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Q: Impaction relief, Help!
Posted By:

iashia

In Relation To:

Hurricane [0.0.1.NR.BP]

Today was Hurricanes' vet visit.  It did not go as I had hoped.  Huricane is for sure constipated and possibly impacted.  My vet did some thing with a thin rubber hose and a syringe filed with warm water where she put it up the vent and filled her with water.  the first time she did it some hard small stool and urates came out.  the second tome, nothing happened and she sent me away.  i go back tomorrow for penecilin (EDIT actually Ceftazidime), needles and a demo on doing the rubber hose thing and injecting her.

what i want to know, aside from warm water baths, is how can i help to get this blockasge moving?  massaging?  some kind of laxative?  ive read about small amounts of mineral oil working.  is it toxic to reptiles?  any input will be GREATLY appreciated.

glad i took her in when i did


Points: 250
Topics: Digestive , General Health
Tags: Defecation, Impaction, Python, Regius, Treatment
Species: Pythons > Pythons > Python regius
Administrative: Show/Hide

Accepted Answer 2/15/2010 6:22:46 PM

shellboa
If you can give her the enema then use the mineral oil. I would have suggested that beforebut wasn't sure you had the tools or experience. (no offence)  I have used this method on rescues very successfully...I hav had some weird shit come out too ...literally. One time it looked like a bunch of ...dirt with bits of leaf and pine cones etc. dunno how it ate that but as it was a very emaciated snake that eventually had to be put down. Any way I babble... Do the mineral oil, palpate for a minute or two, put her in a nice warm bath for about 30 minutes (keeping it warm) and then palpate some more, don't be afraid to push gently on lumps near the cloaca and see if that helkps. Might take more than one.
 
Author Comment 2/15/2010 6:53:56 PM

iashia
as of tonight, i dont know how to do it, but tomorrow when i bring her up to the clinic and i get her meds ill learn.  i have her in a heated bath right now, and ill probably leave her to soak for an hour or two, then palpate for a bit and let her soak more.  the swelling around her vent has gone down a little, mostly because some of the blockage came out.  hopefully, this ends well.
 
Assisted Answer 2/15/2010 7:08:16 PM

Geckofactor
I'll be very surprised if the vet actually tells you to do reptile enemas on your own.  I've rarely seen vets tell owners to do that on their own even with dogs when it's a good bit easier.  Only thing you can do is the warm baths, the massaging, the mineral or olive oil, and you can try giving it pedialyte.  Obviously don't feed it anything else until the blockage goes away.
 
Author Comment 2/15/2010 7:13:36 PM

iashia
i can see where it would be a bad idea.  if you use too much or insert it wrong, you can really hurt the snake.  i dont want to do it, but ill do near anything to save hurricane.  of course she wont be eating.  that would make everything worse.  i dont even think she WILL eat, though i wont test that statement.  is oral ingestion of mineral oil bad?  im terrified that in the process of my trying to help, im going to make things worse
 
Member Comment 2/15/2010 7:19:55 PM

Geckofactor
No not in small amounts just don't go crazy with it.  I'm talkin like maybe 1/4 of a teaspoon or so at them most  I can't see how big the snake is from the picture. 
 
Author Comment 2/15/2010 7:23:36 PM

iashia
she weighed in at 4 pounds and abour 5.5 feet.  thickness of a sprite can
 
Member Comment 2/15/2010 7:30:20 PM

Geckofactor
Yeah I'd try like 1/4 of a teaspoon maybe even a little more if the snake is that big.  I don't really feel like working out the math on ml to kg of body weight you won't OD the snake so I'm going to be lazy.  Only t hing you'd worry about if you gave it too much is it could regurge but like I said try a small amount to start with.
 
Member Comment 2/15/2010 7:35:24 PM

Geckofactor
I'd also try the pedialyte though.  It comes in handy with reptiles anyways.  You can get a $1.50 off coupon from their website or buy the generic kind cause that crap is expensive.
 
Author Comment 2/15/2010 10:47:02 PM

iashia
and this wont make her sick(er)?  orally taking mineral oil
 
Member Comment 2/15/2010 10:54:11 PM

Geckofactor
No it will not as long as you don't go overboard with it.  Mineral oil is a laxative afterall.  If you feel better about it you can use olive oil.
 
