Constipation....

[itsrep]

When should I worry about constipatipation on a 6ft femail boa? its been about two weeks since her last rat and nothing.

I got her three weeks ago.. The person I got her from said she ate thursday and passed it saturday (I got her sunday).. but I have no proof of that.

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[Tom]

I would not worry yet, some of my boa go about every 25 to 30 days. In most cases it should take around 7 to 14 days.

Take care
Tom

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[JuliusSqueezer]

Best cure for constipation for humans (should work for a snake too) Sit on a very large block of cheese with no pants on and swallow a live mouse.

[nycsfinezt61189]

Originally Posted by JuliusSqueezer

Best cure for constipation for humans (should work for a snake too) Sit on a very large block of cheese with no pants on and swallow a live mouse.

what the......

[JuliusSqueezer]

Please tell me I don't have to explain my joke. Use your imagination

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[faze]

brett you need mental help lol

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[RKing611]

I have a similar probelm, although mine is a 20" Cay Caulker and its been closer to a month now since it last pooped and i'm supposed to feed it today but didnt cause it still hasnt pooped. I've tried warm baths with no luck...Should i feed her tomorrow, wait and see a bit longer, or take her to a vet?

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[nycsfinezt61189]

Originally Posted by JuliusSqueezer

Best cure for constipation for humans (should work for a snake too) Sit on a very large block of cheese with no pants on and swallow a live mouse.

OH SNAP! I just got it . Thats pretty funny but nevertheless pretty sick too.

[AnAcOnDaMaN]

Originally Posted by nycsfinezt61189

OH SNAP! I just got it . Thats pretty funny but nevertheless pretty sick too.

Yeh after you made me explain it to you

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[nycsfinezt61189]

SSSHHHHHH!!! No one is supposed to know that

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[RKing611]

Originally Posted by RKing611

I have a similar probelm, although mine is a 20" Cay Caulker and its been closer to a month now since it last pooped and i'm supposed to feed it today but didnt cause it still hasnt pooped. I've tried warm baths with no luck...Should i feed her tomorrow, wait and see a bit longer, or take her to a vet?

PS..
She also recently had a few mites (which i appear to have taken care of..) and shed a few weeks ago and has noticeably grown a bit recently.

	Mites Mites, close relatives of fleas and ticks

[unBOAlievable]

Use your imagination

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[Tom]

Here is what Brett sounds like when he swallow a rat. :E
http://geocities.com/mccarthyx4/bodysounds.wav

Just joking Brett
Take care
Tom

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[pandora1985]

sometimes besides a bath a snake needs some exercise. allowing a snake to move around awhile outside its enclosure can help get its bowels going.

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[Gecko-Guy]

Originally Posted by Tom

Here is what Brett sounds like when he swallow a rat. :E
http://geocities.com/mccarthyx4/bodysounds.wav

That is so horribly disgusting that I feel as though I have been afflicted with a brain tumor. JK Farts are funny.

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[AnAcOnDaMaN]

Especially when I make them at your house!

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[nycsfinezt61189]

Farts are only funny if a fire is present.

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[JuliusSqueezer]

It is not necessary that your snake has a BM between every meal. Do you have one between every meal? If they haven't gone after the 3rd feeding it is best to take action and see that they go before a 4th meal is fed.

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[RKing611]

Originally Posted by JuliusSqueezer

It is not necessary that your snake has a BM between every meal. Do you have one between every meal? If they haven't gone after the 3rd feeding it is best to take action and see that they go before a 4th meal is fed.

Feeding her this time would be a 4th feeding with no BM between meals. Last time she went after her 3rd I remember.

[JuliusSqueezer]

Fix it then...24 hour soak in tepid water (neither warm nor cool) ...excercise....if all that fails, A little squirt of mineral oil down the gullet is a pretty good laxitive but be prepared for some dark runny stool...and for some reason more irridescence. I busted a friend of mine for feeding snakes mineral oil before a show once ... I won't name any names lol. His snakes weren't constipated, he just wanted them to be all sparkly for the show. Please don't do that to your snakes just for the glossy effect. They really do need to digest what they eat correctly....but if they lead a sedimentary life or any number of other reasons...constipation can easily happen.

Some main causes so you can avoid it later...

Improper heat and/or humidity

dehydration. A dehydrated snake will take in all the fluid from the meal and dried out poop is hard to pass.

finally eating after a very long fast (malnourishment) This can also be a false constipation problem because a starving snake will often hold onto digesting food long enough to suck everything they can out of it where if they are receiving and actually eating good solid meals on a regular basis, they speed up the metabolism and overall digestive process and expel waste that may have still had some nutrients and moisture in favor of processing a new meal that is much richer in nutrients. So if the snake has digested everything but the hair (the only part of a rodent they can not digest)...then there may just not be anything worthy of pushing out yet.

If your snake lays in one spot 24/7 and rarely feels a need to move, he/she will likely become constipated. They don't just poop when they are laying there. They dump while crawling around. One of the biggest reasons that snakes become hide potatos in captivity is because people don't tend to encourage thermoregulation enough. Some of the better setups I have seen have a decent enough gradient with the warm side/cool side effect but no night time overall drop. Walk outside on any given summer night. I don't care what the temps were during the day, they are much cooler at night. Especially with desert dwelling species, night temp drops in the deserts are extreme....but anyway... Night time drops are a good way to get your snakes moving in the morning but be careful not to let them drop more than is ok for the given species. If you handle your snakes every day in such a way that they get plenty of exercise...then this isn't as big an issue than for those who do not. Keeping them moving around in the cage is a good idea for other reasons too...especially when trying to get them to breed.