AustHerps
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- Oct 21, 2005
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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.
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.