Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hello gentlemen/and ladies ,

I posted here months ago regarding my Redtail Boa and his inability to go to the bathroom. I was advised to feed him bigger meals less of the time instead of feeding him many little meals a lot of the time.

Unfortunately, this hasn't worked. He still continues to go up to TWO MONTHS without any type of defeacation whatsoever. Can anyone help? Has anyone else experienced this type of problem?

Hi,

My Red tail will routinely take 2 months for a BM. I feed him a F/T rat the size that he is around at mid body once every 7-10 days. I don't think you should be concerned as long as he is going every 2 months or so. I have several snakes so I chart their BMs, urates, sheds, etc. so i really know how long its been. If you would like to "speed things up" you can let him soak in a rubbermaid or bathtub in water that is 85-90 degrees and maybe a couple inches deeper than he is thick...make sure to properly sanitize the tub after... The warm water and swimming around usually does the trick. My BCI loves tub time.

Good Luck,

Joe

Hey Joe,

Thanks for the info, man! I appreciate it. I'm very much like you.....I keep a complete dossier on my Boa. When he goes to the bathroom, when and how much I feed him....what time...etc. He even snapped at me through his cage a couple of weeks ago and I wrote that down as well. I'm very picky about that. I was overfeeding him something terrible when I first got him because I wanted him to grow up fast. I didn't realize I was doing him harm. I thought that my problem of no BM had started there. It's a relief to hear that I'm not the only one.

Thanks again!

Danny A