HELP!Hatchling swallowed a big piece of vermiculite

[again23]

I went to check to see how many of the new babies shed and I found one with a really odd shapped bulge in its belly.

I picked it up to see a perfectly shapped huge peice of vermiculite in her belly.
Do you guys think she will pass this or should I just put her out?


:(

~F

[Cegninedorf]

Oh, no...!!! I can only hope that she passes it out...I hope that she survives this. *fingers crossed*

[Cegninedorf]

Did your hatchling swallow the vermiculite for sure? How is the hatchling doing?

[Spork]

Did your hatchling swallow the vermiculite for sure? How is the hatchling doing? what else could the bulge be?

[Mrs InsaneOne]

Would you be able to get a picture of the snake? Could it possibly have eaten something else other then the vermiculite? Are these freshly hatched snakes or older hatchlings?

It's just odd to think a snake would randomly swallow a piece of vermic like that. Usually when substrate gets swallowed it's because it was on a prey item.

About how long has the bulge been there? (Was the snake fine the night before when you checked on them, or has it been a few days since you last checked them.)

Depending on the size of the snake and the size of the swallowed item it may be passed, but I don't think vermiculite breaks down very well. A vet trip might be in order - to verify what the snake swallowed and to determine what will help it. If it's a newly hatched snake I don't know if there is much they can do - simply because of the snake's size though.

If it isn't already kept in a separate container, I'd put it in a deli cup or tupperware (with small air holes) of its own and monitor it, giving it nothing but papertowel or newspaper for substrate and a water dish. Hope everything turns out well in the end.

Jenn

[Nanci]

You'd just kill your snake without knowing for sure anything was wrong, without giving her a chance to resolve the issue?

Nanci

[MegF.]

What is a hatchling doing on vermiculite anyway? If you're waiting for shed, they had to have hatched at least a week ago. They should be seperately housed in containers with paper substrate or something like that.....I'm a little confused!