Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hey everybody,

I've had a juvenile blood for around 4 months now and it's eating fine. I't around 2ft now. Well, there was a buldge near the cloacal vent and I waited about a week for it to only get worse. So, last night I put the snake in warm water and massaged out one larger peice along with a few medium and some smaller bits. It appears that this was a so called cloacolith. My temps range from low 80s to high 70s on the cool side and around 90 in the warm part. Along with that is a moist hide and a drier section. I've placed two water dishes in there(humidity is 70-80%) and I don't see it drinking all that often. Only once I noticed that the snake was dehydrated and that was when I first got it.
Does anyone have any comments on this or suggestions? Has anyone else had a problem with cloacoliths in their bloods?

Thanks,
-Andy

Hey Andy-
Interesting...I'd not heard the term before. I keep a emerald tree boa and recently a blood. One trait these snakes have in common is very infrequent defecation. ETB folk keep close record of said events and typically withold food after three feedings w/o B.M.to avoid impaction. I'm not sure anyone has tested this practice, but it is generally accepted.
Blood folks note a similar infrequency but I not seen a similar caution about overfeeding. My blood's appetite is seemingly limitless (as is the ETB) but I haven't yet "rationed" meals with the blood yet.
All this to say, I have regularly observed the ETB to pass what I call "urates"; round,hard, chalky "liths" sometimes with a fecal evacuation and other times without, but in the latter case, with in days. It never caused any distress however, one can see or palpate the "liths" days before passing.
How "normal" this is, I can't determine. I will look for the trait in my blood. So far, I marvel at "where the rats go" in that boy...what a pig!
Maybe others can advise us of their observations...
Bill