoloration etc etc. and C) It does not look like pus nor does it have the same consistency as pus. This is a yellowish/whitish goo in very small amounts.

Her anal slit also looks completely healthy her stools are also healthy.

She has just shed (this morning) so were thinking its either wet shed or semi-disgested aspen.

Edit: Also since that time she was given a Betadine bath along with being kept on paper towels changed every 3 days.

Edit 2: After searching for sperm plugs, I came upon on interesting post that Rabernet posted back in 2010

"Females also secrete some fluids that dry and can be mistaken for sperm plugs, but they do look a little different. I picked up an adult female that another member here passed on at a local pet store, because he thought he popped out some sperm plugs. She went on to lay 11 eggs the next season. "

Possibility? Remember, the gooey stuff was IN her anal slit and had not fallen out, etc etc. I removed it with tweezers and it was not visible normally unless one pulled the tail back and opened the vent.

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Last Edit:

http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...male+discharge

After reading this, It seems that females DO discharge something resembling a sperm plug. Interesting.

I've never seen anything "gooey" come out of a male or a female. If it were MY snake, I'd be taking it to a vet for peace of mind.

By the way, snakes don't as a rule get "pus" infections, so it wouldn't surprised me that if it's an infection it doesn't look like pus.

The female that I have popped out dried matter, not gooey matter.

My males will re-develop sperm plugs that come out dry, not gooey either.

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Originally Posted by rabernet

I've never seen anything "gooey" come out of a male or a female. If it were MY snake, I'd be taking it to a vet for peace of mind.

By the way, snakes don't as a rule get "pus" infections, so it wouldn't surprised me that if it's an infection it doesn't look like pus.

The female that I have popped out dried matter, not gooey matter.

My males will re-develop sperm plugs that come out dry, not gooey either.

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Hmmm... well, as I said above, its not "coming out" of the anal slit. The only reason I saw it was because I saw blood after she shed (Small droplets on the paper towels and was curious about what caused it) and after slightly opening the rectum, I saw it.

An infection would show other signs such as redness, swelling, etc etc correct?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Black_Shark

Hmmm... well, as I said above, its not "coming out" of the anal slit. The only reason I saw it was because I saw blood after she shed (Small droplets on the paper towels and was curious about what caused it) and after slightly opening the rectum, I saw it.

An infection would show other signs such as redness, swelling, etc etc correct?

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Not to beat you up or anything, but you've had a few of us tell you this isn't something that we consider normal. A few have said that it could be an infection. But at each post, you seem to want to come up with another excuse or explanation. Well, if you posted this message to get our opinions, that's fine, but what do you want us to do? We tell you what we think and you've taken a different opinion each time. If you didn't want us to tell you our opinion, you shouldn't have posted the message.

BTW, an infection will not always indicate by redness or swelling. But it's your snake, you can do what you want. Snakes are very good at hiding a weakness, some won't show any indication, no matter how sick they are.

Jim Smith

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Originally Posted by j_h_smith

Not to beat you up or anything, but you've had a few of us tell you this isn't something that we consider normal. A few have said that it could be an infection. But at each post, you seem to want to come up with another excuse or explanation. Well, if you posted this message to get our opinions, that's fine, but what do you want us to do? We tell you what we think and you've taken a different opinion each time. If you didn't want us to tell you our opinion, you shouldn't have posted the message.

BTW, an infection will not always indicate by redness or swelling. But it's your snake, you can do what you want. Snakes are very good at hiding a weakness, some won't show any indication, no matter how sick they are.

Jim Smith

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On the internet, it can be hard to have a discussion. I asked for your opinions, but I am also trying to come up with a theory BEFORE I go to the vet to try to save myself some money. I am not trying to "make excuses". I am trying to discredit certain theories and get my facts straight so i don't spend any more money than I have too on this situation. All of these posts have been very informative and I am going to call the vet tomorrow and set up an appointment.

With the information that I have been getting from this thread, I have a pretty good idea of what to rule out and what to inform the vet of so that he may make the best determination he can as quickly as he can.

