What is a prolapse and how do I know if my herp has one?
A prolapse is when the claoca gets pushed through the anus during a bowel movement. It happens to many herps but most commonly to frogs. Basically, the animal’s intestines are hanging out. Most likely it will look pinkish and gooey, and will appear to be stuck to their rectum.
Picture here:
As you can see, my frog had a bowel movement after it happened, and it doesn’t look pretty at all.
Sounds like what’s happening, what can I do?
If you’re like me, when you first see this you will have a heart attack. Now take a deep breath, and get your heart beating again if need be. As far as treatments to this issue are concerned, most cases can be solved by soaking the animal in sugar water solution of about 1 teaspoon to 3 ounces of water. Soak the herp for about 20-30 minutes and make sure it has recessed. If that doesn’t work, some have been successful by using a wet q-tip and nudging it a little to help the animal along. I wouldn’t do it myself, as I don’t know what I’m doing, but if you need to, that’s an option that is open to you. If the sugar water doesn’t help, you will need to see a vet. The sooner the better, because if the tissue dries out you’ll be holding burial ceremonies for your beloved herp. Whatever you do though, don’t pull on it, or try and remove it by other means, this would be devastating to your little friend.
Okay, it’s back in, all better?
For now, yes, but you should keep an eye on them for a while. It will take about 7-10 days to heal completely, so it is best not to feed the animal during that time. IF you can’t handle doing that to your herp, you can feed it soft foods, such as wax worms, raise the humidity a little, and watch them closely. After the healing period, there are a couple of things you can do to help make sure your animal doesn’t have another prolapse. Feed it smaller food items, raise the tank humidity a little bit, and make sure it is getting enough calcium. All these are know causes of prolapsed cloacas. This can also be caused by impaction from substrate etc, so it is best to find the cause and eliminate it, so your herp doesn’t have to endure another prolapse, as I’m pretty sure it’s a rather painful experience.
Closing Words
This was written because I ran into this just a week or so after I got my frogs, and I had done extensive research on the frogs and diseases before purchasing, and never saw any of this information. From what I read, it’s not all that uncommon of a problem, and I don’t want anyone to have to endure the stress and sleep loss that I did while reading endless pages on google about frog ailments. So I’ve collected as much info as possible here. Please feel free to add any info you deem necessary.
References
The Reptile Blog
UK Reptile Forums
Horned Frog Haven
And Froggsong for pointing me in the right direction.
Keywords for search:
Prolapse, Cloaca, Gooey, Goo, Slime, Butt, Rump, Bum
Prolapse In Tree Frogs
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