Prolapsed rectum

A local person that bought a mojave from me last summer texted me last night asking about a snake with "its intestines hanging out". Immediately, I thought of a prolapsed rectum, which it turned out to be, and it happened to be the mojave I produced dealing with it. I've never seen a prolapse or dealt with one in person, so with whatever quick research I could do, advised him to make sure his enclosure was spotless, try to keep the swollen area moist, and to get to a vet. Well, he got to the vet today, and was told that the snake needed surgery. Unfortunate situation, to say the least. The vet, who I also use, told this person that a prolapsed rectum is caused by feeding too often and/or feeding prey items that are too large, dehydration, stress caused by errors in husbandry, or a combination of all. I have read about using a sugar/water paste on the swollen area, neosporin, preparation H, etc...and help massage it back down and bandage it hoping it will go back into place, but felt it was not my place to inform the person to try such methods, as I can't speak to the effectiveness of them. I'd like to hear if anyone has experience this on their own. I also attached the pic of the prolapse that the person sent me last night...

I have no experience with this whatsoever, but once the readers chime in we will both learn a bit I am sure. I hope this all turns out OK for the mohave.

I posted this so that...

A) For those who have never seen one, this is what a prolapsed rectum looks like. Not a pretty sight.

B) I'm all for cute pics, new pick ups, breeding pics, etc...but let's face it, bad things happen. Granted, this didn't happen to me, but why wait to talk about bad things until they actually happen to one of us?

C) It makes me rethink feeding even further. I only feed once a week, regardless of size, except for females that have bred...they get offered every 4-5 days, but smaller meals. So what I often think about is why, when balls easily thrive off of one feeding weekly, and can thrive on even less food, do people feed more, especially when they are young? This is not me being critical of anyone who feeds every 4-5 days, though I don't see any benefit to it other than the snake will grow faster. Sausage butts are cute and all, but seeing that a big blowout of feces, or passing waste too often can potentially lead to the picture above, is it worth the risk just so a snake grows a little faster? Balls digest much more slowly than, let's say, colubrids, who eat and then crap 2-3 days later. Balls can easily have 2+ meals in them between passing the waste.

Again, this is just open for discussion, and I'm not criticizing anyone or anything, as I truly don't know one way or the other. Would still also love to hear anyone's personal experiences with prolapses. From the reading I've done on them, they can be an easy home fix, though if it's a recurring problem, obviously something needs to be done aside from sugar and/or Preparation H.

I've never had to deal with a rectal prolapse; and I've only had one incident of prolapsed hemipene (I found it caked with shredded aspen, and haven't used particulate substrate with breeding snakes since).
In the above mentioned case, I soaked the snake for a day, then manually removed any remaining shreds of aspen - an obvious first step prior to attempting to get it back inside. Next, I made a sugary mess, and let him soak in that (the previous soak had the beneficial effect of fully hydrating, so I wasn't worried about him drinking the sugary stuff). Since the hemipene didn't go back in on it's own, I manually worked it in. The snake recovered fully - to the best of my knowledge, at least...I still have him; but I have not bred him again, so I'm not sure if it would happen again (I've read that once a prolapse occurs, the snake is more prone to it happening again).

My personal opinion is that a lot of people do overfeed their BPs, and I can't help but wonder about long term consequences. I haven't read anything about premature deaths, like with boas and burms, but that doesn't mean it isn't happening...the morph craze hasn't been going for much more than 10 yrs.

Oh wow, thank you for posting this Robert. If you dont get any helpful solutions at least you have done a service to us by providing something educational. Never seen this or new what would cause it.

Thanks and best of luck helping the mojo!

Originally Posted by hhmoore

My personal opinion is that a lot of people do overfeed their BPs, and I can't help but wonder about long term consequences. I haven't read anything about premature deaths, like with boas and burms, but that doesn't mean it isn't happening...the morph craze hasn't been going for much more than 10 yrs.

I agree with you on that point Harald. It was the 80's and 90's when boas and burms were the rage, and there's been plenty of time to see the effects of overfeeding them. With balls, I don't think they've been kept commonly enough for long enough to be able to say what is too much food and any adverse effects it may have. Though I don't know for sure what caused this snake to prolapse, a very real cause of prolapsed rectums is overfeeding.

Originally Posted by JustChad04

Oh wow, thank you for posting this Robert. If you dont get any helpful solutions at least you have done a service to us by providing something educational. Never seen this or new what would cause it.

Thanks and best of luck helping the mojo!

Thanks Chad! Not my snake, but I do hope all the best to the owner. He went to a good vet, and my understanding is that the surgery to correct this is a fairly simple procedure, though I'm sure a costly procedure.

Would you say overfeeding as in too large a rat, or too many, too often or all of the above?

Too large and/or too often.

seeing how that bp is very young i would say too large. looks like a prolapsed rectum kinda works the same way a hemmoroid does for us. Poor fella

I have only had to deal with one prolapse and it was a prolapsed hemipene in my male pictus gecko. He had 3-4 girls that he was servicing for about 2 years before George had his issue. I discovered it, soaked him in water cleaned it off and made a paste of sugar and water before I took him to the vet. Unfortunately George's hemipene had to be removed as it was apparently out for two days before I spotted it. These guys where breeders at my pet store and I fed them friday and found the prolapse monday afternoon when I cleaned their cage. So $98 later minus 1 hemipene George was retired. But he is still living and thriving just not breeding.