Female overdue/egg bound?

Pythons Ball Pythons
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Figured I would post an update here, and it’s not a particularly happy one but it could be worse, I guess.

We had another vet appointment today, finally, after a month or so of rescheduling. Her exam overall looked good. The vet palpated and did another ultrasound, and the ultrasound confirmed the same two slugs, slightly more compressed and in the same place as they were last time, both about 5cm in diameter.

In order to figure out next steps (surgery or continuing to wait and see), the vet has to sedate her to get a blood draw from a vessel near her heart, as they couldn’t get a good draw from the vein in her tail. The sedation went fine, she’s doing great, but the bloodwork came back with extremely elevated phosphorous and uric acid, and elevated calcium and potassium. I forget exactly the wording the vet used but she said that together, these levels indicate substantial dehydration and potential kidney disease. I’ve still been doing soaks 3-4 times a week, so her being so dehydrated is very worrying. The vet suspects a congenital issue that may be affecting both her reproductive organs and her kidneys, in addition to who knows what else.

Because of the suspected kidney disease, the vet doesn’t think she’s a good candidate for surgery, as she would be at higher risk for complications and it would be even harder on her system to heal and recover. So our options going forward are either
a) continue to wait and see, keep giving her soaks, and look into medication to manage the kidney disease
b) proceed with the surgery knowing it would be a much higher risk to her (and I’m a graduate student, so I don’t have $2.5k lying around) or
c) euthanize.

I was planning to rehome her to a pet-only home regardless, as I wasn’t comfortable trying to breed her again with the issues she had. But I can’t in good conscience do that when she has both the unresolved egg situation and now potential kidney disease, which (as I understand) is difficult to manage in snakes and tends to severely shorten their lifespan.

Even if I was going to proceed with the surgery hoping for a good outcome, I’m a graduate student and I’d still need multiple months to save two thousand dollars for the surgery, so for now all we can do is wait and see. The vet instructed me to soak her every single day, to keep her humidity in the 75+ range, and to continue to monitor. We’re going to re-check her blood levels in a month or so and proceed from there.

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Good Luck to you both. She’s a fighter so there’s still a chance…

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That is exhausting. Truly hoping all goes well! As resilient as reptiles can be, they are slow healers and sometimes their fragility is startling. Let’s all send this snake our best vibes.

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I am so sorry to hear the vet found possible congenital issues, that does complicate things quite a bit. Kidney disease of any kind is no joke. I lost a hognose to kidney cancer last year, there was absolutely no option for treatment that would give him any sort of life.

You’re kind of stuck between a rock and a hard place with the options and limitations. Option A is a good way to start, give her a chance and see if any progress is made. Just don’t forget to look at the big picture, what’s best for her and yourself in the long run, and what kind of quality of life she has. Wishing you both all the best, hopefully the soaks and humidity bump do all the good and her bloodwork improves.

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Somehow I missed your last update. I’m sorry that the vet found additional serious issues. Hopefully your girl is able to respond to the daily soaks and increased humidity. A snake’s slow metabolism means that it will take time for any healing to be noticeable. You are doing a good thing and a hard thing in giving her a chance to heal. If she can, she will. Thinking of and saying prayers for you both.

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If you’re still feeding her small meals; and you’re worrying about dehydration. U can always inject F/t rat pup, or large mouse with a few ccs of bottled water; i do it with my gtps. A forsure way to help prevent dehydration. Ball python is not much different. If she only feeds live then that’s not an option, unless she will take a fresh killed rodent?

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She takes frozen thawed, so I can do that. I have also maintained regular soaks for her, and she’s still acting fine. At the last visit, the vet gave me a course of antibiotics that we finished about a week ago. We will go back in to get her levels checked again.

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Just figured I would post an u[date since it’s been a while. It has been 8 months. She is still holding the eggs and has never laid either of them. She finished a course of antibiotics and I have moved to once weekly soaks. She is acting normally, eating normally, and displaying no concerning behavior at all. We have an appointment in a few weeks for an ultrasound to see if ether of the eggs have moved or gotten smaller, meaning she’s hopefully successfully reabsorbing them. We’ll also do more bloodwork. I am hoping that her bloodwork comes back clean and the ultrasound shows the eggs have shrunk, because if that’s the case then I feel I can ethically look for a new pet-only home for her rather than euthanizing (with full and complete disclosure to ther buyer, of course).

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Wow! I am so sorry that all this is happening with her. God bless you for trying to do the best for her! :pray::snake::+1:

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Interesting update! Glad to hear that she’s still hanging in there and that you’re still taking good care of her. Nature can be amazing. Hopefully your girl is one of those exceptions who prove the rule about expected timelines for recovery.

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Just wanted to post a final update. Unfortunately her prognosis after the recent vet visit is not good. The two slugs have broken down, but she is not reabsorbing the material like you’d expect, so the material is free floating in her oviduct (reproductive tract?). In addition to that, she’s decided to develop follicles again, so she has about 6 in there, but they appear infected and/or otherwise badly developed. Right now the infection is limited to her reproductive tract but this is ultimately a life-limiting condition that the vet described as a ticking time bomb.

