Hatchling Issue (Hemipene Prolapse?)

[Penultimate]

Hello! If any of you remember, earlier this year one of my females laid eggs before I had an incubator set up. Well, I got three hatchlings out of it. One is a beautiful pastel enchi (unsure if regular enchi or super at this point) who I am fairly certain is female, a pastel pinstripe trick (to my best guess) who I believe is also female, and a super pastel enchi pinstripe male (I have not attempted to sex him, but you'll know why soon). My morph guessing isn't fantastic yet, but that's what I'm seeing. Now, the two presumed females are healthy and beautiful, one weighing 52 grams and the other weighing 53 grams.

The male is a bit of a runt at 40 grams, and he seems to have a problem with his hemipenes. When I first picked him up, I noticed that his hemipenes appeared to be sticking out through the vent. Yes, both of them, though one more than the other. I'm not sure if that's what I'm looking at, exactly, but there are two red things poking out of his vent that seem swollen for a hatchling. He came out of the egg this morning, and the things are still out. He's on damp paper towels with his clutchmates, and I've sprayed the things sticking out of his vent twice to keep them from drying out. They aren't red like they were this morning, but more of a pink color, and he doesn't seem to mind me poking at them. They don't seem quite as swollen either, and he pulled them in partially for a bit, but then they returned to all the way out. He doesn't seem affected at all right now. However, I'd really like to fix this issue before it gets worse, especially seeing as he's so tiny. So what should I do? I'm having trouble uploading images, but I'll continue to try until I get it.

EDIT: I got images to work! This is a picture from when I first removed him from the eggbox.



All help and suggestions are appreciated! I read something earlier suggesting using sugar to reduce the swelling? If anyone has any ideas or thinks this is something other than a hemipene prolapse, please say so! I just want to do right by the little guy.

[Albert Clark]

Wow, sorry for the dilemma. It does appear to be the hemipenes but certainly could be rectal/ anal as well. I think this is a emergency and would seek out the exotic vet for professional help. Being that he's so young I would think his chances at a full recovery are good but the correct intervention needs to occur ASAP. The Centers for Avian and Exotics Vet Clinics are a good place to start. Can't wait for the follow up. Good luck.

[Stewart_Reptiles]

Yes you can use sugar water and push everything back in as well however the chances are since it appears to be a congenital issue, it will likely not go away, or at least it will happen again. It is most likely that this animal will have to undergo surgery to fix the issue.

Try this and see how it goes and make sure nothing series out https://ball-pythons.net/forums/show...apsed-Hemipene!

The issue with prolapse is that if the tissues stays outside for too long it will dry out and get necrotic.

[Penultimate]

None of the nearby exotic vets could fit me in today, or until Friday it seems, so I'm going to try the sugar paste. I will post updates on his progress, and if things look to be getting worse before our appointment, I'll see if I can use an emergency vet. I'm out of the house all of late today and some of tomorrow, so he'll have to sit tight through then, but I'll put sugar paste on today and moisten his paper towels before I do. His hemipenes are definitely a less angry red color today. I soaked him for fifteen minutes last night and it seemed to help at least a little. Hopefully the sugar does its job.

[Penultimate]

Alright, the hemipenes seem to be scabbing and drying up, so I'm going to try to get an earlier vet appointment, but there's no way I can get there until Tuesday at the earliest I don't think. In the meantime, what can I do to keep the hemipenes from going necrotic? I'm thinking of using Vaseline on a wet gauze pad and using vet wrap to get it around his tail. Would any of that help? Any other ideas?

[Albert Clark]

Try a moisten soaked band aid and change it out often. Try keeping it moist by using a syringe with water and allowing droplets to go onto the pad of the band aid. I hope this can help to bide you time for the vet. Good luck. Maybe even a liquid band aid application may work as well?

[bcr229]

My vet suggested KY jelly to keep the hemipenes from drying out when my snake prolapsed.

[Penultimate]

Alright, so I ended up getting KY jelly (that was an awkward purchase, but whatever), and I've been treating him with nightly thirty minute soaks, sugar water, and the KY jelly, in that order. I'm definitely seeing improvements. One of the penes appears to have returned to the inside of the snake where it belongs either entirely or so much so that I can't really see anything. The other is still very much out, but it's no longer bright red at all, and the swelling seems to be down. It's sort of pale peach colored now. We have a vet appointment tomorrow, and I'll attach pictures of his current condition to this thread once I'm at my computer. He's a very friendly baby, by the way. Doesn't ball up or strike, has very little startle response, and he's pretty active. He's a nice one. I really hope he continues to improve like this.

[Albert Clark]

Nice. Great job. Hope the vet will be able to continue on with the progress and heal the little guy up completely.

[Penultimate]

We're on our way home from the vet now. The vet was able to return the one hemipene that was still out to its proper location with a sexing probe, though she thinks he might have some funky anatomy down there I may have to watch for in his future offspring just in case. Either way, she put two stitches on the vent to keep the hemipenes in, and he's mostly woken up from anesthesia. I have some oral pain meds to give him for the next five days, and it seems like things are going to be okay! Keep your fingers crossed for the little guy. The vet really seemed to know what she was doing, which was a relief. It's so hard to find good exotic vets. Simon (the little guy's name) has a ways to go in recovery, but we're doing all we can for him.