Boa Poop...

[Herpocrite]

Hey guys. As I've said in previous emails, I have a 5-month old BCI. I have two questions.

1) She's growing like crazy, shed two weeks ago and is getting ready to shed again. I was under the impression that shedding usually didn't happen this often. Is that true, and if so, is it bad that she's shedding so much (twice in just what looks like it will be two and half weeks.

2) My second question is regarding how often a boa of her age should poop. She went about 2 weeks ago but if she has since then, I haven't found the evidence. She's still eating every week just fine though. Should I be concerned? Is she going to explode?

I'll try to get some pics of her up here as soon as she finishes this round of shedding. She's not quite as much of a looker as some of the beauties you guys have been showing on here, but I like her.

Thanks,
Herpocrite.

[Linds]

Boas don't poop very often, especially as they get older. Constipation (excluding that associated with an impaction from substrate, etc) is extremely uncommon with most boids, with the exception of strictly tree-dwelling snakes such as Emeralds.

As for shedding, 2 weeks is quite frequent, even for a snake that is growing like a weed. Have you ruled out mites? Any skin irritations? Any other health problems that you can find?

[JonD]

I had my 6 month old BCI shed twice within 3 1/2 weeks. I don't think it's that uncommon in the little ones, they grow soo fast!!!!As for the crapping thing, they can go quite awhile without dropping a unit or two......... :D ;)

[Herpocrite]

Originally posted by Linds
As for shedding, 2 weeks is quite frequent, even for a snake that is growing like a weed. Have you ruled out mites? Any skin irritations? Any other health problems that you can find?


Will mites cause her to go into a shed cycle? She had them last week and we're still in the process of getting rid of them (spraying her and replaced substrate with paper towels until they're gone). I guess this leads to another question... How do they get mites? I don't have any other snakes (yet) and I'm pretty meticulous about cleaning her cage. What else can I do to make sure she doesn't get them again?

Thanks for all the info folks,

Herpocrite.

[MouseKilla]

Mites will definitely bring on a rapid-shed cycle (it makes sense when you think about it). Mites can come from several sources, the most popular being feeder rodents and wood-chip type substrate... as far as I know anyway.

[BoidKeeper]

the most popular being feeder rodents and wood-chip type substrate... as far as I know anyway.
I have to disagree with that. Snake mites are specific to snakes only. So first question is, is it snake mites you have or some other insect. There are other types of little bugs that may appear in you substrate is it's a natural one, especially if it's something from a garden centre and not a pet shop. If you feeders are F/T then there is no way they are transmiting mites. Even if they are live who keeps live rodents close enough to mite infested snakes long enough for mites to get on them, not that they would anyway because they aren't the right host. Roy Stockwell has commented in the past about mites and feeders hopefully he'll chime in here and fill us in with more detail.
Truth of the matter is the snake probably arrived with the mites and they took some time to show themselves. Or you brought them home on your person from a pet shop.
What are you doing to treat them? You said you're spraying them but with what?
Good luck,
Trevor

[Linds]

Originally posted by Herpocrite
I don't have any other snakes (yet) and I'm pretty meticulous about cleaning her cage. What else can I do to make sure she doesn't get them again?


Make sure you continue to treat for mites for at least one month past the time you last saw one. As for prevention, if you've been in a pet store or reptile expo, it is a good idea to change your clothes (even shower) before going in to the room with your herps. Pretreat new animals for mites as a precautionary measure and excercise good quarantine procedures. Be cautious of outsiders possibly bringing mites in to your collection as well. If purchasing items from a pet store, be aware of the fact that a mite may have hitched a ride home on it and act appropriately.

Originally posted by MouseKilla
Mites will definitely bring on a rapid-shed cycle (it makes sense when you think about it). Mites can come from several sources, the most popular being feeder rodents and wood-chip type substrate... as far as I know anyway.

Not impossible, but the probability of this is just as good as bringing them home on yourself or any other pet store purchases. Trevor is correct that snake mites are host specific, but they are known to hitch a ride from time to time :rolleyes: Rodent mites will not affect snakes, but they can affect other mammals in the household, ourselves included. Grain mites and wood mites are completely harmless to all animals.

[MouseKilla]

Wow, I guess I have heard a bunch of nonsence then. LOL! I knew that snake mites are snake specific but I thought maybe they could lay dormant in wood, which would explain their being transported on feeder rodents as well as in mulch or bark substrates. I kinda always wondered where the hell they came from but in my case the only time I've had them I know for sure that they came in on the body of a snake I had bought. So snake mites come from other snakes... HMM, go figure!lol!

[Invictus]

Yup, it's true. The ones that come in wood shavings are wood mites, and though they irritate the hell out of snakes, they don't feed on their blood. We just got rid of a wood mite infestation from a bag of aspen shavings. Luckily they die right away when you nix them.

[Herpocrite]

Wow... thanks for all the info.

I've only had her for about a month now, so she may have simply come home with them and they just didn't get to a noticeable point of infestation until recently. As for what I'm treating her with... well... mite spray. Lol... It's the stuff I bought at the pet store. It's called Reptile Relief and it says it kills mites on contact. I've also stripped my viv down to the essentials (paper towels for substrate, newly cleaned water dish, newly cleaned sanctuary) and I'm going to keep it that way for at least a month. Unlike some of you herp addicts, she's the only pet I own (for now) so I'm not worried about cross contamination. And as for anything coming in on substrate or feeders, I microwave my substrate before I use it (nearly as good as autoclaving) and quaranteen my feeder mice for two weeks in a cage with a HEPA filter on it (I'm not kidding) before I dislocate their cervical vertebrae and put them in the viv with her. So I doubt anything is getting in on them... or if it is then it's pretty damn hearty and there's not a lot I can do about it.

If there's anything else I can be doing then I'm open to learning... That's why I joined this forum.

Thanks again ya'll,

Herpocrite.