Taipan prolapse

[AustHerps]

During my routine check of the animals this evening, I noticed our male inland taipan had what seemed to looked like a prolapse. For those who don't know, a prolapse is the general term for when tissue ends up in a place where it shouldn't. In this case, the first 5mm of the snake's anal tract (don't know correct term sorry) was hanging out.

Here's a few photos

Admittedly, I had never dealt with a prolapse before, and so was at a loss as to what to do. I gave Ray Hoser a call, and he was fantastic. He spent a good half hour on the phone to me (whilst out to dinner with his family, mind you) explaining exactly what it is, what can cause it, how to deal with it, etc etc. So first up, a huge thanks to Ray for being such a great help.

After soaking the snake in lukewarm water for an hour and a half, with no change, it seemed that I was going to have to replace the tissue into it's correct home manually. Ssssnakeman and his partner were kind enough to come around. Baz held the business end of the taip, whilst I worked the tissue back in using a sterilised (and blunted) knitting needle (the closest thing I had to a probe). And so, a huge thank you to Baz and Kaz for coming around at the drop of a hat to help an animal in need.

As of tomorrow, the taipan will get a regular clean with betadine, and a course of baytrill. At this stage, it's still apparently pretty 'hit and miss' as to how the young snake will fare. Having tissue exposed for what could have been hours can lead to all sorts of infections etc.

Still, our fingers are crossed. I'll put up a few more pictures tomorrow once I get them. Finally, (once again!) a huge thank you to all who helped this evening.

Cheers,
Austy.

 

[junglepython2]

All the best, you are going to have fun applying that betadine daily on a taipan. I hope it all turns out well

 

[Robbo]

the more complete chondro describes a way of pushing
a prolapse back in

best of luck pushing it back in lol

 

[Rastass]

Well done Aaron and thanks for sharing. What size is the snake and what do you feed him?

 

[najanaja]

i had that problem with a gravid eastern brown some years ago..
i though it was due to the birthing process but i turned out to be wrong..
it would have been out for 4 hours and after manually placing it back in..
she never had a problem..

hope you get the same result..

ps..nice looking fiercy too

 

[munkee]

Lol anything but a taipan . How do you handle it daily without it having a go?

I guess the answer is very carefully . Hope everything goes well for you with the fella.

 

[Snake Catcher Victoria]

heres a few pics,yeh that was heaps of fun.
a very angry little guy but amazingly we got it to go back in,no garauntee it wont pop out again, but fingers crossed all goes well for you aaron.call if you need a hand with the medication.
pics are not in order...

 

[moosenoose]

Beaut looking snake all the same Austy, I hope it all goes well for you.

 

[pythoness]

well done guys.

 

[Glimmerman]

Best of luck. I hope he has a speedy recovery. I helps when you have good friends that like herps too :lol: Well done guys

 

[jessop]

Any info on what actually causes this condition?

 

[AustHerps]

Rastass, he feeds approximately weekly on pink rats.
Munkee, I generally just hook him as he's still at that size where hook-and-tailing isn't very safe.
Jessop, apparently there is a huge number of causes. Anything from eating a meal too large, being constipated, eating too much fur, popping a hemi and letting it get dirty (so it can't slide back in), infections, parasites, etc etc. As for what caused this one, I've got no idea. He's in good health.
Baz, thanks for putting up the pics
Anyways, it seems it has stayed away overnight, which is a good sign.

Thanks for the kind words everyone

Cheers,
Austy.

 

[ando611]

Wow, just out of interest, how many snakes do you own and what kinds?

You're brave owning one of those!

Very nice looking Inland, hope all goes well with it. Keep us updated

 

[Jackrabbit]

Gee that looked painful. Hope I don't have a prolapse. Not sure knitting needle will suffice.

 

[Lucas]

I can't say I fancy the idea of putting my finger in a Taipans date

 

[Little_Fox]

Looks nasty. Hope all goes well.

 

[AustHerps]

Well, he's just had his first injection. My baby's growing up lol. He's on a 3 week course of Fortum (apparently an equivalent to Baytrill but without the nasty side effects, such as stinging upon being injected, causing necrosis and scarring at the entry site). Shane, at Karingal Vet Hospital in Frankston was a great help, as was Ray Hoser again today via phone.

No pics this time, no spare hands lol. Misky did very well. She's not a huge fan of the browns or taipans (or many of the other vens for that matter lol) but took it in her stride and did the injection whilst I held him.

A big thankyou to all who have helped.
It's good to see people who care about animals go beyond the port of call to see them healthy.

Cheers,
Austy.

 

[AustHerps]

Wow, just out of interest, how many snakes do you own and what kinds?

I'll post one up tomorrow, along with the prices they all fetch on the black market. Not!

I think you'll find that there wont be many people handing out lists of their animals these days, due to the influx of burglaries that have occured lately.

Cheers,
Austy.

 

[ando611]

I'll post one up tomorrow, along with the prices they all fetch on the black market. Not!

I think you'll find that there wont be many people handing out lists of their animals these days, due to the influx of burglaries that have occured lately.

Cheers,
Austy.

Fair enough. What a messed up world we live in when you can't even show off your collection to fellow herpers for fear of them getting stolen

 

[AustHerps]

Yes it certainly is a pity. Most of us live and breathe herps and we can't even share them with others with the same passion.