Uhm...is something wrong with my snake? (pic)

[SprayingMango]

Originally posted by CyberGypsy
Oh gawd...who let john in here.

me > you

[CyberGypsy]

*sigh*

[striko_69]

so is that normal poo, or does normal poo look different...?

[stkkts]

no poo looks like poo. thats pee with.....something else mixed in.

[MontyPython]

That's normal looking ball python urate

[Andy_G]

I wouldn't say that it is a very normal looking urate, but they all excrete something like that from time to time. If it comes out like that every time it may or may not be something to worry about.

[sapphire_moon]

Ya it's normal you just got a fresh one...lol...my bp's are like that to, but by the time I get to it, the yellow stuff on the end is dry and looks like a light yellowish/orange color...done it every since I got them.

[eyespy]

It's hard to say without examining it personally, but it looks like uric acid crystals or bladder/kidney stones mixed in with the urates. While that's unfortunately very commonly seen with BP's it's not at all normal and a sign of either significant dehydration or kidney disease.

When I see that coming from a rescue snake, I ask a vet to run a metabolic panel of bloodwork. If it's kidney disease there is no cure but a low protein diet and an "exercise program" of allowing the snake some roaming time can help to slow down the progression. Dehydration can be fixed very quickly with injected fluids and electrolytes.

[stkkts]

I dunno if that is the case. He peed like 3 days in a row now, and so far all of them have been completely normal looking. I do give him exercise a few days a week. I dont know how to put him on a low protein diet though. He eats what he eats.....not sure how to get low protein rodents.

[CyberGypsy]

He may have been dehydrated prior though...maybe that's why he spent so much time in his water dish a few days before.

[stkkts]

yeah,...I dunno. He also shed the day he made that, so maybe it was built up...stuff. I dont know. I havent seen anything resembling that though in his 3 subsequent "pees" so hopefully its not an issue. I dont think it is.

[eyespy]

Low protein rodents are ones raised on vegetarian diets. Never feed a pup until about a month after it's been weaned so that all the mother's milk has been thorougly used up. Most rodent breeders will raise you a population of them if needed in order to keep your business. Or you can breed them yourself.

The thing about crystallized urates is that the crystals can remain in the body, only getting shook loose when there's a significant amount of water in the urinary tract to flush them out so without getting xrays or ultrasound to see what's in there you can't gauge how they are doing by whether the crystals are passed consistently or just once in awhile. It can be an extremely painful experience when they do pass so seeing a vet is very important to keep your snake from going through all that. A vet can inject local anesthetic-laced fluids directly into the kidneys or bladder to flush out all that gunk without causing severe pain.

Whenever a snake has been dehydrated to the point that urine crystallizes, there is always kidney damage. The only unknown is whether it was slight enough that the kidneys can regenerate new tissue or if the damage will be scarred down and cause lifelong impairment. It's an unfortunate side effect of all the shipping that captive hatched BPs from Africa go through and a strong reason to seek out locally bred balls.

[annoying_alien]

What worries me is why its on the blanket...

...and the yellow goop is normal.

[lilyskip]

i think that was a paper towel, no?

[stkkts]

haha...blanket. EWW I would have to throw that blanket out.

It is paper towel. I thought the fact that he went on the word "mint" was irionic though.