After seeing her this afternoon, I’m afraid you are right. The vent area was more squishy although it has been more firm. With a little massaging (she was straining a little) I got urates, a little poop, and a little blood to come out. Looking in the vent (because something isn’t coming out easily) I can definitely see much more gore and blood. I have no idea what it is and I’m not going to try to make it come out by force in case it’s still attached or could cause harm. She’s also pretty listless, her antibiotic shot was too easy. She never fought, hissed, or anything. I now believe that she will pass, but I am going to give her a couple days to see if this is just getting worse before getting better.
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I’m so sorry you’re going through this. I’d try to be prepared to put her down sooner rather than later. I don’t know if you could afford to do a necropsy on her if she does pass, to maybe see how long the parasites have been in her. If you can’t afford one I would be willing to donate to a GoFundMe if you put one up. I do hope she gets better, but I doubt it will happen. If you need someone to talk to my DMs are open! Good luck
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If I were you I would personally put her down, since it is unlikely she will get better and will just suffer before dying. If you don’t have the money to go to a vet to put her down, then you can use a firm blow to the head with a brick, or something similar to put her down quickly. It sucks, but it is better than leaving her to pass on her own.
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It’s Blues decision.
Sorry Blue that sucks. And pretty bizarre situation overall.
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I might can meet the vet again tomorrow to see what they think. I definitely don’t want her to suffer but I also know that I can’t put her down myself. I could probably get my dad or brother to though.
She was still tongue flicking and moving, just not as much as I’d like. I’m not giving up on her until she gives up on herself. I have collected the old maggots and a couple flies to be looked at. Flies are really hard to definitively ID but an entomologist has offered to try. The maggots I plan to show a vet (maybe not the reptile vet but still a vet) to see if they are a parasite or maggot.
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I’m so sorry, there’s nothing quite as heartbreaking as thinking an animal is recovering only to lose them later.
And thank you so much for the pictures, weirdly it was super comforting to see they weren’t nearly as bad as what my parasitic-worm-phobic brain was conjuring up for me!
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I’m very sorry to hear that. While I am a (hopefully not permanently) retired veterinarian, I am not too proud to acknowledge that I am rusty and not an exotics vet. An entomologist should be able to guide you in the right direction re:type of parasite, then you can share that info with your vet, and that can inform treatment. There is sometimes an issue in mammals with treating patients that have a heavy parasite burden, whereby the sudden death of all the parasites causes a chain reaction that can make treatment difficult. However, I have seen animals in those situations pull through, when one goes in anticipating it. I’m not trying to argue either way, just offering what I know that might help.
Whatever you do, do not forcefully massage. I have seen snakes pass away after exactly this, even in an (exotics) veterinary situation. In the case that comes to mind, the lump was related to a food item becoming impacted in the GI tract, with lower temps a suspect for the cause of the inadequate passage of the prey. Perhaps that happened, causing damage to the GI tract, and the infestation is secondary to that somehow? Not what I would expect, just throwing out some ideas.
Should you decide to cull, there was a recent thread discussing the culling of snakes.
Thank you again for sharing her story.
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Omg this is my nightmare. Im so sorry you are going through this and hope you find a solution that puts you and the noodle at peace. <3
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As a clarification, what I described above as “palpating” was not forceful, it was the same level of pressure I would use palpating a female to check for follicles - the weight of the snake on your fingers is all the force that is being applied
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Checking on her this morning I am not continuing treatment. She is basically unresponsive and can’t hold her head up on her own. She is giving tiny tongue flicks and barely moving when turned upside down. Her head has a light twitch when left unsupported. I’m planning on putting her down to prevent undue suffering. I’m going to let the vet and her breeder know what happened as well. I do still plan on having the maggots looked at to just determine maggot or parasite and if the flies are fungus gnats or not.
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Sorry again Blue. Thank you for sharing. Let us know if you find out a likely ID on them or where they came from.
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I am so sorry to hear that
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I’m sorry you have to go through this, my heart goes out to you and Your animal.
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I’m sorry for your loss.
But at least you did everything you could for her.
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Sorry that this has happened to you and your animal Just take comfort in the knowing that you have done your best providing comfort and care and soon its suffering will be over with.
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I can’t imagine how hard it could be to make a topic like this. Thank you for sharing this unfortunate event with us. I hope you’re doing ok and wish you the best.
I’m also glad you brought this to light to let us know of something that many of us haven’t experienced firsthand. It’s good to know these things can happen and what to do when they occur, because finding experiences like this can be difficult so any information, even as hard as it is to discuss, is good for our hobby.
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Once the vet saw her he very much agreed that she had no chance and putting her down was the best for her. Once she passed the vet pushed out what was in her vent, it was urates, blood, and gore. After seeing that I was sure no treatment could have helped her. The wound in her belly showed much of the muscles and tendons in the area. Didn’t see the digestive tract (could have been behind the muscles) so that may have been the gore. She will be in the freezer until I can preserve her. Vet took a look and said the maggots were exactly that, maggots. Still not sure how it happened. One possiblity is infection turned rotten which attracted the flies and then maggots.
All reptiles are now being bathed, inspected, and tubs disinfected to prevent or find any others.
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I’m so sorry you went through this. You did everything you could have; she was very lucky to have you.
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BABY D: How can I tell if my Juvenile will have a belly button burst!? D:
You’ll find that they’re more than likely phorrid flies that colonized the open wound.
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