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black "lumps" in snake

littlebreezy
11-26-2010, 11:01 PM
Hello, I have an adorable little amel born in July that came to live with me about 3-4 weeks ago. We had a brief adventure with him getting out (he is now in a Zilla cage) but otherwise he has been happy, very docile after being picked up, and eating well with 1, 2, then 1 pinkie(s) once a week.

He seems to be putting on weight, but I have not seen him defecate since I got him. He may have gone during his jaunt in the real world, but I can't really rely on that. Normally , this wouldn't concern me because I'd imagine the poo would be hard to find for a small snake, but he has some dark spots in his gut, about where some of the pinkies ended up. Since he's lacking pigment, they are visible if he's a little backlit. There are 3 largish ones, and one smaller one, one of the larger ones is still about an inch away from the snake's anus. The enclosure is kept ~86 degrees on one side with a ceramic heat emitter, and he has plenty of water on the cool side, although I have only seen him drinking it when I put him down near the bowl and his face hits it.

He seems to be fine, albeit not that active unless I bring him out. I'm jsut worried about those black spots. Any help is appreciated.

danielle
11-26-2010, 11:39 PM
Can you get a pic? May just be constipated which can be solved by running some coolish water about 80-83 degrees and letting the guy swim while you supervise. Make sure the water is not so deep the little guy can not easily protrude his head so he doesn't drown and of course don't leave him in there unattended. Blackish bumps further up though would have me worried and impaction could also be possible:)

Nanci
11-27-2010, 08:34 AM
There _are_ some organs you can see in a light snake, such as the heart and the gall bladder. It might not hurt to put your baby on paper towels, then you will _know_ when he goes.

littlebreezy
11-27-2010, 10:18 AM
Here is a good picture of some of the spots, and the lower one I'm decently sure is poo. (top right leads up to the snake's head)

Unfortunately, I couldn't get a good picture of the spot that does worry me, because it is in the first half of the snake, not down where poo should be. From reading other threads, I can see that this may just be faintly seeing organs, so I'll just try not to worry.

On a side note, he had a bath today in the hopes that this would encourage him to go. He didn't, but I'll be switching his bedding for paper towels soon and just wait.

Nanci
11-27-2010, 10:39 AM
The heart is roughly a third of the way down. If you look closely, you can see it beating.

littlebreezy
11-27-2010, 10:42 AM
I'll have to try that next time I handle him. He's hiding and peeved at me from the bath, since it was in the same tub I usually feed him in. Poor thing was expecting a pinkie and just got tepid water instead :P

danielle
11-27-2010, 10:45 AM
Looks normal to me. If your truly concerned like Nanci said use some paper towels or new paper for the next few feedings to make sure you are catching the poo:)

bitsy
11-27-2010, 10:53 AM
If they get badly constipated or have some sort of blockage, there's usually visible swelling around the body. I agree that the pics look like normal internal organs and he's probably making tiny "deposits" where they're just being missed. Using paper towels for a week or two should put your mind at rest.

Haarstad
11-27-2010, 11:35 AM
I'm willing to bet that he's going to the bathroom under the substrate, hopefully you find it when you take the old out, that will be instantly reassuring :)