Thought I'd seen everything ...

Anyone who can help with this will be greatly appreciated! I just had a clutch of creamsicles begin to hatch out, and one of the little males came out of the egg with one of his hemipenes inverted. It looks like he either has no muscle attachment on that side, or the muscle isn't working for some reason. The baby is healthy-looking otherwise and is very active.

Questions: Have any of you seen this before? Will the hemipenes regress back into the body cavity? If it does not, should the member be amputated (OUCH) so as not to become infected?

Any experience with this sort of thing would be of great benefit to me. I don't want the little guy to be hurt, but if an amputation would keep him from developing further problems, my sister is a vet and could do it easily. I really don't think it would devalue the animal any as a pet, and it would only hinder his breeding abilities by making him approach the female from the left side only.

I look forward to your responses -- Darin

Sorry to hear about that. I dont know th eanswer myself, but just curious what does your sister think?

Sounds like baby's first prolapse? I'm not an expert, but I'd treat it like any other prolapse - take him to a vet (your sister, I guess), and get those boys tucked back in! Amputation isn't really neccesary unless the tissue has died. Make sure to keep the skin moist until then. You may need to have little-tiny stiches on the sides of the vent to prevent it from happening again while he gets better.

Is it possible that it is only a momentary thing and he popped himself?

Try this before you amputate

It is extremely important to keep the prolapsed hemipenis moist, if it dries out it dies and will have to be amputated.Try this before surgery though, I have heard that some people have had success with putting sugar/water on the prolapsed hemipenis. I have never tried this and do not know the concentration however.