• Hello!

    Either you have not registered on this site yet, or you are registered but have not logged in. In either case, you will not be able to use the full functionality of this site until you have registered, and then logged in after your registration has been approved.

    Registration is FREE, so please register so you can participate instead of remaining a lurker....

    Please be certain that the location field is correctly filled out when you register. All registrations that appear to be bogus will be rejected. Which means that if your location field does NOT match the actual location of your registration IP address, then your registration will be rejected.

    Sorry about the strictness of this requirement, but it is necessary to block spammers and scammers at the door as much as possible.

compacted!?

Zaniosm15

Zaniosm15

New member
My corn has been having problems with this lately I think. Generally his schedule was to eat and poop once a week. Well I fed him 2 and a half weeks ago and he still hasn't pooped!!! I also fed him another mouse yesterday because its been so long. I tried putting him in luke warm water and massaging but he still wont poop! Is this normal or what should I do?
 
What type of bedding are you using? Are you feeding the snake inside the viv or outside? It is typical for snakes to sometimes take longer times to use the bathroom than usual... however there may be some blockage if it has been that long. What size was the meal you last fed it? Do you see any lumps in the body still?

Lastly depending on the bedding it may have actually used the bathroom somewhere inside the bedding after burrowing and you may just be having a hard time locating it. Let us know the answer to these questions and we should be able to help you better.
 
My first corn died of an impaction. As a result of the blockage, he stopped eating. Is it possible that you've missed the crap? Do you think he may be in a shed cycle? Some corns will hold it until they shed if they're digesting in a shed cycle.
 
Roy- I use just regular critter carpet in my viv and always notice when he goes to the bathroom. 2 and a half weeks ago I fed it an adult sized mouse...... then yetserday I fed him another adult sized mouse. I see no trace of him going to the bathroom.

Red-I'm pretty sure he's not in a shedding cycle because I haven't seen his eyes turn blue. Generally his eyes get very cloudy blue a few days before he sheds, but this is not the case. My corn is still eating and everything too which makes me believe maybe he just is taking a really long time to digest?

Overall I'm a little worried, but otherwise he hasn't acted any different. There is a huge bulge near his rear so I'm pretty sure its digested.... maybe I should go back to feeding him 2 fuzzies instead of an adult every week? On that routine he used to go to the bathroom once a week...

Any other comments or similar experiences? Thanks so far!
 
Personally, I wouldn't worry unless he stops eating. That's a better indicator of a problem in an adult corn (with some distinct exceptions) than lack of defecation.
 
Feeding an adult corn two fuzzies is really pushing it as far as an acceptable level of food goes.
 
My corn is weird like that sometimes. But normally..I don't know why..But he waits for his next meal, and after I feed him and put him back in his cage..He takes a huge crap. He does that almost every time.
 
Try soaking him again, for a good long while or let him swim in some shallow water. They usually don't like it, but if he's showing a large bulge, it's probably fecal matter. I wouldn't continue to feed him until he goes again. You don't want to add to the amount of matter backing up in there.
 
JAMES POOPED! woo hoo! haha.

So yes, it took him almost 3 full weeks but he managed to poop. I'm really not sure if he was compacted or if it just really takes him that long to digest.

Thank you everyone for your concern and your advice on this situation.

Also I have been feeding him generally one adult mouse a week. Is that sufficient for a 3 ft 11 inch long corn snake? I guess I never really thought about it, I was always told to feed him one adult a week, but reading more about feeding on this forum says I should maybe up it to 2 a week?

What are your thoughts on this? Thanks.
 
Once a week should be fine for your snake, but FWIW, the word is Impaction not Compaction. I had visions of your snake squashed down to a small rectangle :) Glad he pooped for you (where else but here will people be cheering a poop!?) I would monitor his droppings though and if he doesn't go in a reasonable amount of time after feeding, I'd wait until he does before feeding again.
 
i've been having the same problem

i just got a corn a couple weeks ago and estimate it to be six months old. I fed it a mouse during the first week and it pooped just days afterwards...on my bed, but it hasn't gone since then. It took a little...and i mean little dump over in the corner but thats it. Its an amelanistic sp? and i can see straight through it when i turn the red night light. the entire last quarter of its body looks like crap. At first I thought the only problem i had to watch out for was a regurge, and it didn't have any problems with that so i thought i was in the clear. What really worries me is that i've been feeding it 1 pinky every 4 days...which means it's eaten roughly 5 pinkies since the last time it took a dump. I've seen it drinking water too, and i'm not quite sure what's happened to that either. I'm using aspen snake bedding and defineatly haven't missed any hidden piles or anything. Also i keep the tank a little on the warmer side (77-85 degrees F) to help its metabolism kick in. Is this a serious problem and is there anything i can do about it?
 
BobM said:
i just got a corn a couple weeks ago and estimate it to be six months old. I fed it a mouse during the first week and it pooped just days afterwards...on my bed, but it hasn't gone since then. It took a little...and i mean little dump over in the corner but thats it. Its an amelanistic sp? and i can see straight through it when i turn the red night light. the entire last quarter of its body looks like crap. At first I thought the only problem i had to watch out for was a regurge, and it didn't have any problems with that so i thought i was in the clear. What really worries me is that i've been feeding it 1 pinky every 4 days...which means it's eaten roughly 5 pinkies since the last time it took a dump. I've seen it drinking water too, and i'm not quite sure what's happened to that either. I'm using aspen snake bedding and defineatly haven't missed any hidden piles or anything. Also i keep the tank a little on the warmer side (77-85 degrees F) to help its metabolism kick in. Is this a serious problem and is there anything i can do about it?
Click to expand...
Try letting it soak in lukewarm water for an half an hour or so. This will often times loosen the bowels and induce a movement. You can also let it spend some time "cruising" on a newspaper or piece of cardboard for a while. Often times, when my snakes haven't gone in a while, I will let them cruise like that on top of some paper, and they almost always let loose after about 10 minutes of cruising.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top