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Breeding/Egg Production & Care Any topics concerning breeding of the cornsnake, brumation, egg laying, or issues concerning problems in any step along the way.

Eggbound girl. Informative Egg Aspiration Video Included!
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Old 04-15-2011, 07:08 PM   #1
jsschrei
Eggbound girl. Informative Egg Aspiration Video Included!

This girl laid two slugs and 4 good eggs yesterday afternoon. I gave her until the end of the evening before checking on her and removing her eggs. This was about 8pm. She still had swelling near her vent so I replaced the lid to her eggbox and put her back into her tub.

At about 12:30am I check her again and the same swelling is there in the same spot. Now I am thinking she's eggbound. So I took the eggs she had laid and put her back, hoping she'd pass them overnight when left undisturbed.

Nothing moved along overnight. You can see the swelling between the arrows in this picture before I aspirated. So at noon today (about 19 hours ofter I noticed her clutch) I aspirated the most posterior egg using as aseptic technique as I possibly could. I might have given her more time to deliver the egg if it weren't so close to the cloaca and very swollen and uncomfortable. This is the first experience I've had with egg binding in a snake. I don't know. Did I act too hastily?



After the procedure I blotted the area with some chlorhexadine solution and dabbed a little polysporin on it. Her tub has been thoroughly sanitized and she's on clean unprinted newspaper and paper towels.

After running some errands, I came home and she had passed the deflated egg! I am hoping the other egg will follow without any issues. If it doesn't by tonight I'll aspirate it too. Here's the deflated egg that she passed. You can even see the needle hole in the red circle:



It's a shame because the aspirated egg looked like a fertile one . But her health and safety was my primary concern.

I'll update on the other egg later tonight. Other than looking tired and very uncomfortable in that area, mom is doing good. She's being such a trooper.
 
Old 04-15-2011, 07:12 PM   #2
jsschrei
Left out some things. I did try a gentle massage first and it wouldn't budge. I also tried the technique in the Loves' book about using a probe and lube to try to clear the tissue from around the egg since it was within 3 inches of the cloaca, but those attempts did not help this morning. So I aspirated.
 
Old 04-15-2011, 07:14 PM   #3
jsschrei
Here's her good eggs.

 
Old 04-15-2011, 08:11 PM   #4
rich333
Looks Like you've done a superb job thus far...Keep us updated!!!
 
Old 04-15-2011, 11:17 PM   #5
crackerhead
Given that aspiration only works for a couple of days after she starts to lay, I think you did the right thing. And nicely done as well!
Can you still feel more eggs? If so, can you gently massage them closer to the vent? Don't wait too long to aspirate them if that is the route you are choosing. Once they solidify that option is gone. Make sure she isn't dehydrated because that can stall the progression of eggs being laid. If she doesn't have water in her lay box offer her some.
Good Luck.

Terri
 
Old 04-16-2011, 12:17 AM   #6
jsschrei
Quote:
Originally Posted by crackerhead View Post
Given that aspiration only works for a couple of days after she starts to lay, I think you did the right thing. And nicely done as well!
Can you still feel more eggs? If so, can you gently massage them closer to the vent? Don't wait too long to aspirate them if that is the route you are choosing. Once they solidify that option is gone. Make sure she isn't dehydrated because that can stall the progression of eggs being laid. If she doesn't have water in her lay box offer her some.
Good Luck.

Terri
Thanks Terri. She did have a bowl of fresh water just outside of her laybox the whole time. I also gave her a warm bath before trying the aspiration. So if she has not been drinking, she may have in the bath, or at least absormed some cloacally (sp?).

I did feel 1-2 more in her. And she was very distended near the cloaca even after passing the first aspirated egg. So we did choose to aspirate the remainder (next post) since hardening of the eggs was a risk.
 
Old 04-16-2011, 12:25 AM   #7
jsschrei
She has not passed anything more on her own, so we chose to aspirate again.

This would have been a very traumatic process if I had not been a vet tech for 7 years. I can't imagine how folks without that type of background would feel going through this. I guess a veterinarian visit would do if you could find a true herp vet.

I've seen a lot of posts about egg binding, not just with corns but a few with balls also. My husband and I videoed the second aspiration. I think this would be a great opportunity for some of the seasoned corn breeders to critique what I've done and offer advice to the other members on cornsnake.com in case they ever experience this.

Positive or negative, I'd love to hear what you think of what I've done for this girl. Here's the you tube video link (I don't know how people embed videos right in the post). Please note I kept saying uterus, meant to say oviduct, but my brain was focusing on the female.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A1LSTteRK4c

Thanks for the well wishes. I'll post an update if she passes anything more.
 
Old 04-16-2011, 12:53 AM   #8
jsschrei
Passed another.

She passed another! I checked on her after posting the video in the last post and she had passed another. She doing so well, I'm very proud of her. It did look like another egg that would have been fertile and I'm very bummed about that, but it looks like she's doing well.





It does look like she's got another deflated one in there.
 
Old 04-16-2011, 05:39 AM   #9
rich333
Never done this..hope I never have too....But...this video is so mind blowingly informative...WOW! Anwsers ALOT of questions on the process. For me this video is invaluable. it is unfortunate your girl had to endure this. But i think for the greater good of the cornsnake community, your girls discomfort and loss of a few eggs,is worth it? I mean, if this video can save 100's of pet Snakes, a loss of a few eggs isn't so bad. you & your girl are "Hero's" in my book. Job well done.
 
Old 04-16-2011, 07:12 AM   #10
Susan
Super video! I'll stick this thread and make a change to the title. You did an awesome job!
 

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