Reptile & Amphibian Forums

What are the causes for a boa to have this....its been going on for a few weeks....eats well, looks well, but when she defecates its always 'soupy'.

Going to get a fecal exam, but any opinions and/or advice appreciated.

Thanks.

If it is a young boa and you are feeding him/her baby rats, this could be the cause. Since I swiched back over to mice, my boas poop looks much better. There is a chance your little boa is sick though. I would take a trip to the vet if its real soupy and you are already feeding him/her mice. Keep in mind I am not a vet and these are just suggestions. Good luck.
Michael Burton

Thanks,
She is a young boa...i do feed her rats...her stool wasn't that soupy..

I took a sample to the vet today and it came out negative...so I guess your reasoning is right...it must be the fact that she eats rats...good to know..thanks!!

The point is not rats vs mice, it's hairless vs furry. A fairly good percentage of the stool will be the prey's hair. feed pinkies or fuzzies and the stool won't have the hair to help fuse it together.
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Thanks,

Dave "Rainbows-R-Us"

0.1 Wife (WC)
0.2 kids (CBB)
4.12 Brazilian Rainbow Boa
2.1 Hypomelanistic BRB
0.1 Het for Hypomelanistic BRB
0.1 BCI "Elvira" normal from 1989
1.0 BCI albino / het-anery
0.1 BCI Hypo / het-albino
0.1 BCI Anery / het-albino
0.1 BCI Hypo (possible super)
1.0 BCI albino het stripe
1.0 BCI salmon hypo
0.1 BCI ghost

lots.lots.lots feeder mice and rats

What Dave said is probably true, not really sure. But the only way to feed them the correct size prey with fur is to feed them mice. Otherwise you would have to feed them a weaned rap pup, which might be too big. Really depends on how big your baby boa is. I heard about feeding mice to baby boas from Celia at Exotics by Nature. I would go to her site and email her. She is very helpful. www.boaconstrictormorphs.com She might have a little more information about this. I have heard some other positive things about feeding mice because they aren't so fatty. The only positive thing I've heard about feeding rats is it makes them grow faster. Hope this helps.
Michael Burton

It's like you eating fiber and greens for ruffage(sp?) I feed all of my babies mice, and throw in rat pinks here and there for some variety to keep them from getting picky.
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Ed Lilley, www.constrictorsnw.com