Reptile Forums banner

boa poo'ing...

2K views 24 replies 11 participants last post by  ptmbradley 
#1 ·
Now i kno most snakes , well boas store their crap for ages and then let rip . i have had Rudi since 16th December and no poop , however she looks like she has one brewing . took a pic as she seems abit more swollen in her lower half , is this normal ? just a boa getting ready to poo ?
Shes having a bad shed atm as we were treating her for mites and used olive oil and its made sheddin awful . This girl hates water and so the usual soaking in warm water may not help as she tries her hardest to rest on her coils out of water . is there anythin else i can do to make her poop (man must be the only time im suggesting making a boa poo :sick:)

The first pic is when we got her , remote is 9 inches



And this one is today , excuse bad shed , much to her dislike shes in a pillowcase atm!

 
See less See more
2
#2 ·
Hi Laura

You really need to soak her in warm water if you place her in a rub she will calm down after a while this will also sort out her shed

It is also an idea to get your boa out and exercise it to build up muscle tone do not feed until she has defecated the biggest problem that causes constipation is bad muscle tone.

When you start feeding again only feed small food items

Hope this helps Peter
 
#3 ·
My female had a bit of a constipation problem when I first got her.
I simply spread out the feeding days so she was pooping normally. She still saved it for about 6 weeks at a time but then went no problems.

A bath should help it poop. Put a little water in a rub and put the lid on - make sure there's a few holes in it first. Leave the boa in there for 10 mins.
A face cloth in the bottom will help the shed as well.
 
#5 ·
we are struggling to handle atm as shes got mites so we tried to leave her to it for the moment . We have tried soaking her for 30 mins in luke warm water to no avail . her current feeding schedule is every 7 days on a rat fluff . Shes isnt an active snake when shes in her hide thats it she wont move until we shift her and handle her . so you think this could cause problems ? and we should not feed her again until shes poo'd ? As i say she hasnt poo'd with us yet and we had her the 16th of December .
Should we move her back down to an adult mouse ?
 
#6 ·
Mine just dropped several massive logs in her water bowl tonight. It's hard to believe that much poo could have been in the snake! It was her first "motion" for a few weeks.

My burm is a bit more frequent and the cali king is roughly weekly. The viperine is every time you pick her up!
 
#9 ·
For get about feeding for the moment you need to excise this snake and soak her on a regular basis in warm water this build up is due to a non active snake and failing to build up her muscle tone could result in a prolapse.

This the main reason Boas die young an inactive Boa that is over fed is a death sentence I am not trying to worry you but you need to start with the exercise straight away get her out and let her move through your hands for at least an hour a day this will help her push out the build up.

When she has passed the back log send me a pm and I will explain what to do moving forwards

Take care Peter
 
#10 ·
For get about feeding for the moment you need to excise this snake and soak her on a regular basis in warm water this build up is due to a non active snake and failing to build up her muscle tone could result in a prolapse.

This the main reason Boas die young an inactive Boa that is over fed is a death sentence I am not trying to worry you but you need to start with the exercise straight away get her out and let her move through your hands for at least an hour a day this will help her push out the build up.

When she has passed the back log send me a pm and I will explain what to do moving forwards

Take care Peter
never heard this before but sounds like logical and sound advice, boas are lazy particularly when well (over) fed, i like mine to start hunting for it now before they get fed, but will now start to handle more than the when i can be bothered or cleaning them.
this forum needs more input from experienced breeders keepers such as yourself!!!
 
#12 ·
Ok , slightly worried now :( as I say normally i handle my lot often but had kept hands off due to mites . And i thought it was better for them to be on the equivalent in rat size so shew on fluffs , but will not feed her now until she's pood then will switch back to mice
 
#15 ·
Not really a boa man.But.
How about you trying a day old chick. my carpets love them but they do turn them out in a really nasty wet smelly way:devil:.But that would deffo solve your problem.
I'm sure someone will tell you if this is a crap idea:lol2:
 
