Reptile & Amphibian Forums

this is new to me i have never seen this with either of my 2 young snakes if i my thoughts are right and this is excrement then my mind is at ease. only reason i ask is because with the young snakes it is black with white powder similar to bird droppings but this is white slimey goo. i hope this is nothing serious and i am just worrying to much.

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Cheesemonkey

THat could be a bactiral infection in the stomach or digestive system. I would start a series of doses of flaygel to clear that up.

Jason

Flaygel what is this and where can i get some i live in the uk mind so not sure if its available here how could this have been caused and if i got the snake in this condition should i ask the store to provide me with free flaygel as they must have noticed it before selling her to me and they never said anything about it
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Cheesemonkey

Hopefully you quarantined the new bull from the rest of your animals. If not, it is possible it transferred something to the others.

At any rate, Flagyl is available by prescription only in the US, not sure about the UK. It is a broad spectrum antibiotic. It is prescribed for Human and animal consumption. The doctors recently prescribed it for my father after a recent bacterial infection he had. You may have to take a snake into the vet for a check up and diagnosis. At that point they will LIKELY prescribe the Flagyl or something else.

dc

i have only had her since yesterday and she went straight into her tank which is glass fronted i have another 2 smaller tanks on top of her viv (picture below)i have only touched one other snake since noticing this goo and i have washed my hands in warm soapy water and used reptile anti bacterial spray after moving from snake to snake just to make sure. will this be enough to stop this spreading?

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Cheesemonkey

Cheese,

I know you can get panacur from places like pets at home,not sure about flagyl.As mentioned prev. you may have to see the vet to get some.

hope this helps.......AL

Although snake feces can vary from snake to snake, overall, I really believe that what you have there is not good!!

Take it to a vet ASAP and move its' cage away from your other snakes!
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Genesis 1:1

Oh dont say that i am going out of my head here i cant take her to a vet the nearest reptile vet is miles away i dont drive and it is 9.30pm vets arent even open only for emergency. could you tell me what it is? i need to know so i can contact the shop i purchased the snake from tomorrow morning and tell them that they should have treated this before selling me the snake they have put my others at risk they will be paying for treatment as she muct have contracted this in there care.
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Cheesemonkey

Don't go out of your head, this is fixable, you should pursue the seller but don't expect much unless they are reputable! Buyer beware, that said, up her heat a bit on the hot side and separate those other cages from hers. Quarantine her if possible in another room, looks like it would be easier to move the other cages. You may be able to take a fresh stool sample to the vet, in a baggie, put in FRIDGE, not freezer, they may do a fecal float and be able to help you that way.
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Todd Hughes

Well, I may not know exactly what it is, but from the looks of it, it does not look good.

What you should do, is take the snake back to the shop, demand your money back, and then hopefully they will give you your money back, and then they should treat the snake, if it is sick.
I can only make that assumption, as your pic of the good doesn't look like normal feces. No matter how much you want the snake, you don't want a new snake that is sick that could potentially infect your other snakes.

If they sold you a sick snake, and you can either take that goo itself to show them, or a pic, if they are a decent company, they should do the right thing. Since you just got the snake apparently, and have not had it except for a few days, then it may work in your favor.
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Genesis 1:1

I have split the other 2 from her and put them into a seperate room i have upped her temps slightly night temps are 78 will put day temps up mid to high 80's. I dont want to have to loose out on this snake as i have a male to go with her so i think i will just ask that the shop treat her as this was there responsibility as the snake was in there care when she contracted this. They are a reputable stockist been around for 20 years or so so i cant see this being a problem. i will take the next sample that she provides and take it to a vet for screening also and get a professional opinion on the matter thanks for the advice guys.

is there anything else I should do in the meantime?
should I still feed(incase of regurge) as she is due to be fed tonight in fact I have the mice thawing right now.

Regards Cheesemonkey
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Cheesemonkey

If this were me, I would personally not feed her today, since you now have this situation with her, you may end up needing to move her and take her to a vet tommorrow so they can see her in person, along with the next sample she leaves. In doing so, if she eats today, through the course of transporting her, in less than 24 hours since her meal, it is very possible she could regurge, and then, that is a whole other set of problems to deal with, along with this current goo problem.
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Genesis 1:1

ok can i re freeze the mice they have been thawing for 1 hour i can throw them away if necessary i dont think i can but better be safe and ask
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Cheesemonkey

Did this stuff smell like puke? To me it looks like a partial regurge.
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Jack Jeansonne

I cant say I was all for smelling it. but now you come to mention it the tank smells almost vinegary like a very sour smell she had her last meal on the 23rd so I wouldn't think regurge would be possible correct me if i am wrong though just assumed you would need to have been fed to regurge.
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Cheesemonkey

I do not know if this had been mentioned but I would put her on newspaper.

