Nova's Surgery

Here's why it's so vital to have a good exotics specialist available if you're going to keep snakes.

Two days ago one of our reticulated python females had to have surgery for an obstructed colon. We took her to SEAVS in Fairfax, Virginia last week after the area about 12" in front of her vet became hard and she felt like she had swallowed a tennis ball. Initially the vet thought she was just constipated, but exercise and massaging the area failed to improve her condition so we authorized surgery. What was found surprised all of us; left untreated she would have died, as she had an infection in her colon wall that was blocking anything from passing. That portion of the colon was removed and the healthy ends were stitched back together.

I've created a photobucket storybook with comments on each picture from the surgery at:
http://s477.photobucket.com/user/efi...Nova%20Surgery

Nova will be at the vet for a few weeks for post-op. She will also need to be tube fed carnivore care for several months while her colon heals, and she's on antibiotic shots for a while as well.

So glad your timing was good and that you have a most capable vet.

I found the pictures quite interesting.

And the histopathology results are in. No worries about cancer or an infectious disease like crypto. In layman's terms Nova had something called Pseudomembranous Colitis. How she got it is a complete mystery. Fortunately her prognosis at this time looks great.

That's fascinating , good thing you decided to go ahead with the surgery and really odd on the colon infection. The pics were interesting, did they do any xrays or bloodwork beforehand? Do you have to worry about this reoccurring? How is she recovering?

Great news!

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Originally Posted by GoingPostal

That's fascinating , good thing you decided to go ahead with the surgery and really odd on the colon infection. The pics were interesting, did they do any xrays or bloodwork beforehand? Do you have to worry about this reoccurring? How is she recovering?

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Before the surgery they did several ultrasounds, one every few days (she was at the vet for two weeks pre-op while they tried to resolve the blockage and post-op is 4-5 weeks), but the infection didn't really show up well. The whole area just looked like she was backed up/constipated. They were thinking it was some sort of cancerous growth that was compressing or blocking the colon.

Initially they did suggest putting a scope up her vent and trying to take a peek at her insides, but 1) it would have been $400 and 2) if they had found something surgery would have been needed anyway, so we just decided to open her up.

No worries about a re-occurrence in the future though obviously we'll keep a very close eye on her.

Interestingly enough she's always been a bit standoff-ish and flighty ever since we got her over a year ago, though her full sister, who we also own, has been the exact opposite. The vet said after the surgery her attitude/personality changed and she's become very "social" (ok it could be the happy drugs...), and she got very hissy/pissy the week before we took her to the vet. So I wonder if she's always been in some pain and it increased over time as the infection grew. The vet did say this condition built up over many months.

Update: Nova is back to eating small rodents - she had two large mice this week, her first whole prey since the surgery. If she digests and passes them normally then she will be coming home next week.

Good news!
Didn't know they could do that much work on the gut of a snake - almost sounded like she was going to get a colostomy bag.
Maybe some pics when the gal gets home?

Wow what a wild ride poor Nova has been through. Very lucky to have such a caring owner and competent vet! I'm so glad she's making a recovery and eating yay hope you get her back asap, take care <3 p.s thanks for sharing it's good for everyone to know that things besides mites and scale rot can happen.

WELL FINALLY SHE POOPED!!! It took a few weeks and some more small meals of 3-4 large/jumbo mice per feeding. I guess a retic doesn't leave a lot of "waste" when fed mice.

As an FYI her pre-surgery weight was 2.6 kg, she dropped down to 1.8 kg before she started eating, and now she's just under 2 kg now.

NOVA IS FINALLY HOME!!! And since she ate last week the vet said she could have three mice this week, and every five days for the next two months. Her attitude couldn't be better and she settled right in to her enclosure.

Watching a retic eat mice is rather ridiculous - think popcorn chicken. :D

Is SEAVS a regular hospital or just a surgery/trauma center? I only live an hour from there and in the event that my little snoot would need a major procedure, I'd like to know where to take him. I have a regular vet that is ok with herps (not a specialist, but works with reptile specialists in other states on a regular basis), and one that is a specialist but is three-four hours away that I could use if I had to.

SEAVS is an exotics specialist. They are not set up for emergency 24/7 intake. What's interesting is they don't do dogs and cats, just reptiles, birds, and small mammals that my snakes would likely consider food.