#17 ·
Thanks for the advice so far , I don't want people to think im power feeding her , I'm not in the slightest if u look at my bigger boa in previous threads people have said shes.in great condition etc . This little boa is almost three foot long and a year old in may . As for feeding weekly it was just wat i had read in books and from reading what others on here were feeding and also going on her previous feeding records where she was fed weekly on adult mice , and knowing and being advised rats were better I just switched it to the equivalent in rats that bein a rat fluff exactly the same.size as the mouse .
I will def space het feeding out more then and see , and obviously not feed until she's emptied hetself .
A lot of people mentioned in the past that snakes especially bigger ones will go when they need to go , but now im worried :(
 
#20 ·
i will def listen to all advice offered by everyone and a very greatful for the help . I had just been adviced Re feeding that once a week on a rat fluff would be ok . But i will certainly drop feeds back to 10 days when she has emptied .
I just got back from work and put her into a bigger rub as the smaller ones mean that she cant move around as much , she hated this but the good thing was she moved around alot and let out 3 urate balls and a smaller poo . I then dried her off and let her have a big climb on my spiral stair case and i will make sure i get her out for an hour or so each day and handle her aswel as let her climb on the stairs .







 
#23 · (Edited)
i will def listen to all advice offered by everyone and a very greatful for the help . I had just been adviced Re feeding that once a week on a rat fluff would be ok .
It usually is and the Albino I bought from Peter last year is the same age as yours and eating the same thing and doing fine on weekly feeds. However he never appears to sleep, he's constantly climbing round the tub all day every day so he's pretty well exercised.
It all depends on the individual snake, you have to get to know their habits and learn from it and adapt to them.

Your situation here is a perfect example to anyone new of the above.
You have had the snake for a short time, noticed a problem, fixed it and adapted your routine to suit the snake and avoid the problem happening again.

Every 10 days on the appropriately sized food was fine for my female once I'd sorted out the constipation bit and I still now feed her less often than others do.
I do have to get her out regularly though cos she's a lazy sod.
 
#21 ·
she does look a good size for her age and would put it down to lack of movement with a good feeding. Exercise is going to be good for her, may be a good idea to put some bendy vine in her enclosure to give her something to climb over and wrap around.
Still interested in hearing from Peter and finding out his next course of action.
 
#22 ·
yup like i say only reason i havent been gettin her out the past month is because of mites , usually i have them out alot more . Shes currently in an exo terra flat faun , however i will have a shuffle round and get her into a viv with extra stuff to climb, and drop feeds back , im waiting to hear of peter also
 
#24 ·
I am sure now you are excercising and soaking the boa she will pass the blockage 9 times out of 10 urates are the cause of the blockage so I would advise once you resume feeding keep on rat fluff the reason for this is due to the undeveloped bones and lack of hair will reduce the uric build up in your snake.
Once she has regained her muscle tone move her onto small weaners every 10days then you will be on the home straight.:2thumb:

Hope this helps
Peter
 
#25 ·
Some interesting comments here. :)

We may have siblings Laura. I know you were offered one but don't know if this is the same one.

Anyway I too have a very lethargic albino that's a little weak and underweight. I got her in September and she was 97g. I weighed her last week and she was still 97g. I tried putting her on 7 or even 5 day feeds to build her up a bit, but she just doesn't want to eat that often and now eats a medium mouse every 10-14 days. Even then she sometimes refuses and went a month between meals recently.

I never considered getting her out and forcing her into regular exercise to build up some muscle. It's something I shall start doing with immediate effect, so thanks to Peter Rice and others for the tip. :)

She's not suffered poo problems though and tends to go a week or so after eating.

Just for info, my other 2011 (an arabesque), is double that weight and is on large mice every 10-14 days. All my 2010's are on small rat weiners every couple of weeks and weigh in at around the half kilo mark. :)

Elvira, my arabesque, had a bad shed a couple of months ago. The whole head/neck area was retained while the rest was clear. She's quite a feisty girl and there's no way she'd let me mess with that area, so in an effort to get the shed off I put her in a pillowcase with a damp towel for a couple of hours across 3 evenings. But it still didn't come off. So I put some sphagnum moss in her rub hoping she'd try and loosen it herself, but still no joy. In the end I decided just to see what happened with the next shed, with the view of a trip to the vets if it still didn't come off. When I saw she was in blue I sprayed the rub regularly and kept the moss damp, and it worked. One piece shed and pristine once again. :)
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top