Prolapsed Monitor

Well Betty was doing much better, she's started chasing down crickets on her own and was moving around much better but when I checked on her tonight, I noticed her bum looked funny.

It seems she has a prolapse :mad: I've got her in a smaller enclosure with moist paper towels and we soaked her in warm water and applied a sugar paste for the night until we can get her into the vet.

Now I've read alot on here about snake prolapses and things but since there is not much out there on monitors I thought I'd ask, what might have caused this? She has been syringe fed a protein/fat/bonemeal mixture from the vet and liquid calcium and more recently she's been eating lots and lots of crickets. She has a pan of water that we keep full of fresh water that is big enough for her to soak in and we've seen her in it a couple times.

Any insight would be appreciated.

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Well the sugar paste didn't seem to do anything. I can't get her into the vet until monday, any suggestions until then?
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It seems like she was being treated for something before this happened.

Was she tested for internal parasites at any time?

Does the vet have an emergency answering service?

She was severely malnurished when we got her. Shes been treated for parasites, I can't remember what the medicine was but it was given orally in 2 doses. She finished her last dose 2 weeks ago today.

We thought she was recovering well and then this happened. Unfortunately the only emergency vets around here do not see reptiles so we're on our own until first thing monday

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I have nothing Im sorry. You might try going to a specific monitor site and they may have more information for you. Skip knows a lot about monitors as well. Sorry.

Keep that opening moist as you are doing with the paper towels in the cage and such. Is that a large blockage of urinate (the white spot) in there? I would keep her in a few inches of warm water for a while and see what happens. It looks to me like shes blocked up, and that has to come out before she tucks back in.

If it was caused by a large turd, it could have been constipation or overfeeding. If she was malnourished her body may not be adjusted to handling a normal amount of food quite yet (just assumptions/guesses here). I'd def see a vet.

slyther good point. I was thinking it almost looks more like an infection that has swollen than a prolasp. Maybe a warm soak would help to loosen her up a bit until you are able to get her into the vet. Def. keep her away from any substrate

I've soaked her a couple times already, last night,again this morning and for a short time this afternoon. I thought that might be a stuck urate as well but it's not hard at all. I haven't seen any poo in her cage at all so she very well may be blocked up.

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http://www.reptilechannel.com/reptil...ed-lizard.aspx

After reading that, it seems like it could be the culprit. "The skin around the anal slit is very swollen".

Instead of a paste, I like to do a sugar soak with lizards. Run a sink of cool water, and add a cup or two of sugar (depending on sink size) to a cup of warm water to dissolve the sugar, then add the sugar to your sink of cool water. Soak him in it for 20-30 minutes. This might help to reduce the swelling so he can retract the area back in.

If you think it might be a blockage, while you are soaking him, gently massage the stomach and vent area. Be very gentle and don't actually touch the prolapse.

Also, make sure you are keeping him as sterile as you can until you can get him into the vet. I'd replace whatever bedding you have with paper towels for right now. I would also suggest applying a small amount of Vaseline or KY to the cloaca to keep it moist and help fight debris.

Good luck and I hope this helps.

Betty passed two sizable urates last night and her vent is looking better already, the swelling has gone down at least. Hopefully a couple more sugar soaks and she will be ok.



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Awesome news

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So heres a couple updated pics. You can see the swelling on one side is still pretty bad. I'm going to soak her again this afternoon and she'll be seeing the vet first thing tomorrow.

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Looks, like the soaks and passing those urates helped ms betty take care of this all on her own! I'm so relieved

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Its amazing how fast reptiles recover from things, no wonder they've been around forever!

Good! She looks a lot better now.

If it were me, I would take her next fecal to the vet and get it analyzed just encase. I would think about bringing her in just for a checkup as well if you've got a good vet.

:)

It is amazing! I didn't expect for the swelling to completely disappear before her vet visit. I'm glad it did though.

My vet is great but doesn't have a lot of experience with black throats or monitors in general. Luckily he has some great colleagues around the country that do. Hes about as excited as I am to see her progress and grow.

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