Moon's Graden

Does anyone know anything about cloacoliths?  I've been reading online
trying to figure out what my snake's got going on [
http://tinyurl.com/4uqmz ], and I came across a few sources [e.g.
http://www.animalhospitals-usa.com/reptiles/snake_diseases_general.html
] that briefly mentioned that when a snake is dehydrated, uric acid
"stones" can form in the cloaca.  Dylan has some kind of protrusion at
the side of his cloaca, and tonight when I was applying the
chlorhexidine, I felt something very hard about 1/4" above the cloaca
that I hadn't felt before.

The sites said that dehydration is a sign of disease, but I'm also
wondering if there could be a problem with his housing.  Perhaps it's
not humid enough?  Brown snakes often live near water/marshes, so
maybe I need a moist hide or a humidifier?

Thanks in advance for any help.

Mindy,

Instead of re-writing what others say about cloacoliths, here is an excerpt
from a well-known reptile vet:

"Dehydration of captive snakes (especially if long-standing) may result in
drying out of urinary excretions. When this occurs, uric acid "stones" tend
to form within the cloaca ("cloacoliths"). Their presence in this location
prevents expulsion of urinary waste and feces (constipation), which creates
serious illness. Dehydration is a sign of disease and not a disease in
itself, so it becomes the veterinarian's task to determine the underlying
problem that caused the dehydration. Cloacoliths can usually be manually
expelled with patience and the help of mineral oil***s. This procedure
should only be attempted by an experienced veterinarian."

If you are not familiar with any of the above procedures, I strongly suggest
you take your animal to a qualified vet that can help. Below is a link to
help you find a vet in your area (assuming you are in the US):

http://www.moonsgarden.com/

Assuming you are correct (and I am not a big fan of
self-diagnosis/Frankenstein medicine), I would still urge you to have the
animal looked at by a qualified vet. If it is indeed cloacoliths, you will
need to find the cause of the malady to ensure the proper long-term health
of your animal.

~Wade

Oh, I fully agree.  I reread my post, and I didn't make it clear that
I don't necessarily think he has them, I'm just trying to find out
more about what he *might* have.  I took him to the vet about two
weeks ago.  I'm treating the issue as she instructed (I described that
visit here: http://tinyurl.com/4uqmz), but it looks like I'll have to
bring him back as his symptoms are now quite different.  I think I'll
try a different vet, though.  I'm definitely not qualified to diagnose
anything, but I'm still searching for information.

I had read that quote you posted, but I couldn't find anything besides
that.  It was odd b/c I found that quote, verbatim, on about 5
different websites, but absolutely nothing else.  It was as though
since once one person wrote a paragraph about it, no one else had
anything to add, which struck me as unusual for the internet.

I started doing warm water soaks yesterday morning, and some
interesting things happened.  Yesterday, a rather large (for his size)
off-white solid thing came out.  It was about the consistency of
sandstone.  I'm guessing it was whatever I felt 1/4" above his cloaca
the day before.  It was about 1/8" x 3/16" which seems huge for a
snake who's as wide as a pen at his widest point.  The bump in his
cloaca changed a bit yesterday morning and a lot this morning.  In
fact, after his soak this morning, whatever was inside making that
original bump from two (three?) weeks ago is working its way out.
It's so far out that I could have pulled it out/lightly rubbed it off,
but that seemed like it was probably a bad idea, so I just left it.
If it progresses at the same rate, I think it'll probably come out
during his soak tomorrow morning.  I've got my fingers crossed,
anyway.

I'm just worried about him.  I've never had a sick snake before, and
it freaks me out.  Intuitively, I know so much more about my cat than
I do my snake, so I feel really lost!  I do know I need to figure out
why all this happened before it happens again, so even if the bump is
gone by tomorrow morning, I'll call around to find a vet who'll do
some detective work.  I just thought I'd run the whole thing by people
here b/c you all seem to know a lot, and any information I can get is
helpful.

Thanks!

I have a few articles that explain more fully about Cloacoliths; I will post
what these articles have to say, and their sources. Give me a few days as I
am knee-deep in another promised article pertaining to Iguana evolution for
another poster.

~Wade

Wow, thank you!  Yes, I read that post about iguana evolution and was
quite curious about that too.