The more information I have and the more that people chime in with their own experiences or opinions, the more I have to work with. This, in my opinion, is much better than going in blind. At least I have somewhere to start.

Edit: Think of this whole thread as one big conversation. At least, that's how I view it.

Hi,

Could it possibly have been unset urates?


dr del

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Black_Shark

Hmmm... well, as I said above, its not "coming out" of the anal slit. The only reason I saw it was because I saw blood after she shed (Small droplets on the paper towels and was curious about what caused it) and after slightly opening the rectum, I saw it.

An infection would show other signs such as redness, swelling, etc etc correct?

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Wait.. there was blood and you don't think there are signs of an infection?
Reptile pus does not look like our pus. I suggest you take it to the vet and see what's up.

Just remember that when dealing with reptiles, things that you would look for in mammals are not at all the same as with reptiles. Swelling and redness can be a sign of an infection, but infection may not always display swelling and redness.

P.S. Their semen also does not look like human semen, so even though that may be the first thing that comes to mind.. it's probably not that; especially if it's gooey.

Edit: I see that you're taking her to the vet, let us know what you find out because it's definitely something most of us haven't seen before.

Hi,

Well if it was only a couple of drops after a shed that's perfectly normal? It happens when the old skin is pulled away from the delicate skin inside the vent.


dr del

Yes Black_Shark, let us know what the vet discovers tomorrow! Good luck- I hope its not a major problem!:please:

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Originally Posted by Black_Shark

If she is a female, what else could it be?

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by Black_Shark

Well, speaking as a 21 year old male, it looks ALOT like sperm. Same color, consistency, etc etc. So if you can picture that, you got an image of what I'm looking at.

(No offense meant in any way shape or form)

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by Black_Shark

more of a gooey mess. I just saw a live sperm plug and its similar but not that similar.

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by Black_Shark

Thank you but this is not an infectionious discharge aka pus. It happened around a month ago also and in that time, it has not A) Shown any signs of inflammation B) Shown any signs of infection (smell, redness, discoloration etc etc. and C) It does not look like pus nor does it have the same consistency as pus. This is a yellowish/whitish goo in very small amounts.

Her anal slit also looks completely healthy her stools are also healthy.

She has just shed (this morning) so were thinking its either wet shed or semi-disgested aspen.

Edit: Also since that time she was given a Betadine bath along with being kept on paper towels changed every 3 days.

Edit 2: After searching for sperm plugs, I came upon on interesting post that Rabernet posted back in 2010

"Females also secrete some fluids that dry and can be mistaken for sperm plugs, but they do look a little different. I picked up an adult female that another member here passed on at a local pet store, because he thought he popped out some sperm plugs. She went on to lay 11 eggs the next season. "

Possibility? Remember, the gooey stuff was IN her anal slit and had not fallen out, etc etc. I removed it with tweezers and it was not visible normally unless one pulled the tail back and opened the vent.

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by Black_Shark

Hmmm... well, as I said above, its not "coming out" of the anal slit. The only reason I saw it was because I saw blood after she shed (Small droplets on the paper towels and was curious about what caused it) and after slightly opening the rectum, I saw it.

An infection would show other signs such as redness, swelling, etc etc correct?

---

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Black_Shark

On the internet, it can be hard to have a discussion. I asked for your opinions, but I am also trying to come up with a theory BEFORE I go to the vet to try to save myself some money. I am not trying to "make excuses". I am trying to discredit certain theories and get my facts straight so i don't spend any more money than I have too on this situation. All of these posts have been very informative and I am going to call the vet tomorrow and set up an appointment.

With the information that I have been getting from this thread, I have a pretty good idea of what to rule out and what to inform the vet of so that he may make the best determination he can as quickly as he can.

The more information I have and the more that people chime in with their own experiences or opinions, the more I have to work with. This, in my opinion, is much better than going in blind. At least I have somewhere to start.

Edit: Think of this whole thread as one big conversation. At least, that's how I view it.

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With all of these posts, this is the first time you mentioned anything about taking the snake to a vet. I'm glad you're taking her to a vet, now make sure the vet you visit is qualified to diagnose an issue with a snake such as you're having.

Jim Smith