Chronic cloacal prolapse in young female

[CydaLuva83]

I realized I owe you kind people an update on what all happened.

The enclosure was a 44 gallon glass tank with partial mesh top to allow circulation. There were two dome 150 watt heat lamps on alternating sides of the tank for different temperatures during different times of the day and so one side wouldn't be dried out compared to the other side. The substrate was about two inches of cyprus mulch with moss placed throughout the tank to help retain moisture. A large, plastic waterdish took up one third of the tank and was always filled with water. A rock hide was at one end, and a dark plastic hide was at the other, and I had removed unnecessary decor like plastic flowers. The habitat was misted several times a day.

We took the female to a reptile specialist not too far from us, and she ended up having to be euthanized. As it turns out, the ball python contracted blood-sucking parasites that nearly completely dehydrated her, which is why no attempts to hydrate her were working. She was compacted with undigested fur, bones, and bits of substrate from her vent all the way up into her stomach, which was the part of the cause of the repeated prolapses. Her scales had become wrinkled and shedding had also become incredibly difficult for her. Her blood pressure was severely low, too low for surgery to remove the compaction, and the vet also explained why rehydrating her and operating still wouldn't save her: When a snake prolapses, they have a 25% chance to prolapse ever subsequent time they defecate. That second time they prolapse, it's a 50% to prolapse every time they defecate, third time = 75%, and so on due to the breaking down of the muscles around the vent as well as the soft tissue of the vent healing wrong and likely sealing up the anus itself.
My girl had prolapsed a total of nine times before we were able to take her to this specialist, as we did not know that prolapsing was so serious, as well as medical bills that had prevented large spending amounts for quite a time.




This is what she looked like a month before her condition severely degraded. Her scales become wrinkled, her feeding response was nonexistent, she was lethargic, and her abdomen become swollen with air.
All I can say is make sure you go to a specialist who knows their stuff. The vet we took her to was amazing. She came in on a Saturday night at 11 PM to see us and the snake, talked us through everything she was doing, explained every option we had, what would happen if we took those options, the different kind of parasites and internal dangers for reptiles, and was very calm and patient. She talked with me about the physiology of crocodilians while we waited for the euthanasia to complete, and later recommended several shows/breeders and people to go to for reptile education and responsibly-bred animals. Thanks to her, I now volunteer at Repticon and our local Exotic Pet Expo.
And in case you're near and would like to check it out. She is Dr. Tonnie Ray of Avians and Exotics of Nashville in Nashville, Tennessee.