The Poop Thread

I thought this might be very helpful to some of our new corn owners (and to myself). I'm hoping lots of people will pitch in to make this very complete. I'm asking for lots of clear pictures and details. Also, any corrections as well because I'm no expert. I'm also hoping that we can eventually make this into a FAQ and a sticky.

First, what does "normal" corn snake poop look like?

It might best be described as looking like bird poop. It has some dark stuff and some white to yellowish stuff. The white/yellowish stuff is urates or essentially the urine. The dark stuff may be brown or black and is the actual poop.

Now, this is really about all I know for sure. Can everyone else help out with the following?

1. My snake pooped some yellow gel-like stuff. Should I be worried?
2. There was a little blood/red stuff in the poop. Is this bad?
3. Is this a regurg or a poop? (I'd really like some good comparison shots for this one)
4. My snake's poop is green. Help!!
5. How do I know if my snake has parasites? (I know this one may be hard to get a picture of)
6. Is it okay to leave poop in the cage for a few days? I read somewhere that it can release toxins to kill the snake.
7. My snake hasn't pooped in a week! Do I have to take it to the vet?
8. Why does my snake poop in his water?
9. My snake stinks like his poop. How do I get rid of the smell?
10. Did my snake just poop on me? It's really strong smelling and yellow.

And any more poop-related questions/answers you can think of. Thanks!

1. I'm pretty sure it's just urates by themselves.
2. Pretty sure it is.
3. Regurges smell horribly. Poop does not.
4. QUIT FEEDING YER CORN VEGGIS :laugh:
5. Mites are the most common one. You'll see little black dots on the corn moving around. A bad infestation or one that hasn't been treated may make the corn lethargic.
6. I just get rid of it as I find it, which is usually a few days (sometimes I don't even find it because my corn poops in one of her burrows for a long time).
7. Nope. If you're really worried, bath the corn. It helps make a bowel movement happen.
8. Look at #7. Either that or that's just where s/he is when they do it.
9. A bath should work. I think using a very mild soap is okay.
10. Which end did it come out?

1. My snake pooped some yellow gel-like stuff. Should I be worried?

No, that's most likely urates.

2. There was a little blood/red stuff in the poop. Is this bad?
-Most likely, take your snake to the vet to be sure

3. Is this a regurg or a poop?
-Regurg usually retains the shape of the prey item, and STINKS. Way more than normal corn poopie.

4. My snake's poop is green. Help!!
-No idea, but my guess is that it's normal.

5. How do I know if my snake has parasites?
-I can't help you there, but my suggestion would be to bring a fecal sample or have you vet do a fecal smear to look for parasites.

6. Is it okay to leave poop in the cage for a few days? I read somewhere that it can release toxins to kill the snake.
-It's perfectly fine to leave in the cage for a few days, but always TRY to remove it right away.

7. My snake hasn't pooped in a week! Do I have to take it to the vet?
-Goodness no, corn snakes don't poop very often, especially as adults.

8. Why does my snake poop in his water?
-Because he wants to.

9. My snake stinks like his poop. How do I get rid of the smell?
-Bathe him or her in water. Remember, whats warm to you is HOT to them.

10. Did my snake just poop on me? It's really strong smelling and yellow.
-Most likely, it could be musk too I think.

1. My snake pooped some yellow gel-like stuff. Should I be worried?
- No, I think this is urates.

2. There was a little blood/red stuff in the poop. Is this bad?
- Possibly, I would see a vet.

3. Is this a regurg or a poop? (I'd really like some good comparison shots for this one)
- I have never had a snake regurge but I've read on here that you can usually kind of distinguish mouse features. I've also heard that you can put the item in question into a disposable cup with some water and if it dissolves, it's poop. If it doesn't dissolve, you've got yourself a regurge...not sure how accurate that is but I've seen it mentioned here before and it makes sense to me. It seems like you can also tell by the smell...poop has a pretty distinct fishy-smell whereas most people seem to say that regurges smell like rotting flesh.

4. My snake's poop is green. Help!!
- Not sure on this one.

5. How do I know if my snake has parasites? (I know this one may be hard to get a picture of)
- This is kind of a broad subject since there are external parasites and internal parasites which have different signs/symptoms. If you're worried, have your vet do a fecal smear.

