I need some advice from experienced breeders who've had to aspirate the contents of a stuck, infected egg. What is the best antibiotic to give the snake if she's at high risk for infection due to egg contents leaking out into her oviduct?
Early last Friday, May 13, my anery female laid 8 good eggs and 4 slugs. However, later that afternoon, I realized that she still had one good-size egg about 5 inches up from her cloaca, with what felt like probably a slug behind it. I tried gently manipulating the egg, but it wouldn't budge at all. Saturday morning, I took her to my vet, who recommended waiting a few days before taking any action.
On Monday morning, she passed a massive amount of feces, so I thought surely the eggs would come on down (thinking that maybe the feces had caused a blockage). However, over the next two days, the egg not only moved, but it started to swell. By yesterday morning (Thursday), it was clear that something was really wrong with that egg, so we went back to the vet.
The vet decided to aspirate the egg, but right as he puntured the skin and the egg, a little of the egg's contents squirted out beside the needle (which we both knew was a bad sign, since some of the contents probably had also leaked into the oviduct). He pulled a full syringe of cloudy, light yellowish fluid from the egg. Afterwards, he gave her an injection of calcium, to stimulate contractions, and he gave her an injection of Gentacin, a broad-spectrum antibiotic. He also started a culture of the egg contents, to try to determine what type of bacteria we are dealing with.
However, the culture won't be complete until Monday morning (complete as in showing us antibiotic sensitivity). I'm taking the female back tomorrow (Saturday) for another injection of Gentacin, but I'm hoping that someone out there has had experience with infected eggs and can tell me what antibiotic is best for this type of situation.
Hope to hear from someone soon, as I'm really concerned about peritonitis.
Liz
Early last Friday, May 13, my anery female laid 8 good eggs and 4 slugs. However, later that afternoon, I realized that she still had one good-size egg about 5 inches up from her cloaca, with what felt like probably a slug behind it. I tried gently manipulating the egg, but it wouldn't budge at all. Saturday morning, I took her to my vet, who recommended waiting a few days before taking any action.
On Monday morning, she passed a massive amount of feces, so I thought surely the eggs would come on down (thinking that maybe the feces had caused a blockage). However, over the next two days, the egg not only moved, but it started to swell. By yesterday morning (Thursday), it was clear that something was really wrong with that egg, so we went back to the vet.
The vet decided to aspirate the egg, but right as he puntured the skin and the egg, a little of the egg's contents squirted out beside the needle (which we both knew was a bad sign, since some of the contents probably had also leaked into the oviduct). He pulled a full syringe of cloudy, light yellowish fluid from the egg. Afterwards, he gave her an injection of calcium, to stimulate contractions, and he gave her an injection of Gentacin, a broad-spectrum antibiotic. He also started a culture of the egg contents, to try to determine what type of bacteria we are dealing with.
However, the culture won't be complete until Monday morning (complete as in showing us antibiotic sensitivity). I'm taking the female back tomorrow (Saturday) for another injection of Gentacin, but I'm hoping that someone out there has had experience with infected eggs and can tell me what antibiotic is best for this type of situation.
Hope to hear from someone soon, as I'm really concerned about peritonitis.
Liz