First a tumour now egg issues :(

cat001 · 06-11-16, 04:27 PM

JD my corn snake went to the vets nearly a month ago over suspected egg binding as she had an unusual lump for a while, noticed after she had laid a clutch. After other treatments seemed to fail to help we opted for surgery, turned out she had a large tumour growing on her kidney!

She recovered very well from the operation but apparently the tumour had been causing a lot of her poo to be retained. I started allowing her to move around a lot more to work it all down and out but that wasn't the last of her issues. For about a week or so she's been passing the odd egg but the narrowing at the surgical site seems to be causing issues in regards to her passing the eggs.

I've been e-mailing the vet about JD's progress all the while and we've been discussing how to best approach her problem...currently I've got her back in her big enclosure (she was in a smaller quarantine enclosure as it's easier to keep sterile to prevent infection at the site of surgery). In this enclosure I've upped the temperatures using the heat lamp to encourage healing and nesting behaviour. Her water dish has been replaced with something large enough for her to soak in if she wishes to, she's staying in her moist hide at the moment and is receiving daily baths (critical care is now being added to the bath water as she is not eating). Her second bath (to remove the critical care residue) has F10 added to it to keep the surgical area clean.

She's still got another dozen or so eggs to pass so i've got another vet visit booked to assess the likelihood of her being able to pass the rest of the eggs considering the trouble she's had with passing 5 of them, and if there's any other treatments we could try. I think oxytocin would have little effect as it's an obstruction and would be concerned about her forcing the eggs through it incase she causes herself some damage. There's also the option of deflating some of the eggs but the contents have congealed in some of the eggs she has produced. I'm not sure if her stitches could perhaps be removed or if that's too soon, or maybe the eggs manipulated into a more appropriate position for her to pass. We'll see on Monday.

macandchz · 06-13-16, 01:55 PM

dear cat001, i think it's wonderful the time and effort you are putting into JD"s care.

tastybeets · 06-13-16, 03:44 PM

I'm terribly sorry things are so rough. Here's hoping for the best prognosis! Keep us informed.

cat001 · 06-13-16, 04:50 PM

An update; she had the vet trip. The vet had tried to drain some of the eggs to make them easier to pass but as suspected, some of the eggs nearer to the vent have inspissated so could not be collapsed. The eggs further up are still normal and were collapsed, saline was also introduced to lubricate the passageway. I had concerns about having to keep her in a moist area while she's healing from the surgery as her scabs look ready to fall off so I was given some flamazine cream to keep the wound clean rather than just relying of baths with added F10. I was also given some Emeraid Carnivore to give her daily which needs to be gavaged. The vet showed me how to insert the feeding tube but I suspect JD is not going to like this part of her treatment, at least it means she'll get some calories into her now though.

So the new routine will be: Bath with added critical care formula, secondary bath with F10, dry and apply cream, feed emeraid, let her relax for the rest of the day...

cat001 · 06-13-16, 05:07 PM

This is JD a few days after surgery...

and this is where she's currently living...

cat001 · 06-16-16, 07:13 AM

The gavage feeding did't quite go to plan the other day, it made her feel quite sick (although she did manage to keep it down). After that reaction I decided to leave her alone yesterday so she could fully recover from it and start afresh today. It went much better! Although she did manage to spit the tube out once...so i'm going to feed her once a day until my techniques better reformed then move up to twice a day as instructed so to only cause her minimal stress. Once the tubes in and I start feeding her she's pretty still but it's just inserting the thing. Today in her bath she produced a rancid smelling poo which the vet did warn me about with feeding her this Emeraid, at least I know it's working its way down so should be having an effect.

macandchz · 06-16-16, 07:34 AM

dear cat001, how old is your snake? how much does it weigh? have you had it a long time?

cat001 · 06-16-16, 07:55 AM

She'll be 12 this year. She's currently 560g which is far below her usual weight so we're hoping to build it back up with the Emeraid, the eggs are really taking their toll. I've had her since she was a hatchling, she's the first reptile I ever had!

Currently she's taken herself out of her hide and is basking under the heat lamp. I hope she produces some eggs tonight as they all seem to be working their way down, the the stitches and internal scaring from surgery are quite low down too which is making it tough for her but vet's done everything she can for her at this point so it's a case of sit and wait and provide additional support through baths and nutrition.