View Full Version : Cloaca swelling
Cloaca swelling
ana8769
03-04-2012, 10:53 PM
Hello! I am new on the forum and new to corn snakes as well. I've had this hatchling for about a week now and for the past 3 days its cloaca area seems to be swollen. I'm afraid that it could be the start of a prolapse. It had its last meal thursday (in a plastic container with no substrate) and I dont know if it has deficated. I thought maybe it could be constipated so I put it in the tub with warm water, hoping that it would help it poo if it hasnt already done so. It didnt. Then I put it in a plastic container with cool, wet paper towels hoping that it would reduce some of the swelling. It didnt. I was hoping this could be resolved without the need to see a vet. Is there anyone that can tell me what could possibly be causing the swelling?
Here is a pic. Sorry about it being blurry. Apparently my camera doesnt do well with closeups.
http://i42.tinypic.com/4jmjq0.jpg
AliCat37
03-04-2012, 11:29 PM
He looks like he is about to poop! I would see if it goes away after a poo :)
ana8769
03-04-2012, 11:55 PM
Actually, I just got done giving it another warm bath and it pooped this time. I immediately check its cloaca and it still looks the same as it did before. Hopefully it will go down and wont turn out to be anything serious. I read about snake prolapse the other day and now it has me freaked out. lol.
AliCat37
03-05-2012, 12:27 AM
interesting, I would definitely keep an eye on it if she did go poo. Every time I have had this happen it was just a BM hanging out there.. hopefully some one else will chime in :shrugs:
ana8769
03-05-2012, 12:59 AM
I'll check on it in the morning to see if it looks any better. Lol, I wish corns were easy to visually sex so I can give it a name... or call it a he or she atleast.
Christen
03-05-2012, 01:03 AM
I actually just had this happen with a baby here. I am not sure why it was still swollen looking after the bowel movement but I can tell you when I checked on the snake the next day he was fine.
ana8769
03-05-2012, 01:06 AM
Awesome. Well, I have high hopes for tomorrow morning then. :)
AliCat37
03-05-2012, 01:45 AM
I'll check on it in the morning to see if it looks any better. Lol, I wish corns were easy to visually sex so I can give it a name... or call it a he or she atleast.
The video I will link about popping is a good way to sex your snake. I would have someone show you how to do it in person, but it is very simple. I had seen a friend do it several times, but I didn't really know how he was doing it until I watched the video.
http://www.cornutopia.com/Corn%20Utopia%20on%20the%20Web/-%20Sexing%20corn%20snakes%20-%20intro%20to%20vid%20clips.htm
There is also a method called "candling" that you can try.. I'm not sure how light/dark your baby is, but it's worth a shot. All you do is take a high powered flashlight to the tail tip, if you see one line (spine) it's a female, three (spine and hemipenes) it's a male.
bitsy
03-05-2012, 02:16 AM
I wouldn't be popping a hatchling if you're concerned about an unexplained swelling at the cloaca. Probably one for when s/he has recovered fully and you're confident that it won't happen again.
ana8769
03-05-2012, 09:38 AM
I woke up and check on the snake and its vent still looks the same. The swelling doesnt seem to bother it any, though. As far as the popping goes, no I wouldnt do it while its swollen, and I dont think I would attempt to do it myself anyways. My luck, I would probably break the poor thing in half or something. I did however try candling and I could see through the belly of my snake, just couldnt see anything in the tail near the cloaca. It just looked reddish and empty inside from what I could hardly make out. Its tail is just too small to really see anything. I'll just have to wait until it gets old enough to be probed to be sure.
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