Member Comment 2/16/2010 12:39:00 AM

t0neg0d
1. Place mouth over vent.
2. Suck REALLY hard.
3. (And most important) SPIT! --Or-- You can ask your vet about using glycerin mixed with the warm water to help lubricate around the blockage as well as mineral oil orally (as Shellboa/Geckofactor suggested).
 
Author Comment 2/16/2010 12:44:47 AM

iashia
rofl isshy t0neg0d.  ill try a little mineral oil tonight.  she just finished her shed in her bath and soaked for about 3-4  hours.  tried some massaging and gentle pushing.  she farted a few times (lol) but no stool or urates.  maybe ill wake up in the morning after the mineral oil to some nicley wrapped poo packages
 
Author Comment 2/16/2010 5:07:06 PM

iashia

no poo this morning.  good trip to vet.  got  20 syringes full of penicilin and she got her first injection ever.  she did not like it, but took it like a champ.  now i have to inject her every 3 days for the next 8 weeks.  any tips, do's or donts that you want to share in the effect of giving a shot to a snake, ill be glad to take it.  *ps. the vet showed me how to do it. 1/3 of the body up half an inch away from the spine between the scales*

 
Member Comment 2/16/2010 5:33:48 PM

Geckofactor
Not to second guess the vet or anything but why did he give you penicillin?  I've never had a vet recommend that with reptiles mainly because it's effective against gram positive bacteria a lot of bacterial infections with reptiles are gram negative and if he gave you penecillin for dogs, cats, and people it most likely has procaine in it which can be more easily overdosed than obviously penecillin itself or a lot of other medications he could have given you.  Was there some specific thing that came back in the labs that called for penicillin?  Unless that Ball has the clap I don't know.  As for injections that's about right not much else to say about it other than what he told you.
 
Author Comment 2/16/2010 5:39:58 PM

iashia
she suspects that hurricane has the beginnings of RI.  Im not gonna go against her.  my way already caused a problem.  ROFL the clap.  
on the reciept i have it says *ceftazidime inj.*  not penicilin *im smart*  when i read up on <--that it said its gram positive and negative.  i have no idea what that means, but as long as it helps her.
 
Member Comment 2/16/2010 5:43:02 PM

Geckofactor
Yeah that makes sense that's not penicillin that's what's commonly called fortaz that is much better suited for the snake than penicillin.
 
Author Comment 2/16/2010 5:45:41 PM

iashia
lol, sorry about that.  ive never heard of it.  but then again, ive never had a sick snake before.
 
Member Comment 2/16/2010 5:53:24 PM

Geckofactor
It's a human drug but it's used in reptiles it's just a broad spectrum antibiotic.
 
Member Comment 2/16/2010 7:10:22 PM

t0neg0d
I'm probably a freak about this, but there are so many oral antibiotics, that I get nervous when I see injectables prescribed as a first run at a fix.

And speaking of that, I had read somewhere (wish I could remember where and how many centuries ago) that injectable antiboitics have the tendency to leave abscesses which can later develop into something that can cause serious health issues for your reptiles. Can anyone confirm/deny this? And how serious is the risk... if there is any truth to it.
 
Member Comment 2/16/2010 8:15:06 PM

Geckofactor
Oral medication almost never works with reptiles injections can leave lumps at the site but it can be a number of things they almost always go away and abscess that forms would be a sterile abscess or a granuloma unless you used a heroin addicts needle to inject your reptile I've only heard very few stories about necrosis of the injection site.  You can also use a nebulizer if you have issues with injections but we've been doing it for years with no problems.  I know very little about nebulizing with reptiles you might want to look up whitehillreptile on here he mentioned he's done nebulizing with some success in the past on here.
 
Member Comment 2/16/2010 9:38:43 PM

thestef
you could soak the snake in warm water? im not sure if anyones said that, and it's just a guess.
 
Author Comment 2/17/2010 12:24:00 AM

iashia
Hurricane passed a few hard stool while i was gone.  I think shes gonna be okay.  no celebrations until its all out and shes had a few more cycles of regular poo
 
Member Comment 2/17/2010 2:08:28 PM

Suthamorak
All the information I would have said seems to be already here, so I'll just say that I hope your snake pulls through, and smoothly ( not a pun at all ) it is a great looking snake. :)
 
Author Comment 2/17/2010 2:22:52 PM

iashia
lol, i needed that smile =)  thank you for your support.  hurricane appreciates it too =)
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