Atresia Ani - baby blocked up.

I thought I would start a new thread so this information would be easy to find for anyone having the same problem in the future.

During a check of my hatchlings I noticed that one baby looked particularly chunky at its back end. This baby had never pooped so, sadly, I got quite excited and thought it was finally gonna poop for me. It didn't. So I had a closer look and this is what I saw:





So I've just come back from seeing the vet and he told me that he normally sees this in pigs, it's called atresia ani which he said, and I quote, "it means basically, no butthole". Which to be honest is what I'd guessed it would be. The anus hasn't formed properly
We decided that because baby was so active and feisty not to give up hope but to try perforating the membrane and hoping he would be able to pass his wastes. Biggest problem of that was we weren't sure how far up the colon would be malformed. So the vet sterilized the area and cut the membrane and baby pooped! Boy, did baby poop! The vet took his time cleaning the area out as urates had crystallized and we really needed them not to be left in the snake...

Baby looks a million times better now. Our concern now of course is that it may seal up again so we are going to feed it tonight to try to keep everything flowing and give him baths starting tomorrow. I will be keeping this little one to myself (assuming it survives) as it doesn't really have a fully formed "valve" at the cloaca and I don't trust anyone not to breed with it.

I will update this thread with news as and when it happens. I hope this helps people in the future so you all don't have to freak out as much as I was.

Wow! Good luck with his recovery, fingers crossed for you

Well- I bet he's very relieved! So- just like a human, he gets surgery- just a little bit simpler! Good luck, little baby...

I bet he feels much better. Just glad he has someone to take such good care of him. I hope he makes a full recovery.

He's so lucky to have you, I hope when it heals it all works properly for him and he lives a long, happy life as a pet.

So baby didn't eat and went bat s**t crazy at bathtime. Poor little mite. I'm going to leave it be today and offer food tomorrow night.

Luck, Luck and more Luck to you and him!

Poor baby, very informative though thank you for posting this. I hope he heals up okay and can live a long happy life, I'm glad he's such a fighter.

Okay...

Bad news, baby didn't make it. 5 days after seeing the vet, I discovered baby was paralyzed on the last quarter of it's body. An hour or so later and it had passed away. My guess is either it was a build up of toxins had done irreparable damage or there were other malformations.

Thank you all for your support and encouragement.

I'm sorry to hear that. At least you gave him a chance. Fortunately, that condition must be very, very rare in a snake, especially one that has hatched (not DIE).

So sorry to hear that, what a shame.

Darn, you tried your best, I was really hoping for a good outcome