Twisted umbilicus 101 - Lucky's Story - Graphic Pics

It all started on June 20th 2012

Within 24 hours of cutting my Pied X Albino clutch one of the hatchling started emerging but it was obvious that there was an issue.

As you can see the hatchling had a twisted umbilicus (it’s rare but it happens and if left unattended the animal will die a slow death)

http://i954.photobucket.com/albums/a...mbilicus01.jpg

http://i954.photobucket.com/albums/a...mbilicus02.jpg

The hatchling was already very weak so I decided to intervene. I pulled him out of his egg (he was already half way out) and proceeded to see if it could be untangled without having to cut of the egg sac off. As there was no possibility to untangle the umbilicus the only thing left to do was to cut the egg sac of and free him.

I went and grabbed some dental floss (without flavoring) something any breeder should have in his snake room and proceeded carefully sliding the dental floss under the umbilical cord.

http://i954.photobucket.com/albums/a...mbilicus03.jpg

Next step I tied up a knot to prevent the hatchling from bleeding out once the egg sac will be cut off. It is important not to tie your knot up to tight otherwise you could accidentally cut the cord and have the hatchling bleed out.

http://i954.photobucket.com/albums/a...mbilicus04.jpg

I then proceeded to cut the egg sac off.

http://i954.photobucket.com/albums/a...mbilicus05.jpg

After the procedure I decided to leave the hatchling alone rather than feed it it's own the yolk, he was very weak and I did not want to add any unnecessary stress as I was already doubting that he would make it through the night.

I placed him in a deli cup with some moist paper towel and put him back in the incubator to keep him nice and warm and to restrain his movement.

The next day he was still weak but improving, the day after that he had regain some strength and I decided to assist feed him since he obviously had not absorbed any of his yolk.

At this point it was still a gamble and there was no way to tell if he would make it or not, only time would tell.

When his siblings had their first shed and were offered their first meal I decided to do the same with him even though at this point he had not shed yet. To my surprise the rat pink was gone the next morning. He was now on track and already eating on his own.

On July 23rd he had his first shed (a little over a month after hatching) and he has now ate 2 meals on his own.

Here is Lucky (DH Albino Pied) on 07/25/12

http://i954.photobucket.com/albums/a...mbilicus06.jpg

I fully expect Lucky to do as well as his other siblings.

....to be continued ;)

Awesome thread Deborah and happy to see he is doing good! :gj:

Great thread! I am glad to see Lucky is doing well! :gj:

That's an amazing story! I hope he grows up an produces a bunch of albino pieds for you.

Bravo Deb, nicely done!

do you remove the dental floss after its scars over? or does the floss degrade away and you let it heal with the floss still attached?
just wondering
adam jeffery

Quote:

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Originally Posted by adamjeffery

do you remove the dental floss after its scars over? or does the floss degrade away and you let it heal with the floss still attached?
just wondering
adam jeffery

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After a few days the piece of umbilical cord that was left (where the dental floss was) fell off.

safe to double up the floss, so it's not as sharp?

Excellent (and much needed) post Deb! So happy to hear Lucky is doing well!

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Originally Posted by 4Ballz

safe to double up the floss, so it's not as sharp?

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You can alternative can also be used for this procedure such as rubber band mentioned by Justin @ Kobylka Reptiles.

It really comes down to use something that does the work and you are comfortable with, I like dental floss myself.

awesome Deb glad to hear the little worm is doing good.

Sticky!

Thanks Deb for all your help! This post is wonderful. Saving babies one twisted umbilicus at a time! This is something every breeder big or small needs to know!

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very nice post thank you much

Good save:gj:

What an amazing story, i recently read on another thread how to save a ball python doing the exact same method you carried out above. It is really interesting to see pictures and how successful it turned out for you. Great work and i hope all your pythons are doing well!

Awesome post, Deb! I stickied it. :D

Oh my gosh! What a great and happy ending! Lucky is such a little cutie too! Good job Deb!

your post just might have saved another life :D way to go team !!

Think of all the babies you and Lucky have just saved !!


Thank you for this post

Great............. and a happy ending makes it even better... I am expecting our first clutch EVER........ anyday now.......I am a visual person so the added pics were WONDERFUL! Thanks :)

You gotta love a good ball python story with a happy ending! Its great to see Lucky survived! Sometimes its the little miracles (and people who know what to do) that keep us going.:gj:

How is Lucky now?! It's been a couple years!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by M&NSnakeDen

How is Lucky now?! It's been a couple years!

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He is doing great he now lives in CA with his new owner :gj:

Good job deb


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