6. Is it okay to leave poop in the cage for a few days? I read somewhere that it can release toxins to kill the snake.
- It's not the end of the world to leave it for a couple days but I'm sure the snake appreciates it if you remove the poop ASAP. Plus do you really want your snake crawling around in its poop before you hold it? :awcrap:

7. My snake hasn't pooped in a week! Do I have to take it to the vet?
- No, I would wait WAY longer than a week before worrying about seeing a vet. You can try letting the snake swim in some lukewarm water to see if the activity helps move things along.

8. Why does my snake poop in his water?
- To spite you. Some of them just like to do that.

9. My snake stinks like his poop. How do I get rid of the smell?
- Make sure there's no poop you've missed in the viv, then give him a bath in lukewarm water.

10. Did my snake just poop on me? It's really strong smelling and yellow.
- Sounds more like musk than poop to me, but maybe.

BONUS: In my (very limited!) experience hatchling poop seems to be more of a uniform brownish color rather than the separate black/white parts. It seems to start looking more like bird poop once they're on fuzzies.

I have a question about poop. My snake had a regurg, one pinkie was not digested at all and one was partially digested. Well a few days later he pooped. I think. It smelt pretty bad but was white and black, and looked like previous poops. Is this normal for a regurg and a poop? Maybe part of his meal was digested?

Any body have any answers?

my Sonja usually poops right after feeding (from previous feeding), I leave her in the plastic tube for about 30 minutes after feeding...its nice cleaning after her in that thing, much easier!

so she poops once (sometimes, but rarely, twice a week)
it maybe coincidence that yours pooped after the regurge (previous feeding)

ha, i said tube, i meant to say "tub"

Well, this is the poop thread so I'll ask my question here.

Is this normal?

corn snake poop

My snake's poop looked identical to Shelby's picture. Thanks for the picture, Shelby! I want to know if that is normal, too. The yellow which turned quickly to a powder, was what made me most curious. It had a slight odor which I cannot say that I had noticed before. This was the first time I had been pooped on versus just having to clean the poop in the cage. I cannot say that I have noticed any odor from the snake before.

This thread is actually quite excellent for noobs like me! I'm thinking (hoping) that what I found after feeding my post-regurge hatchling just the head of a pinkie covered in benebac is in fact poop. It is yellow and blobby and along side what actually looks like poop. Congealed urates?

Pink circle: bloody outline of today's half pinkie.
Green circle: poop in paper
Yellow circle: yellow blob things




Thanks for making this thread, and forgive me for resurrecting it but I think it is useful and possibly deserves a sticky (o...gross pun not intended).

And for the records, here is a regurgitated pinky:

It still retained the shape of a pinky, came out at least 3 days after feeding, smelled like sulpheric crap, but not as badly as I had expected so it took a few days to catch. By then it was dried up and stuck to the shredded paper.

As you may suspect, that regurgitated pinky was eaten butt first, which may correlate with the blackening.

For future reference, Lucky Charm's poop example above is perfectly normal.

I've got a batch from my hatchling on regurge watch that I hope is poop, but it is not dissolving in a cup of water. There's about 5 tiny black balls that rather remind me of the organs of things my cat used to eat, if I left them sitting for a couple of days. They seem to be wrapped in transparent colorless gelatinous membranes. The smell is not like the usual poop, a bit more sulpheric. Last meal was a pinky head/shoulders with Benebac 4 days ago. Yesterday I found similar stuff, but I wrote it off as poop and didn't do the water test. Tomorrow is exactly 1 month since the regurgitated meal. Is the water test all that reliable? Could it be a rather digested regurge?

See, all you people who get pooped on, at least you don't have to worry about these things. You know for sure! I've actually never seen my hatchling in the act of pooping or regurging, nor have I done the water test on known poops.

I would like to throw a monkey wrench in this thread because it is feces not poop. Or, is that the other way around.

Wow, I was surprised when I saw this thread pop up. It's been a long while. I'm still no poop expert because all my guys poop the same stuff every time. I guess that means their normal.

I am glad that the thread is helping someone though!

Wow, I can't believe this thread wasn't more popular when it was first created!

a fast poop this week

Normally my baby holds on to his nutrients really well, but this week everything was out in a day an a half. I did replace his overhead lamp with a UTH @ (83 F) so i dunno if that made a difference. His poop looks normal in texture, there's just a lot of it compared to what he normally gives me. I'm probably just worrying too much!

OK, I'm wishing I had taken a picture now, but I'll just have to describe it. Sneak just pooped, and the brown fecal part wasn't a big clump, it was like she had passed a bunch of brownish-tannish seeds with the clear stuff. Tiny little pellet-like pieces. Anyone seen this before??