how often should my boa do his poo?

[Lisa]

Hello, I have a male boa, just over 2ft long now and he's never looked as healthy as he does lately, but he's not done a poo for about 3 weeks now. I looked in his enclosure and found some of the white urates but no poo, so does this mean he's constipated?, I can't feel any lumps along his body or anything
He's been eating a f/t rat pup once every week regularly and until now he's poo'd about once a week also.
I've been giving him a soak and bringing him out regular for exersize to try and move things along if you like but no poo yet.
He has fresh water all the time and his humidity is always around 50 or more.
Do you think it might mean he wants more food at dinnertime, or is it constipation or is it nothing to worry about, what do you think?
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	Frozen/Thawed A rodent or other prey item that is frozen and then thawed to be fed to a reptile or other animal.

I vote for the more food at dinnertime option...sounds like a single rat pup isn't getting it done anymore...
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[Lisa]

and you know what J riley, I have a feeling you may be right there. I'll give him an extra rat pup next time or perhaps try a larger sized rat and see what happens.

I'll carry on giving him a soak though just to be sure (thats just an excuse for me to take him in the bath with me) [img]modules/Forum/images/smiles/icon_smile.gif[/img]
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[Seany]

I agree with J, if he utilizes all the food he won't poo, it's as simple as that. Just try moving to the next size up if you think he can take it, other wise just give him 2 pups.
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[JC86]

Ever since I switched my Ball Python from Mice to Rats he's gone from pooing once a week to once a month (I'm loving it, less clean up, tho rats are more expensive [img]modules/Forum/images/smiles/icon_razz.gif[/img] ).

He is prolly in a growth spurt and using up most of the animal, like these guys said. However just make sure not to get too excited and overfeed [img]modules/Forum/images/smiles/icon_wink.gif[/img] My Ball Python is surely not being underfed, and I've actually been trying ot figure out if I'm overfeeding (he downed 1 rat pup and 3 small adult rats in a 40 day period before just now pooing for the first time since then...but daaaaang it was long).

~Scott
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[Lisa]

Well, I got my boa out tonight and decided to try him with a meal even though its only been 4 days since he last fed and guess what, he took it straight away, and when he'd finished the little bugger started going for my foot so I took that as a sign that he's still hungry and so I decided to offer him another mouse and he took that one straight away too. I'm sure he would have taken another one too if I'd have offered him one.........I had to be real careful when I put him back in his vivarium.....hehe, now I know why you have to be careful at feeding times [img]modules/Forum/images/smiles/icon_eek.gif[/img] [img]modules/Forum/images/smiles/icon_eek.gif[/img]

Its quite a personality change for a snake who was such a poor feeder just a few months back.

Hopefully I'll see a poo make its way through this time, otherwise, if he is constipated, I've completely bunged the poor thing up now
[img]modules/Forum/images/smiles/icon_frown.gif[/img] [img]modules/Forum/images/smiles/icon_frown.gif[/img] [img]modules/Forum/images/smiles/icon_frown.gif[/img] ...................I doubt its that though.............time to move up to the next size rats I think.
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[ls1grrrl]

Lisa,

Be careful about feeding too many prey items, especially on such a short time period. Just because the snake WILL eat, doesn't mean he/she NEEDS to eat. After eating their first prey item, snakes often get very caught up in the hunting instinct and will be very prone to continue eating. This could lead to gorging, which would likely lead to regurgitation.

The best way to be sure your snake is healthy is to feed 1 prey item of the appropriate size every 7-10 days (depending on species and the snakes health, etc). The best rule of thumb for a boa is to feed 1 prey item which is about the same size as the snake's largets girth. At 2 feet, I think that 1 good sized rat pup would be plenty.

Keep an eye on the area just before the snake's rectum. If it starts to look swollen and kinda puffy, its a sign that the snake is constipated and needs to defecate. If this is the case, then a tepid bath, and gently massaging the swollen area may stimulate the snake to potty.

I generally don't let my snake go more than 3 feedings are so without going to the bathroom. I feed my RTBs 1 prey item a week consistent with the girth rule.

Does your snake get enough exercise? If not, this can lead to constipation, so try to make sure he gets enough exercise to keep him regular.

Hope this helps,
Heather

[Lisa]

Don't worry Heather, this was the first time ever that I've offered him more than one prey item and within one week of his last feed, and I only did this cos I had an idea that he would be hungry.

I always go by the girth rule aswel, however the last batch of mice I bought were a little on the small side, plus he's had a bit of a growth spurt recently, but they are all eaten now and i've bought some jumbo mice for him now which I'm going to offer once a week as before.

Generaly he doesn't bother to move around much in his tank, although now he's getting bigger I see more activity from him. He comes out for a handling session usualy about once or twice a day for between 10 minutes to about half an hour, sometimes more. He stays in his cage for up to about 3 days after feeding and I usualy leave him in his cage all the time when he's `in blue` as he bit me once when I got him out `in blue`.

I'm planning on making him a nice big cage soon because the one he's in at the moment is only 2ft long . I was going to leave it till he reaches 2.5ft, then build him a nice 5ft one to be going on with.


Until now, my boa has always done his poo about 7 or 8 days after his last feed like clockwork, and I usualy wait till he's done a poo before I offer him his next meal.

Just to clarify....there is no way that I intend to power feed my snake. but yeah....I know what you mean about the hunting instinct. My corns seem as if they would eat and eat and eat. At first it made me feel like I wasn't feeding them enough but I'm used to it now.


He still has not done a poo yet by the way, but there are no lumps near his bum . I'm not too worried but I'm keeping an eye on him. [img]modules/Forum/images/smiles/icon_smile.gif[/img]
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[MacGyver]

(This is Heather, posing as Will.. too lazy to log him out)

It sounds like you're on the right track with him then. If there's no swelling then I really wouldn't worry.

If he's up to eating adult mice then he's more than ready to be switched over to young rats. Probably large pups or fuzzies. Since they're more nutritious, that might be the answer to your problems. The mice aren't as nutritious so your boa is (like everyone else said) probably using every bit of the mouse and consequently there's nothing left for him to poo.

Goodluck... keep us posted on how he's doing [img]modules/Forum/images/smiles/icon_smile.gif[/img]

Heather
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[eddie]

All great advice up there!
Also, it isn't unusual for boas to go up to four weeks between poops.

If it goes too much longer then it would be time for a nice soak!
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[Lisa]

I used to go with the rat pups to feed him, but on one of the threads on rtb I read something, I can't remember the exact science behind it but it seemed that it was better to feed mice when the snake was young, and then switch to rat pups when the snake got a bit older, so I started getting mice sometimes for him although I always prefered the rat pinkies and weeners because they just seemed plumper and don't smell as much, but in the end I want whats best for my snake.

I didn't realise that this last batch of mice were so small because I hadn't checked them and my fella had given the last few feedings, but they really were small, skinny little things....no wonder he was so hungry.

Anyway, I apreciate all the advise I get on here. Thanks everyone. [img]modules/Forum/images/smiles/icon_smile.gif[/img]
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