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Prolapsed Cloaca

A

AFMike27

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I bought a female axanthic a few weeks ago. Well, yesterday on feeding day I found her with a prolapsed cloaca. I took her to the vet immediately, and luckily he was able to get everything back where it was supposed to go and put a suture in place to keep it from prolapsing again right away.

A few concerns I have.. Why would an otherwise healthy appearing snake prolapse? Humidity, temps, and access to water aren't a problem. She ate twice for me in the 16 days I had her before prolapsing, with no issues or refusals. Also had a normal shed and defecation. I've read a lot of info guessing that parasites are a main cause. The vet didn't do a fecal because, well, there was no feces for him to run. Once she defecates again we can resolve that. Could it be the stress of shipping, and then a few weeks later being driven cross-country? I PCSd from Florida to Mass last week. My second concern is that once this suture is taken out, what is the likelihood that she will prolapse again? The vet told me to have no qualms about feeding and that there should be no restrictions or change in care as far as he could tell. Is it possible this was just a freak accident, somehow related to the stress of the move?

Sorry for not getting pictures, I just gave her a quick soak to get substrate off, put her in a tub with paper towels and got her to the vet. Didn't really think to take any pics or anything.
 
Prolapse

I typically leave the sutures in for two weeks during which time I instruct the client not to feed the snake. If you feed him and he tries to defecate, chances are the sutures will prohibit that. After the sutures are out, feed normally. Yes, stress, dehydration or parasites could cause it. In captive born and raised Ball Pythons, parasites are rare.
 
Thank you for the response. I actually was going to question the feeding/passing of stools with the suture. I'm also glad to know parasites shouldn't be the cause. I got this little girl from a well known breeder with a very solid reputation and following here on Fauna. Nothing but good BOI reviews and the clown I also got from him is doing great. Anything else I should do for her besides keeping her warm and hydrated?
 
If it's a well established animal and appears hydrated, I 'd just make sure that clean fresh water is available. If it's a hatchling and has been through all the shipping, travel across country etc, I'd probably soak the animal, in shallow dish twice weekly in addition to providing clean water.
 
Alright thank you. I appreciate the responses, and I'll update this thread periodically through the poor little girl's recovery. I still can't believe how well she seems to have bounced back. From seeing the prolapse, and it seemed pretty big, to having it put back in and her tail above the vent looked amazingly bulged, to today where aside from the suture looks relatively normal again.
 
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