Prolapse.... HELP.

[jitami]

GTP Care Similar Advice. (The sugar water thing has been recommended a couple of times. I had no idea sugar would reduce swelling, but everyone has sugar and it probably can't hurt. )
5/ Rectal Prolapse
This problem is not common in properly maintained collections. However, most keepers with multiple animals will experience prolapse at some point. Even veteran keepers experience this condition from time to time, and the occurrence of prolapse does not necessarily indicate that there are husbandry problems. Actually, chondros prolapse part of the bowel as a normal part of defecation. The problems arise when the rectal tissue fails to retract, and begins to swell. This looks like a pink bubble or blob of tissue protruding outside of the vent. Left untreated prolapse can be fatal. Conditions that may lead to prolapse include stress, temperatures too high, dehydration, feeding too large a meal or feeding too often, lack of exercise, and in the case of babies, eating unnatural food items. (It is very doubtful that pink mice make up wild neonates' diets.) However, prolapse can occur for no apparent reason even under good conditions, so if you are doing things correctly and experience a prolapse, don't beat yourself up...they happen to experienced keepers too. Animals that repeatedly prolapse are most likely suffering from deeper health issues.
The first order of business is to keep the swollen tissues from drying out. Place the snake in an appropriate size container (such as a deli cup for babies) with a small amount of warm water in it. Be sure that the water isn't deep enough to drown the chondro - use just enough to keep the swollen tissue moist. Make a thick sugar and water paste and apply some to the tissues. Often this will cause the prolapse to retract within a few hours, or overnight. An eye dropper can be useful in applying the sugar paste. Sometimes the tissue will go down in size but not fully retract. Use a clean blunt tool such as an appropriate size sexing probe, and gently push the tissue back into the body cavity. Push the tissue completely into the body, but not farther than is needed to get it all reinserted. If you aren't comfortable with doing this, or if no improvement has been observed within 24 hours, see let a qualified veterinarian. In really bad cases, mild anesthesia will be needed to relax the muscles enough for reinsertion. Sometimes a purse-string suture is needed to retain the prolapse while things heal.
Withhold food from the recovering animal for at least a couple of weeks and then start with very small food items. Watch for a normal defecation, and then slowly work back up to normal meal size and feeding frequency. Most cases of prolapse look much worse than they really are, and usually the condition is very treatable if caught early. Adult females can make a full recovery and go on to lay eggs without complications, as long as sufficient time is allowed for complete healing.

[jitami]

Ok, last link... one with a happy ending...
Anal Prolapse - Herp-Fan Forums

Good luck Shannon!

[infernalis]

Shanon, I have very little to offer, except I'm in your corner.

Good luck in whatever it takes.

[Snake lover 3-25]

i hope he pulls through!!!! now that all my problems are fixed i can truely say that you have my BEST wishes!!!!

[adamanteus]

I think Tami has offered some very good advice there (I haven't followed her links), try to shrink it down with Prep.H or similar, then spend a couple of hours gently massaging it back in. Once it's in, tape it up to stop it popping out again.

I was once successful doing this with a prolapsed iguana, but it's not easy. Good luck.

[Bay_area]

My Retic had a prolapse clocia way back when he was under 10 feet long. This is what I did...I put him in the bath tub & was able to get it back inside of him. It did keep popping back out, so I had to hold it in for awhile. Probly 5 minutes or so. I then applied a liberal amount of Preperation-H to the area & held it in for anoth 5 minutes or so. While I was doing this, my wife set up a small cage so he could not move around alot. We used newspaper for the bedding. I tried wrapping it with bandage, but that just kept coming off. Anyhow, it did work & have not had any more problems. As long as you caught it in time before any infection or discoloration, hopfully it will be alright. I hope the best for your snake Shannon. I know how frustrating it can be.

Sincerely, Jerry

[drache]

keeping my fingers crossed for your baby, Shannon
I once lost a baby garter to rectal prolapse - it sucked
I hope very much yours has a better fate

[Lori P]

Also sending you good wishes, Shannon. Tami sent wonderful info. My only experience in prolapses is with goats and sheep, and I've also used sugar to reduce swelling, kept it moist, and had the vet re-insert and stitch in place.

In those animals, it is not recommended to breed them as it can be congenital.

Keep us posted, and good luck with him!!

[Garter_Gertie]

Shannon, how's the baby doing today? Hope better...

[aSnakeLovinBabe]

Well I checked on him after I got home from work, and the area actually looks pretty good, it is not SUPER swollen, its a light pink in color and its clean. I had a bearded dragon have a prolapse once, she did not make it. Hers looked REALLY bad. I have not attempted to do anything yet because 1) it scares me and 2) I need to get some preparation H and 3) my boyfriends lil sis is in critical in the hospital with mono, pneumonia, and in need to having her gall bladder removed so my time is so little (she is improving every day now that they are draining fluid, she is going to be okay). I have him in a small deli cup right now soaking in a bit of water near his heat source, so that he can't move and his rectum stays moist... the paper toweling I noticed was making him want to go go go and he was dragging it and it was scaring me... now without any paper toweling its not rubbing anything. Will prepration H really reduce swelling? The end of it is a bit swollen, and I can see that it is too swollen to go back in. If I am not successful in fixing it on my own (i will be starting that stuff tomorrow, I had to see my boyfriends lil sis in the hospital tonight) then Po is going to get surgery or at least vetrinary treatment by MY vet whom actually cares a lot about the snakes he sees. I was told that as long as I keep it clean and moist and he gets treated that there is no reason he cant recover fully from this. Thank god!! If he doesnt make it my heart will break I LOVE this little guy!!! I don't care if it costs me $500 to get it fixed he is going to get the help he deserves. My parents are like its just a baby ball python you only paid $75 dollars for and youre going to put out hundreds for surgery!?!?! YES!!! if he needs it hes getting it! a week and a half's worth of work to save his life is worth it in my eyes.

He was eating well before the prolapse.. once a week steady... and he pooped his last mouse so he shouldnt have any poop in him (thank god)... I am jsut glad he got the food he needed before this happened to him because I know that hes not going to get to eat for a few weeks now... and then once he is healed I will feed him very small prey for a little bit.

He is VERY alert.. he doesn't show any signs of being lethargic... not even that he is hurting. he seems in apparent good health considering his butt is inside out ATM.

Thanks for all the advice everyone, I think I have a really good chance of getting him to a full recovery even with my vet being on vacation.