Crusty Vent

[MoJo]

My first garter was a lovely red sided girl that also had an issue with a crusty vent. At the time I posted photos on KS.com and no one really knew what it was but someone said that they had had a girl with the same thing and that she had been dehydrated and died. I knew that my snake had always had water so that wasn't the issue. My girl did turn out to have an internal abscess not too far from the vent and she ultimately passed from it. It took a while for the abscess to make itself known and a fair amount of time until she actually looked and acted ill. I think Ginger was probably my favorite snake!

It makes sense to me that this would be a sign of renal failure. Infections can cause the kidney's to fail I am just surprised at how long snakes can hang on once they are ill.


I hope your girl is not having kidney or other problems and will live a long life at the Ranch!

[guidofatherof5]

My first garter was a lovely red sided girl that also had an issue with a crusty vent. At the time I posted photos on KS.com and no one really knew what it was but someone said that they had had a girl with the same thing and that she had been dehydrated and died. I knew that my snake had always had water so that wasn't the issue. My girl did turn out to have an internal abscess not too far from the vent and she ultimately passed from it. It took a while for the abscess to make itself known and a fair amount of time until she actually looked and acted ill. I think Ginger was probably my favorite snake!

It makes sense to me that this would be a sign of renal failure. Infections can cause the kidney's to fail I am just surprised at how long snakes can hang on once they are ill.


I hope your girl is not having kidney or other problems and will live a long life at the Ranch!

Thanks for your info. I hope this isn't anything serious. I don't get that feeling from this. My Vet. thinks she may have built up some scar tissue in that area and it may be collecting feces and causing an irritation. She's up stairs with me for a solid month. Just having her in a very controlled situation has already improved the crusty area. She may always need some help in that area but she's worth the time. She was a rescued gravid radix from last year. I think she likes me. Once I get her out she calms down and sits with me while I'm in the living room. She's a very relaxed character.

[ConcinusMan]

You know, that really big ordinoides girl (2.5 feet is big for an ordinoides) keeps getting crusties. It seems like there's been some sort of scaring or... well, her cloaca looks kinda nasty. Almost like scale rot but that's not it. Every week or two, I have to give her a good soak and clear the area. No redness or anything like that, just nasty looking rough, peelie, I don't know how to describe it. All I know is that urates seem to build up there every so often. She doesn't seem sick. She's eating well and is active during the day.

[guidofatherof5]

Things have taken a slight turn for the worse for my girl. She's injured her vent even more. Now she's sporting a slightly prolapsed vent. It also had some infection . The Vet was aggressive in cleaning it out and I feel the paybacks will be coming to me. She didn't like the cleanup procedure. I tried to make a diagram showing the problem. I hope it explains the problem properly.
She's a wild caught from my yard last year. I hope she make a full recovery as she's a good radix. I'm guessing she's about 3 years old(wild years). I hope with a full recovery she'll have a few more years on the Ranch.

[drache]

I hope it turns out better

[Mommy2many]

me too!

[Spankenstyne]

Yeah absolutely pulling for you here. Sounds like she's in great hands not only with you on the ranch but with the vet's help as well.

Have you bumped up her hot spot temps a bit as well to help boost her immune system while she's recovering? Seems simple but something folks sometimes don't think about.
If there's a chance of dehydration I'd skip a few meals until you're satisfied she's well hydrated.

[guidofatherof5]

Yes, the heats up a bit. Thanks.

[guidofatherof5]

Things are not healing the way I think they should be. I've got an appointment setup for Thurs.
I told my Vet. I wanted to stay aggressive on this so it looks like she may get a couple of stitches to help with the healing process.
She's still eating and behaving normally.

[guidofatherof5]

Sorry for the late report.
The Vet. thinks things are progressing nicely and wants to hold off on the stitches.
He says the scar tissue is building and it will just take time.
So for now, silver sulfadiazine will continue.