Help! Day 4 of prolapsed hemipene...

[Country Gecko]

Hello,

I purchased a very nice trio of Sunglow leos from Urban Geckos recently. They are just beautiful. They are all about 60+ grams and I bred them for the past two weeks or so.
After breeding the male to the second female, I experienced something I never witnessed in my many years of raising reptiles, a prolapsed hemipene! I immediately read everything I could on the subject and after considering all that I read, decided to try and CAREFULLY re-insert the hemipene after multiple soaks in sugar water/Karo syrup. I was not able to do it and did not want to harm the leo. I spoke with a local vet. that recommended I just put Animox ointment on it 3 times/day. After reading various posts that resulted in great outcomes I hoped for the leo to retract his hemi. with the Animox applications and many Karo syrup soakings.
Today is day 4 and the hemi. does'nt look any better or worse.
I spoke to a local vet that works with reptiles and they estimated the cost of treatment to be $500-$1000. This is just insane as I have read multiple posts on here of people paying around $150, and another that payed $350 though this was for three visits.
Have any of you seen the results of a hemipene that was not re-inserted? Even the breeder of this group said "if you have access to a vet that has a great deal of experience with reptiles then a trip would be worth while otherwise I wouldn't waste the money and time". If this is the case, WHAT exactly do I do right now???
I am very thankful for this forum and would greatly appreciate any input at all from people that have experienced hemipene prolapses!

Thank you,
Glenn

 

[Alusdra]

I've never dealt with a hemipene prolapse and I don't think it is as serious as other kinds of prolapses (as it comes out on it's own naturally) but that being said, you should take your gecko to a vet. The breeder has a point that unless it is a good, experienced reptile vet you will be wasting your time and money, but that isn't to say that you shouldn't go, but rather that you should look around more for a better (and more reasonably priced) vet. Things to watch out for are if it turns very red (not that bad), ulcerated (concerning), white (more concerning) or black (will likely need to be put down). White usually leads to black, so...

It sounds like you have been trying all the non-invasive treatments and that now you just need that vet. Four days is a long time to have it hanging out. You can always call around to exotic vets and ask for a phone consult to see if they can think of anything for you to try at home, too. But definitely at the least talk to a vet.

 

[Country Gecko]

Thanks Alusdra...

Thank you for your reply,

I thought I would get more replies than this but I guess not! I did however email Craig at Urban Gecko to get his recommendation. Here is his reply...

***Quote***
Thanks for your e-mail. If the hemipene does not re-insert the tissue will begin to dry out and it will eventually drop off. It's unfortunate but an act of nature that we as breeders don't have any control over. If it was me, I wouldn't be too concerned as I really don't think a vet can do much and he still has his other hemipene. In other words there really aren't many options other than let things take its course. Monitor the area closely for infection and be sure he is on clean substrate during this period. i.e. paper towel.I hope this helps.

Best regards,

Craig

 

[Alusdra]

I talked to my vet and she said, too, to watch out for necrosis (the falling off part) which I had some details on end of the first paragraph in the other post. But she also said "if he takes it to a competent reptile vet they can probably get it popped back in quite quickly." So go to the vet for sure! She isn't a reptile exclusive vet but has seen many geckos, and I think perhaps even a few with this problem. Your best bet I think would be to call up the local exotic vets and ask to speak to them directly and see if they have seen this before and/or have fixed it. At the very least then you can get a vet to tell you it isn't fixable. (Which I doubt). Make sure to keep it moist in the meantime. Definitely seek vet care for this animal.

Also- I am sort of surprised you got so few responses. It must be a very rare problem.

 

[Stitch]

I don't know if you have a regular vet or not Country Gecko, but here are a few links that may help you find a cheaper (and still good) vet:
http://www.herpvetconnection.com/

http://www.arav.org/

Alusdra, many people have dealt with prolapses. Country Gecko probably didn't get the right person to see his thread. Since this topic has been discussed before if you do a "Prolapse" search by using the search function you will see what others responded with.

Good luck with your guy Country Gecko. Do be careful that the hemipenis does not get infected.

 

[GoGo]

Geeze. Your vet, is crazy, thats all i can say. Ive seen so many prolapse threads, every time they went to a vet, it wasnt very expensive, and the vet popped it in and got everything done in all of a 15 seconds. Get a new vet from stitches links or let it fall off, but make sure nothing besides it falling off happens.

 

[Country Gecko]

He retracted it after 9 days!!!

Hello all,

First, thank you all for your replies! They are very much appreciated!

Today I came home from work, a pretty stressful day, and what do I find when I open my Sunglow males bin to apply his ointment? Yup, the hemi was completely retracted! I just went to check on it again and sure enough, he retracted it on his own. There is a little bump right next to his other hemi (which of course was'nt there for the past 9 days) and he is looking great! I'm pretty happy but will be quite concerned when it comes to breeding him again in the future. A good amount of R&R is in order for this guy for a while as he gets back to full health again!

Thanks again,
Glenn