The only possible solution would be a roughly $3k spay surgery, but I absolutely cannot afford that. I think I’m going to reach out to Snake Discovery to see if she’s potentially a case they would want to take on as a surrender and try to do the spay surgery, but if not, I will just need to euthanize. Which is really unfortunate given that on the outside she’s acting completely healthy.

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This is a very disheartening prognosis @inspirationexotics! 3K is a lot of money for anyone! I surely hope Snake Discovery will take her. If this doesn’t happen and you end up with the euthanasia as a last resort, in your heart you should know you did the very best for her within your power. :pray:

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I am so sorry to hear this, @inspirationexotics. You have done your best for your snake.

I know exactly how this feels. One of my females had to be euthanized this season due to a similar infection. In her case, the infection which began in her reproductive tract had spread into her body cavity and affected many organs by the time her surgery happened. Sadly, she was euthanized before she woke up. She went into the surgery accruing mostly like her usual self; uncomfortable, but not acting critically ill. I have long known intellectually that snakes, like many animals, hide their health issues to avoid being seen as vulnerable in nature. It was still an extra heartbreak to have my sweet Aria acting like she felt decent when she was truly critically ill.

I’m sorry for what you’ve gone through with your snake. I will say extra prayers for you.

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I am so very sorry to hear that, I know that’s not the outcome you or anyone was hoping for.

Spays are incredibly expensive and a last resort treatment, I’m so sorry that there isn’t some way to make it more affordable so this wouldn’t have to be a difficult decision for you, and surgery could go ahead. That said, I have ask, did the vet do repeat bloodwork at her most recent appointment? You said back in January her bloodwork indicated substantial dehydration and possible kidney issues. If the vet hasn’t rechecked that before recommending surgery, I would suggest it. If her kidneys aren’t working properly, there are considerations for anesthesia, and the infection could have already caused organ damage. Snakes, as @caryl has noted, are very good at hiding illness until they physically can’t any longer, both a blessing and a curse. It makes it that much harder to make decisions in regards to their care. All I can suggest is to think of what you would want for yourself, were you in her place.

Sending you all the love and compassion, from me and my animals, to you and yours. :blue_heart: :people_hugging:

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The vet did recheck her bloodwork this time in addition to the ultrasound, a full blood chem panel as well as a blood culture. The vet didn’t notice dehydration issues this time and her other levels the vet suspected might be kidney issues previously were in the normal range this time, but her white blood cell count was elevated (enough to suggest something is wrong but not enough for the vet to suspect infection in other organs, she’s pretty certain it is still limited to the reproductive tract), and her calcium levels were also sky high which the vet believes is due to her consistently being in “breeding mode” for over a year at this point. So vet thinks that surgery would be the only possible fix, but of course it’s still a risk because not knowing what exactly is wrong, they could open her up and discover really delicate or friable tissue that just falls apart and leaks infected fluids into the rest of her body. But if she made it through the surgery, the vet now thinks she has a reasonable chance of full recovery.

If I had the full choice, I would go ahead and opt for surgery - that way if she passed hopefully it would be under anesthesia on the table, and if not then I’d love to find her a good pet home. But I just do not have that kind of money to spend, no matter how much I wish I did. She’s already cost me around $1500 for her three vet visits, ultrasounds, antibiotics, and bloodwork. So that’s why I figured I would reach out to Snake Discovery because I know they often take in medical surrenders, and if they aren’t interested in taking her, then I will have to just euthanize.

I’m disappointed, to say the least. She’s a wonderful, incredibly sweet snake who would have made a fantastic program animal/pet and was a gene I really wanted in my collection.

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I’m really sorry for what you went through as well. There are always risks in breeding, but it still sucks to be faced with these kinds of decisions. Snakes are definitely good at hiding discomfort, but in this case the only reason I know anything is wrong is because I know her history - her appetite, normal body functions, activity level and behavior, etc. all suggest a totally healthy, thriving animal. I will do what’s best for her in the end, but I really hate that is is what it’s come to.

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This is all anyone can possibly do. I am so sorry that you’ve gone through this whole thing. It’s so stressful when health issues drag out, drag on and on. You truly have my respect for all you’ve done for the animal. You have my deepest sympathy and empathy. Hugs and prayers as you make decisions.

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I do hope that Emily & Ed will consider taking her in, I know they’re going to be at the NARBC Schaumberg show next weekend, if you can get ahold of them. I know how difficult the money thing is, I’ve had a female spayed twice now. The second time I only managed because our vet, against all odds, gave us a payment plan that spanned several months, otherwise I’d have been in much the same boat. Wishing you and her the best outcome possible in this case, it’s obvious she means the world to you and you’re doing the best you can with the resources available.

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Sooo i may or may not be a snake discovery patron. Why does this look like our friend here? Is this good news? =D

@inspirationexotics

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That’s encouraging! It certainly does read like Snake Discovery is going to take on this girl.

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