I am very concerned about this hatchling?!

[Bruce Whitehead]

Hi all.

I have had nothing but good snake moments that last two days... I was actually composing a pic thread when I found this.

This is my pastel female, she is pipping, but is not out of the egg. As you can see from the pics, she has her umbilicus around her midsection.

I saw it in this pic I had taken of all 4 babes left to pip.



So I went back and popped her out of the egg (and popped her - so yes, a girl) and found this. The cord is wrapped around her stomach, and there is no way to untangle it. I looks like it got tangled early on and she grew around it?



I apologize, I have not popped any of them out of their eggs, so this may be normal, but I really do not think it is.

I guess my concern is whether that "knot" is too tight? Or will she be able to still absorb?



Is this just umbilicus? Or do I have a snake that has her organs outside of her body? I know I have seen these huge looking things on the last two that hatched out, but like I said... I never saw anything that was going on in the egg so I do not know how normal this may or may not be.

Is there anything I can do to assist her?

I am really concerned about her.

Despite feeling incredibly deflated, I am open to very upfront and honest critiques based on experience.

Many thanks in advance.
Bruce

[Bruce Whitehead]

And yes, she is back in her egg resting comfortably, I have placed her back in the incubator with her siblings.

bruce

[Nate]

Wow! I'd be concerned too...I hope someone who has experienced this before can chime in and offer some advice.

[Corey Woods]

Unfortunately there is no way to untangle the umbilical cord when it is like that. The only thing you can do is cut it off about 1/2 inch from the belly Once you cut it tie off close to the belly with dental floss.

If the baby has ok weight just leave her and let her shed.

If she is very thin then you can mix up the yoke from a chicken egg and load it into a syringe. Take a fairly large needle (16-18 gage) and send it up the umbilical cord and inject it into the snake (you have to do it right to get it into the right spot). Once you fill up her belly you can tie off the umbilical cord to keep all that yoke inside of her. I don't recommend doing this unless you feel confident doing it. It's easier than you think if you go slow.

Good luck,
Corey

[Nate]

Unfortunately there is no way to untangle the umbilical cord when it is like that. The only thing you can do is cut it off about 1/2 inch from the belly Once you cut it tie off close to the belly with dental floss.

If the baby has ok weight just leave her and let her shed.

If she is very thin then you can mix up the yoke from a chicken egg and load it into a syringe. Take a fairly large needle (16-18 gage) and send it up the umbilical cord and inject it into the snake (you have to do it right to get it into the right spot). Once you fill up her belly you can tie off the umbilical cord to keep all that yoke inside of her. I don't recommend doing this unless you feel confident doing it. It's easier than you think if you go slow.

Good luck,
Corey

[Bruce Whitehead]

Thanks Corey, I really appreciate the input.

I would be comfortable doing that (the syringe)... just curious what weight I would be looking at.

I am estimating that she is around 50-55g. She is thin, but not the worst I have seen.

bruce

[Rapture]

Wow good luck with that baby. She is very pretty and I hope she makes it.

[Bruce Whitehead]

I found a small syringe... I cut the cord, and finding the entrance was really quite easy.

I gave her two shots... I injected the yolk and tied off the cord, then I cut further up, made the second injectin and tied off the cord again.

The second one was much harder as there was less cord... but I put the knot of dental floss around the cord, then inserted the syringe... pulled the floss snugly, injected the yolk and then as I was pulling the syringe out I had my partner tighten it so that nothing leaked out.

So two 6cc shots... her final weight is 38g... not super promising... but I do think it could be worse?

I feel OK about it think it went actually quite smooth. I am more concerned about her final weight... and you can tell it was quite stressful for her.

But now I will just leave her be and hope (pray) for a good outcome.

Thanks again,
Bruce

[Bruce Whitehead]

And... I hate to say... but if anyone else wants to take a second and a visualize a little pastel BP taking her first hopper... I would appreciate it.



Bruce

[Bruce Whitehead]

I almost did not have time... but need to take a few beers and decompress, so here are the pics. Pretty straightforward stuff.







After I had popped her out of the egg, she would not stay in it, so I figured that now was as good a time as any.

Fingers crossed that she is in good shape till her shed.

Bruce