I also remember mentioning somone sayed she looked kinda skinny? This could be the reason she is kinda skinny. May be a problem that has been going on for a little while now.

switching to newspaper as of now thanks for that no one mentioned it ermmm she was loads skinnier 5 weeks ago when i first saw her i am not totally sure why she is slimmer than average i am contacting the store tomorrow about her so i will be finding out if her weight is connected to this goo
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Cheesemonkey

Cheesie,

A lot of mixed messages and possible over reactions (IMHO).

Always quarantine a new animal for 6 months or longer. That means separate room from others and handle that animal last and clean its cage, water bowl, etc. last.

The stool did not look like a regurge to me but rather feces with some mucus (colitis). This means simply inflamation of the lower intestine. Similar to when you eat some bad "fish-n-chips" or get the flu!!! Cause could be anything from serious bacterial or parasitic infection or as simple as colitis from the stress of a new home!

Best not to flagyl an animal or for that matter treat it with anything prior to getting a veterinarian's diagnosis and recommendations for treatment! These are prescription drugs for a reason! A vet is trained on if and when and how much to use! Until you know what is going on you could at best be flushing cash down the drain or worst case exacerbating an unknown problem!

Take a deep breath, go on line and google for quarantine techniques if you are not already up on those.

Continue to feed the snake on its normal schedule.

This is not a veterinary emergency so take some time to call around and find an experienced reptile veterinarian, (ask the folks at the shop where you got the snake if they have a vet, and or look online). If there is a reptile club in your town or a neighboring town see if any of those members have a vet they use!!!

Reptile medicine is different from cat, dog, or horse medicine (obviously), but some vets would rather do something that they may not be totally qualified to do rather than let a euro slip out the door..... Don't be a jerk about it but just make sure that the vet knows what they are doing. You want them to be able to identify a would be parasite in the sample of poop they are looking at right! Also, do not worry about saving a sample of the stool. This is done in cat and dog medicine because you typically can't get a dog to crap on command. The vet can however easily squeeze out a good sample of snake poo and it don't get any fresher than than.

Even if the snake's stools begin to look normal you should take it in for a vet visit and get a fecal sample looked at. This satisfies two goals.. 1) you start to develop a relationship with a vet. Good for later when you have real emergencies..... 2) the snake may have a problem and the quicker you identify it the quicker you can treat it and move on prior to infecting all your snakes.

Again, don't stress. do your home work and don't over react.

I hope this helps to alleviate some of your questions and stress.

To do it right you will have to spend some money which is never fun but when you take on an animal you own the creature that much, right?

GOOD LUCK and please keep us posted.

JG

wow thanks ginter there was so much info in that post i had to save it to my computer for reference. and so large i had to open the same window in a new browser just so i could remember all the points you had to offer while i replied.

she had a 30 minute car journey to get to her new home could this contribute? i have as of last night quarantined my her i have my other snakes out in a separate room.

I have the number for a reptile vet in the same town as the shop I purchased her from. I think i will give them a call and see what they say. i never realised you could squeeze out snake poop how wierd. i will keep informed with updated posts in a few days just as soon as i have seen the vet.

Thanks to all for the advice its was much appreciated thanks to ginter for the last post it actually calmed me down rather than make me panic more thanks.

Regards cheesemonkey(Dean)
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Cheesemonkey

oh and just to add the first day i brought her home and had a good look at her a seem to recall small bubbles from the end of her nose i just thought this was like an angry response so never thought nothing of it could she just a cold? which has spread to infection?
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Cheesemonkey

That would cause me to believe that that goo is not fecal matter. I would guess the snake was kept in less than optimal condition causing a respiratory infection. Make sure your snake has a thermo gradiant from 80-100 f. and feed it. It will choose the warmer side of the cage if it has eaten. Also keep the snake in a low traffic area (or cover it but with proper ventilation) for a while to let it recover. Provide a hide box (old cereal box) on each side of the cage. Stress has a major impact on the health and recovery of your snake. Keep it simple the less you do to your snake the better.