Furry poo

I know this is just because Pretzel is eating big mice now (with 'proper' fur) but I noticed last night when I was cleaning his viv that there was a very dry 'poo shaped' fiece of fur. He only ate yesterday (and had refused food for the past 3-4 weeks). Does fur really stay in the digestive track that long? It was def passed as faecal matter (not a regurge) as it had a TINY amount of faeces next to it.

I get the same thing with my pine snake. Its like dry lumps of grey matted fur but as she feeds regulary I couldnt tell you how long it takes to get through the digestive system.

yeah that's the stuff!

I hadn't really paid much attention to it before, but seeing as he hadn't eaten for almost a month before it got me thinking. Surely he can't digest in the space of a day...and also, surely it couldn't have taken a month for it to pass through his system? I'm pretty sure I would have noticed it earlier (actually I def would have as I did a proper clean out 2 weeks ago). Oh well, lifes little mysteries!

odd..

I see it all the time in my larger snakes. Never thought about the time it takes to digest (or not digest). I'd lean toward almost a month over a day in your case. It's never concerned me as far as the health of the animals go, but curious it would staty in the gut that long...

Yeah, I was thinking more along the month line rather than a day but am a bit worried about it having been in his system that long. His temps are fine and he's active, feeding ok (now) and just shed. I am thinking that it could have something to do with his refusing food because he was in shed?? he doesn't always refuse food when he's in shed phase but every so often will decide to be awkward He just digested his last meal no probs (did a poo 2 days later) so I'm figuring he's ok. He had a faecal done a few months ago, and that was fine so there doesn't seem to be anything worng with him health-wise. Just one of those things I guess??!!??

Re:

I don't think there's anything wrong with your snake. =P

If I recollect rightly, I think after my female motley eats a weaned rat, the first poo appears in 4-6 days and it's got an odor and gelatinous looking black and white stuff. Then, I'd say a couple weeks later, she'll pass another glob and when it dries, looks like matted fur.

I imagine she retains stuff that takes longer to digest, such as hair and bones, and the easiest stuff to digest would be the rodent's viscera. So likewise, the first that gets expelled is the visceral waste, and then the bones (if any) and hair.

Hair is a tough thing to digest and I don't know of many animals that can. When I walk through the woods here, I can see animal droppings full of fur, mostly rabbit, and after a week or so, that's all that is left, hair. Owls vomit up balls of hair, bones, and teeth. So in all honesty, I don't think your snake is sick, she's just doing what is natural for her.

Thanks! I didn't think he was sick, I was just wondering out loud

I never really thought about it taking longer to digest hair (duh!) and I always see owl pellets and suck like when taking my dog up to the woods. Oh well, I can get some sleep at night now....

Warm your snake up a bit. It is passing food matter faster than it can digest it. Some snakes regurg. but some maintain and pass very quickly. This is nothing to even be worried about unless your snake is not kept at optimum temperature. If you feel you are doing everything correctly and the problem persists, then cunsult a Herp. Vet.

Palmer

I feel like that's a bit of a rush to judgement, but you may be on to something. Passing undigested hair is very common in larger snakes that (obviously) eat large, furry meals. My only question is that it is with an immature animal that just stepped up in food size. Admittedly, I can't recall seeing such in my yearlings or younger. Theirs' usually looks like average bird excrement. For the record, Rachel, put a good digital indoor/outdoor thermometer (available at any hardware store for 20 bucks) in the cage and put the probe in the "cool" end and the body of the thermometer in the warm and give us the readings. I still wouldn't worry overly, but the exact temperature is the most important thing you can know to get to the bottom of any feeding/disgestive issues.

The fur on a prey item should be the first thing digested. A snake does not have a little spider inside of it to suck out the juices of the prey. Forgive me for being sarcastic, but it seems kinda' abnormal to me. Fur,bones,teeth,claws and gut content are what a snake derives it's nutrition from. I really feel that if a food item is not being completely digested, then there may be some undiscovered problem. It may be something as simple as temps. or possibly some kind of internal parasite. I've kept all sorts of snakes for over 25 years and never seen this to be a persistant problem, if conditions are correct for the species and no parasites are present. I am not saying that it does not happen, but I am saying that if it happens persistantly then there may be something out of wack. A corn snake is a highly adaptable animal and easy to care for, but as with any reptile they are also very sensitive to their enviroment. Even subtile changes can have a profound impact on a snake's overall well being if persistant adverse conditions are present. Remember, you chose how your snake lives not the snake. To make a long story short, I feed my corn adult mice and it's "terds" resemble the fore mentioned "bird turds". I've seen this in owls but not snakes. I could be wrong.

"The fur on a prey item should be the first thing digested. A snake does not have a little spider inside of it to suck out the juices of the prey" -Palmerdoom

Well, that would stand to reason, it being on the outside; but ever seen a regurge from a big snake? Usually a pile of slime and fur or feathers. I think that the digestive enzymes begin on the outside of the food item, but REALLY go to work when they hit soft tissue. Hair is just slower to digest, oddly even seemingly slower than bone. I see bits of "what I THINK is fur" in quite a bit of adult colubrid snake excrement, and downright tufts of it in my pythons and big black milks often. But Racheal, they don't pass it completely like an owl... which pukes it anyway , it's just normal to see some in larger reptiles with high metabolisms. Have you gotten a digital thermometer yet? And has this phenomenon happened since this post? Keep us posted.

Fur, feathers, teeth, and claws aren't digested.

Sorry, I've been ill for a while so haven't been on the internet! I have had a digi thermometer for quite a while now The warm end is at 30*c and the cool side is about 22*c so well within normal limits. So I don't think I need to warm up my snake any, his temps are fine. He is an adult (2 1/2 years old) and has been on big mice for quite a while (not as long as I would have liked but he refused big mice for a few months, preferring fuzzies??). Sorry for any confusion caused by this post, my snake is not ill or anything, I was just wondering out loud as to how fast fur passes throught the system (as it isn't digested).

While we're on this subject of poop, I would like to ask...what does normal poop look like? I had found one book when I was looking for a good snake book ( I eventually bought the Cornsnake Manual) that mentioned what normal ones looked like. Unfortunately, I was just briefly browsing, and when I went back to the pet store, I couldn't find the book. There's nothing mentioned in the Cornsnake manual except generalities, and I couldn't find anything specific online. As a new snake owner, I would like to know, so that in case it doesn't appear normal, I can freak out and run screaming to a herp vet just like any normal newbie Thanks for the help.