I would go to Blue Ridge Vets in Purcellville, VA for after-hours herp emergencies.

http://seavs.com/

Glad to hear about this whole success story! Kudos to the exotic vets and their abilities. Was there anything else besides her attitude and swelling of the pre vent region that clued you in to something being wrong with her? Congrats btw. :cool:

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Originally Posted by Albert Clark

Glad to hear about this whole success story! Kudos to the exotic vets and their abilities. Was there anything else besides her attitude and swelling of the pre vent region that clued you in to something being wrong with her? Congrats btw. :cool:

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The only thing that stands out is that she wasn't as active as my other retics, probably because it hurt to move. She wasn't "pet rock" inactive though, she just used her hide a lot more than the others, which I figured was her shy/stand-offish baby snake personality.

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Originally Posted by bcr229

NOVA IS FINALLY HOME!!! And since she ate last week the vet said she could have three mice this week, and every five days for the next two months. Her attitude couldn't be better and she settled right in to her enclosure.

Watching a retic eat mice is rather ridiculous - think popcorn chicken. :D

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glad to hear that Nova getting better. hope she'll get to full strength soon. :)

also i've always wondered how big snakes like Retics and big Blood Pythons coil and eat tiny prey. lol the image makes me giggle.

So glad to hear about Nova's happy ending! I'd love to see pics... especially of a retic eating mice, LOL!

Final update - Nova had a last checkup today and her sonogram looked great. No leakage or anything from the colon, and she is passing urates and feces regularly. We started feeding her on small rats last week, she can have two mediums this weekend, larges next weekend, and then back to XL rats or young rabbits by the end of this month.

Unfortunately there's a sad update to this story. Last week Nova started having issues with getting backed up/unable to pass feces. We took her to SEAVS and they got her cleaned out, but over the few days they had her for observation they noted issues with her back third becoming paralyzed, with a loss of muscle control in her tail, she could not close her vent, etc. We gave her a few more days to see if things would improve, but she then showed increasing signs of pain in her body just before the paralysis point.

They theorize that there may have been some nerve damage due to the surgery, and her nerves may have been torn or stretched away from the spine when they had to do the intestine resection. While the problem wasn't evident immediately post-op, it became an issue as she grew longer and thicker.

So, we made the tough decision to have her euthanized.

Since her particular case was included in the recently released edition of Mader’s Reptile and Amphibian Medicine and Surgery, Dr. Stahl will be doing a necropsy on her as a follow-up, in case he finds anything useful to include in a future release of the book.

So sorry to hear about, such a a shame

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I'm so sorry for this outcome...but you did the best you could. Rest in Peace, Nova.

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Originally Posted by bcr229

Unfortunately there's a sad update to this story. Last week Nova started having issues with getting backed up/unable to pass feces. We took her to SEAVS and they got her cleaned out, but over the few days they had her for observation they noted issues with her back third becoming paralyzed, with a loss of muscle control in her tail, she could not close her vent, etc. We gave her a few more days to see if things would improve, but she then showed increasing signs of pain in her body just before the paralysis point.

They theorize that there may have been some nerve damage due to the surgery, and her nerves may have been torn or stretched away from the spine when they had to do the intestine resection. While the problem wasn't evident immediately post-op, it became an issue as she grew longer and thicker.

So, we made the tough decision to have her euthanized.

Since her particular case was included in the recently released edition of Mader’s Reptile and Amphibian Medicine and Surgery, Dr. Stahl will be doing a necropsy on her as a follow-up, in case he finds anything useful to include in a future release of the book.

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I’m sorry for your loss. That’s very unfortunate that happened. RIP Nova.


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So sorry to hear this. You certainly went above and beyond for her. RIP, Nova


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I'm so sorry to hear of your loss. My heart breaks for you.
Best wishes sent your way.

I'm sure it's difficult, but rest easy knowing you did all you could to give Nova a great life.

R.I.P. sweet snake. You're in my thoughts.

Sorry for your loss :( . Seems extra disappointing since it looked like she was out of the woods for so long.

Sorry to hear about your loss. You did everything you could to try to help her!

I'm very sorry for your loss.
It's always hard to lose one but especially when you've done so much to try to make sure they are okay.
Sending my best wishes

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Originally Posted by bcr229

Since her particular case was included in the recently released edition of Mader’s Reptile and Amphibian Medicine and Surgery, Dr. Stahl will be doing a necropsy on her as a follow-up, in case he finds anything useful to include in a future release of the book.

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i'm so sorry to hear about the unfortunate turn of events. you gave Nova the best life and chance. RIP. i am glad that her case has been documented and can help future vets and animals.

So sorry

So sorry to hear this.

:(

My condolences for your loss. :( You certainly gave Nova a lot of love and some of the best care any animal could hope for.