Is this a regurge?

[hypnoctopus]

I went to change Blaze's water today and I noticed this is his enclosure:

http://www2.picturepush.com/photo/a/11924430/800/Anonymous/IMG-3347.jpg

I picked it up with tongs. It doesn't seem like any regurge I've encountered. For one thing, it only has a very mild odor, sort of like wet leaves or earth, rather than the stronger smell of decaying flesh. It also is very squishy and easily came apart if I pulled it with the tongs, like a softer consistency than chewed bubble gum. I know the first picture looks sort of mouse-shaped, but I could not distinguish any recognizable mouse features and I examined it very closely. Here are some pictures of if pulled apart with tongs:

http://www5.picturepush.com/photo/a/11924443/800/Anonymous/IMG-3348.jpg

http://www3.picturepush.com/photo/a/11924461/800/Anonymous/IMG-3351.jpg

This snake is a yearling who has never had any health problems. He regurgitated one time a really long time ago due to me thinking he could eat two fuzzies (I didn't know at the time that you shouldn't feed double prey items unless it's pinkies). He now is on small mice/weanlings. Nothing has changed in his environment.

I'll probably follow the regurge protocol, unless you guys tell me something different.

Is this a regurge or is it something else?

[Nanci]

I'm not sure. It doesn't hurt to do the regurge protocol, if in doubt.

I had a snake here for a year or two, as a young snake, on a loan. He produced something like this right after arrival, and I thought he had regurged, although it didn't smell. He was fine after the protocol, but more often than not would poop weird poos like that. After about the third one, I took it in and had it PCR tested for crypto, and it was negative. Eventually, the occurrences got further and further apart, and then ceased. I wondered if it was an inability, or decreased ability to digest hair, because it wouldn't happen with peach fuzzies, only when he went back up to fuzzies/hoppers.

[hypnoctopus]

This snake has been eating mice with fur for months (almost a year actually) now with never anything like this. I was also wondering if it might be undigested hair since it was a bit fibrous as I pulled it apart. He is also acting normal.

[Nanci]

If in doubt, take it to the vet and get it cultured.

[Nanci]

This is an example- but it is much more formed than your sample, and has urates, so definitely poop. In aspen or on paper towels it was a lot less defined.

[hypnoctopus]

Oh, that's weird - it looks like entrails!

With this one, it was really wet and left a little wet spot on the aspen. There has been no other poop or urates from this feeding. I generally clean up poop as soon as I see it, so I'm quite sure I would have seen it if there was any regular poop or urates.

I'm gonna go give his enclosure another once-over and see if I notice anything else.

[Nanci]

It looks like entrails because it is the exact size and shape of his entrails!! Creepy!!

[hypnoctopus]

Well, apparently lifting up the hides to check for poop isn't good enough (unless he just did this). There was completely normal looking poop/urates up inside one of his hides on the exact opposite side of the enclosure where the other thing was found. So if it came out of his rear end, it wasn't at the same time as his poop.

http://www2.picturepush.com/photo/a/11924725/800/Anonymous/IMG-3354.jpg

And now he needs a new hide!

[hypnoctopus]

It looks like entrails because it is the exact size and shape of his entrails!! Creepy!!


Haha! I didn't think of that! :nyah:

[hypnoctopus]

Well, I fed him a small fuzzy tonight, which he ate with his usual gusto. It was kinda funny to see him eating something so small. We'll see how he does.

[hypnoctopus]

Well - bad news. Blaze did not keep his tiny meal down and this one seems much more like a regurge.

This is what I found:

http://www3.picturepush.com/photo/a/11952851/800/Anonymous/IMG-3361.jpg

And it also pulled apart very easily like the last one, but this one had distinct 'hard' parts. The red arrow is pointing to the head and the blue arrow points to the tail. I could even move the little mouth on the head.

http://www3.picturepush.com/photo/a/11952871/800/Anonymous/IMG-3362.jpg

We've been having a very cold streak here lately and my room gets pretty cold in the winter, whereas the rest of the house is warm. I'm wondering if maybe that is affecting him. One of my other snakes also had a regurge last week, and I'm following the regurge protocol for him too.

[SnakeAround]

I think stuff like what the original poster posted, is very badly digested food, perhaps caused by low temperature at the time of digestion. I have seen it occasionely and add nutribac a few times to the prey for the snake involved. I have seen the other weird poo too, sometimes more brownish/greenish already. I apply nutribac a few times too then, I have not been able to connect these weird poos with up coming problems with a snake.

[Reptilover03]

I know this post is super old, but did you ever figure out what that was? This exact same thing just happened to my snake yesterday and I’m at a loss

[hypnoctopus]

Yeah, it was likely a regurge. If you're not totally sure, it's safer to just treat it as a regurge anyway. 2 weeks of no food, then after that, a super tiny meal, ideally dosed with a sprinkle of nutribac to replenish healthy gut bacteria. And then do a slow transition back to the correct size. Make sure there's enough heat for digestion and meals aren't too large.

[Reptilover03]

I know this post is old so not sure if this will get answered. My snake just pooped exactly like that, more like nancis how it was circular. Did you ever figure out what caused this by chance?

[hypnoctopus]

Did yours have urates with it?

[Reptilover03]

Yes mine did

[Reptilover03]

Sorry I did not mean to post the reply twice

[hypnoctopus]

Then it's not a regurge. But it might be poor digestion. I'd double check your temps first and make sure your snake has access to a hot spot of around 87 degrees at all times. And then reduce meal size for a few feeds.

[Reptilover03]

Yes hot side stays between 85-90 and cool side is around 77ish. It freaked me out because there was a pile of normal looking poop and then a pile of this stuff that looked like nancis picture exactly with urates. I will deduce his meal size. He’s a small milksnake, I give him fuzzies should I just offer two pinkies instead?

[hypnoctopus]

What does he weigh?

[Reptilover03]

About 61 grams currently, he’s a juvenile milksnake

[hypnoctopus]

So meal size definitely shouldn't be too big if he normally eats a fuzzy. But yeah, do one or two meals of double pinkies and see if his poop goes back to normal after that.