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Can anyone give me some possible suggestions as to what greenish colored poop might indicate? The snake is a south western speckled rattlesnake that gave birth in late sept. and has only eaten one meal since. She is pretty thin right now and I am wondering if part of the problem is that she might be chronically ill.

Thanks,

Brendan

This is how snakes get rid of nitrogenous waste. I wouldn't worry. It's like our urine. Snakes take it another step and produce uric acid crystals.

Sometimes when snakes have not gotten rid of any waste in a while you will see a greenish tint to this stuff. I would be concerned about the snake only eating one meal since last september though.

Most of the time, (unless you're feeding green rats to your snakes LOL) the green color in the fecal material is indicative of a bacterial infection, in my experience. I'd suggest taking a fecal sample to a vet to have it analyzed for pathogens. Is the snake a wild caught animal? It may be thinking it's time to den for the winter, and that could be one cause for the fast... she could be tough to get started without cooling for at least a couple of weeks to see if you can fool her into thinking it's spring again. Once you have the fecal sample examined (some of what you took the photo of might work if it isn't too dried out yet) you'll probably end up having to give her some flagyl and possibly panacur. You can search for doses here (roughly 100mg/kg body weight, if I recall correctly) and also suggestions on administration of the meds if you've never done that before. It's not too hard to do, but if you haven't much experience I'd suggest taking the snake to a vet that will treat venomous (if that's an option) or finding a local keeper with the experience, so you can learn correctly.... the only real "trick" to getting a feeding/medicating tube in is lubricating it a little... The only dangerous aspects are 1) that you don't insert the tube in the lung, and 2) that you aren't so rough as to scrape up the esophagial region while pushing in the tube. I buy catheters from Bean Farm with a round tip to medicate snakes... they're cheap so you're not tempted to re-use them and cross infect another animal, and they have holes in the sides of the tube so that the end can be smooth for easy and safe insertion... The come with a fairly large (30cc If I recall correctly) syringe.... large enough to mix the meds in some pedialyte with some puree'd turkey or chicken for a little protein and fat in the "cocktail" and the holes in the sides allow you to squeeze a little medicine out on the way in to wet the tip as you push....

Best regards,

Tom Townsend

>>Can anyone give me some possible suggestions as to what greenish colored poop might indicate? The snake is a south western speckled rattlesnake that gave birth in late sept. and has only eaten one meal since. She is pretty thin right now and I am wondering if part of the problem is that she might be chronically ill.
>>
>>Thanks,
>>
>>Brendan
>>
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"Seek first to understand, then to be understood"

np

I see green urates frequently in association with prolonged anorexia. I flashed your picture around to the instructors and the other vets in Intermediate Reptile Medicine class last night, and asked about the underlying physiological mechanism.

Basically the coloration is caused by an excess of biliverdin in the liver. Bile stasis was also suggested by the instructor. These conditions can be associated with liver disease, but biliverdin production also occurs normally in snakes at varying levels. So if you occasionally see green crap in an otherwise healthy animal, it's not to worry. When you see it in an anorexic animal that looks like crap, it's time to worry. This animal needs veterinary attention.

Your only option may be to give treatment on your own if you cannot find a vet nearby who will treat her. See www.snakegetters.com/demo/vet for some good articles on safe veterinary restraint.
Veterinary articles on venomous snakes

I appreciate the help. I will give it a little time and seee what happens.