Hardened yolks, hard belly, mass in Ball python hatchlings

This topic comes up each year around April/May, as farmed baby Balls start being available, and occasionally is occurs in u.s.c.b. babies as well.

The issue is a hatchling Ball python that has a hardened mass in the belly. This can vary in size, but it is typically significant and bulky.

Speculation is that this mass is a hardened yolk. As you can see in the pictures, the mass itself is a pinkish meaty substance. I would think a hardened yolk would have a different look to it. In the end, I still don't know what it is, or what causes it, but it is often referred to as a "hardened yolk".

This hardened mass prevents normal movement or locomotion in the hatchling, it completely blocks the GI tract, and the baby won't be able to eat, nor survive, without removing it. The longer you wait, the less likely you are to have a successful outcome. They will NOT pass it on their own, and instead only grow weaker and more dehydrated as days go by.

Unless a vet has specifically dealt with that in the past, successfully, it is unlikely they would be all that helpful, so I wouldn't recommend a vet visit as a matter of course.

You see this condition every season in the farmed baby balls from Africa. Less than 1% of those babies have the issue. Even more rare is to see it in u.s.c.b. hatchlings.

The hatchlings with the hard belly are often odd patterned and visually exciting, which leads to even more disappointment when they pass. They often have smaller or misshapen heads as well (as evidenced in this narrow head hatchling). These structure and pattern issues lead me to believe this is an underlying development issue.

Sometimes you can use your thumb to carefully pass the mass through the vent, and sometimes while doing that it splits the baby right up the middle as it passes. Sometimes it is too big to start the pass at all. It is never a fun thing to deal with.

Splitting the belly of the animal is a LIKELY occurrence when you are trying to pass the mass. Please be mentally prepared for this horror (exactly what it is) and be ready to quickly dispatch the animal at this point. This is the very ugly and sad side of animal propagation, it is important to end the suffering of the hatchling immediately at this point.

Once you have passed it, the baby will have a completely hollowed out appearance. Never is the trauma of the experience more apparent than at this point, as you hold and examine the completely empty (and vacuumed) body cavity of the hatchling.

Even after a successful pass, the hatchling is unlikely to eat on its own. I would say only 10-20% live more than 2 months after the pass of the hard mass.

Culling these hard belly animals before attempting the pass is not an irresponsible choice. It is an incredible uphill battle for the animal to not just survive, but thrive. The potential trauma of the pass is extreme. But there is no future with leaving the mass in place and "hoping for the best" either.

This particular hatchling did recover and after some assist feeding with rat pups, did grow and feed on its own.

Best of luck to anyone that has to deal with this unpleasant situation.

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Thank you for the post Robyn, the pictures alone speak volumes.

Thanks Robyn! Not something at all that we like to think of, much less see, but there's much to be said for at least being informed of the possible downsides and troublesome occurrences of breeding.

thanks for the info

Thanks for sharing, this post is so informative and honestly, became an eye opener for most keepers like me who's not familiar w/ hard belly. So how's the hatchling on the picture doin right now?

These pics are old, maybe 2003? After our facility fire, we don't have any more snakes at all.

It is almost inconceivable that that huge pink mass came out of that baby. My goodness it's easily half the body mass of that hatchling.

Thank you very much for posting this Robyn, as a beginning breeder, I need and want to know what can go wrong, so I am prepared when the inevitable does happen. The bad things that happen during breeding of any animal is not something most people want to think about, but if you are informed, you can be prepared. And if you are prepared, then both the hatchling and yourself are more likely to survive the experience.

Gale

To the best of your knowledge has this mass occurred in any other species?? Has it occurred in colubrids or boas? Since boas give birth to live young, I wonder if that would be possible.

Thank you for posting this! I can only imagine how difficult this must be to deal with. I appreciate your willingness to publicize this information.

So has anyone done histopathology on this mass to see what it is??? If you have such a low survival rate...why are you doing anything to an animal that has the potential to "split it up the middle"? Or if they survive being squeezed they get to starve to death unless force fed. Torture before death. Great. Really? You realize this bit of tissue is likely adhered to the wall of the intestine/bowel and then you are tearing through the intestine/bowel, through the body wall and the skin when you "split them open"

Why not just HUMANELY euthanise the animal when you notice the issue. I don't care what kind of farming is going on...even large animal farmers use veterinarians, and since the year is now 2012 there are options available to treat and/or euthanise. This is like saying, oh, my newborn puppy has a lump in the belly, so I sqeezed the lump and and OOPs, the belly split open, quick, kill it now" Just because a snake cant scream doesn't mean its not in pain. And to inform other people how to do this??? Lets start a snake splitting forum! Disgusting, irresponsible, horrible