Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have noticed that the feces of one of my corns has been much thinner and almost a neon green color the past couple of weeks. I was going to try to get a picture of what it looked like in the aspen, but he was nice enough to let loose in the feeding bin this evening. Can anyone tell me what might be the problem? He hasn't eaten in a few weeks, but with the weather change it didn't really bother me until now.

To answer a few of the standard questions:

He is in a 32qt tub in a rack
No new snakes in past 6 months
Back heat with a thermostat
Temp gun shows 83 in the back and 72 in the front
Aspen for the bedding

Any advice or ideas would be appreciated!

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3.2 Corn (Butter-Sunflower '07/Anery Stripe-Ripple '06/Amber-Jack Straw '06/Snow-Casey Jones '06/Amel Motley-Cosmo '03)
0.1 Baird's Ratsnake (Sugaree '04)
1.0 White Oaks Grey Rat (Tennesse Jed '04)
0.1 IJ Carpet Python (Cassidy '04)
1.0 Western Hognose (Samson '05)
1.1 Shepherd mix (Dylan RIP, Porter 7yrs)

No idea what the issue is, however I do have a story...

About 7 years ago I had a female ball python that had the same neon green feces. After noticing it on 2 occasions I made an appointment with the local vet. The day of the vet appt I got off work early to go pick up the snake and take it to the vet. I arrived home to find the snake dead with a ton of the neon green feces all over the cage. It was really a horrible site. stupidly I bagged the snake up and trashed it rather than taking it to the vet and having some test done to find out what the problem was.

So "if" your snake has the same problem mine did, i suggest getting it to the vet ASAP.

Sorry you had to go through that Aaron. I probably would have done the same thing, but I understand wanting to know what it was, especially if you had more snakes in the room. Hope this is something different.
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3.2 Corn (Butter-Sunflower '07/Anery Stripe-Ripple '06/Amber-Jack Straw '06/Snow-Casey Jones '06/Amel Motley-Cosmo '03)
0.1 Baird's Ratsnake (Sugaree '04)
1.0 White Oaks Grey Rat (Tennesse Jed '04)
0.1 IJ Carpet Python (Cassidy '04)
1.0 Western Hognose (Samson '05)
0.1 Speckled Kingsnake (Scarlet '12)
1.1 Shepherd mix (Dylan RIP, Porter '04)

It's uric acid. Usually it accompanies poop. If you snake just produces it occasionally without pooping, then there's nothing to worry about. If it's producing uric acid every day, then you have an issue.

Tim

Third Eye Herp

Thanks for the response Tim. This boy has always been one to be heavy on the urates, but it was the color change that got me. I realize I shouldn't have called it fecal matter since there really wasn't any in this discharge.

If I can get a good pic of it dried up in the aspen I will post a pic, but at this point I think I will just ride it out. I'm sure he is fine, but I wanted to get some feedback since I had the opportunity to get a pic while it was fresh.

I appreciate the help!
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3.2 Corn (Butter-Sunflower '07/Anery Stripe-Ripple '06/Amber-Jack Straw '06/Snow-Casey Jones '06/Amel Motley-Cosmo '03)
0.1 Baird's Ratsnake (Sugaree '04)
1.0 White Oaks Grey Rat (Tennesse Jed '04)
0.1 IJ Carpet Python (Cassidy '04)
1.0 Western Hognose (Samson '05)
0.1 Speckled Kingsnake (Scarlet '12)
1.1 Shepherd mix (Dylan RIP, Porter '04)

Well, I guess it was something I should have worried about, because I just found him dead.

Now I need to worry about the other 9 snakes in the room. I already threw out the water dish and hide along with the bedding. I wanted to keep the tub, but will bleach the hell out of it tomorrow. What else should I do at this point?

I put him in the freezer just in case anyone feels it is a must to get a necropsy, but at this point I was thinking it best to just wait and see if any of the others show signs and then get them to a reptile vet.

Thoughts?

Jeremy
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3.2 Corn (Butter-Sunflower '07/Anery Stripe-Ripple '06/Amber-Jack Straw '06/Snow-Casey Jones '06/Amel Motley-Cosmo '03)
0.1 Baird's Ratsnake (Sugaree '04)
1.0 White Oaks Grey Rat (Tennesse Jed '04)
0.1 IJ Carpet Python (Cassidy '04)
1.0 Western Hognose (Samson '05)
0.1 Speckled Kingsnake (Scarlet '12)
1.1 Shepherd mix (Dylan RIP, Porter '04)

As I said in my previous post:

"If your snake just produces it occasionally without pooping, then there's nothing to worry about. If it's producing uric acid every day, then you have an issue."

As long as the snake wasn't in contact with your other snakes recently, I wouldn't worry about it. If one of your other snakes displays the same symptoms, get it over to a vet.

Tim
Third Eye Herp