Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Have had my snake, Strider, two weeks now, he seems to be doing great and ate two pinks on the 8th and again on the 15th. After the 8th he pooed overnight the 11th/12th and a second time overnight 12th/13th. Ate again on the 15th no problems he pooed overnight 17th/18th a day earlier then the previous week and again overnight the 18th/19th, this is where the question/?problem? lies.

I woke up this morning and checked on Strider and saw he pooed but it looked weird this time kinda like part of a earth worm. When i looked at it closer it looks like the pink was not completely digested. I can make out enough to see it was a pink although compressed and half digested.

The temps were a little cooler in the house the last few days, though the cage temps remained about the same ambient air temps 74-76 and 80-82 the under tank heater has been on 24/7 since i got him and always in the low to mid 80's (human heating pad on low).

I actually may have overfed him, i didn't notice until i put him in with the pinks that they seemed larger than the ones the previous week and the lump they left in his belly was larger as well. I thought about removing the second pink but it was right next to where he was swallowing the first and i didn't want to disturb him and have him possibly regurgitate the first pink.

What do you think caused this?

I am probably over-worrying this, but i want to keep him as healthy as possible esp after loosing Pele a few weeks ago.

thanks

Sounds like it was excrememnt rather than a regurge, in that case, you're probably fine. Just make sure the snake has higher available temps the next time you feed it, it will know how much heat it needs to digest. 82 is probably a bit low for the hottest point for that reason. Aim for 85 at least. Some corns will prefer the cooler temperatures always but for now you'll want to offer a broader range.

It's hard to say if the meal was too big without having been there, however I've fed large meals to my corn and never had a half-digested poop. I do give access to a hotter zone than she normally uses, and there is never a problem with digestion. Two pinkie mice should not be too big of a meal (unless your corn is very small). If he can handle two pinkies, you could try a smaller fuzzy once your temps are set.

I can understand having some worry over regurges and prey sizes. I used to keep things to what I thought was the safer side, however I ended up with a corn that was too skinny for her age. Keep that in mind when you're feeding, they really can handle larger prey (something that leaves a good lump) as long as the animal is healthy, isn't fed too often, and has access to the right temperatures.

It looks to me like poo as at the one end there is some normal looking poo then it slowly transforms into the half digested pinky.

those are the air temps about 2/3 of the way up the glass (i keep him in a 20 gallon long aquarium) The surface temp is in the mid 80's thanks to the UTH which i leave on 24/7.

I don't think he is ready for larger as he really stretches his neck to get the pinks down and they do leave a nice sized bulge in his belly nearly 2x its normal size last feeding. He is a late 03 about 18-20 inches and as thick as a sharpie marker. I have been feeding every tuesday evening (2 weeks so far) and he is pooing over the weekends.

thanks again

Just to be on the safe side wait about 10 days or even skip an entire week if you wish to maintain a weekly schedule.
Then feed it a smaller pinkie.
If this goes "through" without problems then just go back to your regular schedule and make sure there is a good warm area in the tank.
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Remember, My posts are MY opinion only!
Jimmy (draybar)

Thanks Draybar will wait 10 days and try 1 pinky, i'll report back afterwards

i really appreciate the help/advice