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Vet sugesting surgery if this egg doesn't make its wasy out...

T

tbtusk

hot jupiter herps
Hello everyone. Its been a while since I've been on the forums, and I'm sorry to come back with bad news! I've run into a bit of a problem and figured this is the best place to turn. Here's the story.

10 days ago Raya started laying a massive clutch of 29 gorgeous eggs. 48 hours later she was left with 5 eggs un-layed. After a little more waiting and observing I decided to help them along by giving her gentle massages to get them moving. It seemed to be working fine. Each day I'd manage to help her with one more. The last egg, though hasn't come out in after 3 days of trying. Yesterday it moved another 2 inches, and is now only about 2 inches from the vent. It doesn't seem to be egg bound, but I brought Raya to a good local reptile vet who suggested that if Raya couldn't move it out by tomorrow then surgery was the next option. She did help by injecting some KY jelly and giving Raya a warm bath, but Raya couldn't get the egg moving.

I have scheduled an appointment with a reptile vet at tufts here in MA, and if necessary I will keep that appointment. There's no denying the situation is getting critical (not to mention stressful) but I'm very hesitant for my snake to undergo surgery. Do some of you more experienced breeders have any advice on the subject? Is surgery really the best thing to do at this point, or is there another route to go? Thanks in advance
 
Do a search on how to aspirate the egg. Maybe the vet could do it or work with you to do it. Best of luck.
 
That's when the egg is drained with a needle, right? I've heard of it and was a little curious why the vet didnt mention it, but didnt think to do so myself. If I end up going to the vet tomorrow I will make sure the subject comes up.
 
Hopefully, the egg is still able to be drained. Sometimes, the insides of a retained egg will harden, making draining difficult at best. But I've used that method on several occasions and it works very well. I remember Rich commenting on egg-bound females, saying that in all of his years, he really has done nothing to assist them, that they all eventually lay the egg(s) if given enough time. Of course, I don't recall if he mentioned ever losing a female to egg-binding. I have, but to be honest, it has been those that I did too much to, like trying to help the eggs along, etc. Simply draining and reducing the size of the egg(s) is working the best for me now.
 
I, think, that draining the egg and waiting might be easier for your snake... because surgery is a really harsh step if she has been able to get all out but one. Its what I would do anyway :) I wish you and your snake the best and good luck!
 
I couldn't go to the vet with the snake today, but my stepdad went and relayed info back to me. The plan is to give Raya two injections of calcium and Oxytocin. Dr. Mayer, the vet, said that this was the only option to try before surgery, so we went with that to see if we could get the egg out without much stress.

He had a few good points about draining which I understood to some extent. The first is that since the eggs each spent a long time unmoving in the oviduct, the membrane of the oviduct could be raw or damaged, making inserting a needle an iffy procedure. Second, he mentioned that the egg might be mummified, so draining would be useless.

At this point i think the plan is a good one. I hope I have good news in the morning.
 
There was a recent thread called "My unexpected eggs" where Kathy Love gave some good advice about retained eggs which I thought you might like to read through.

Here's the link.......Link......it's quite long but worth the read :)

Good luck with your girl, I hope everything turns out well for her :)
 
Thanks for the advice everyone! I should update you on this girl.

She came home a day after surgery looking skinny and tired but pretty well overall. Since then shes been eating wonderfully and gaining some weight back. On top of that it looks like I have upwards of 20 good eggs! Last year she double clutched and every egg died. The one that hatched was deformed and so I euthanized it. It would be wonderful to get some hatchings from her this year.

She'll be in to get her stitches out in 4 weeks.

Thanks again everyone!
 
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