Mystery Gunk

So I was opened up one of my ball pythons cages to find there was some mysterious gunk :confused: in the water bowl. it was cloudy and kinda had some stuff resembling the opaque white part found in eggs (the chalazae?). Will male bp's produce sperm plugs and leave them in the water bowl? I can't really think of what else it could be, and i didn't see any more in the rest of the cage. any suggestions?

Hi,

There are a couple of possibilities.

It might be urates dropped in the bowl.

It might be bacterial growth in the water - how long has it been since you replaced the water and cleaned it out?

It might be mucus. Have a check on the snake for any signs of an RI or excesss mucus in its mouth. Also check for signs of any dried onto cage decorations.


dr del

The water usually gets cleaned every week unless they've been especially thirsty and i have to do it more often, it looked fine yesterday so i'm not really sure if bacteria will take hold that quickly. I will double check to make sure its not an RI.

Check the side of the enclosure too for mucus junk that is a RI sign as well. It is unlikely enough bio slime would develop in a day or two it can but isn't likely.

In my bowls if water isn't changed a red slime develops. It's a bacteria that excess amounts of calcium helps to grow. It's not poisonous but I would rather not have it in my guys water bowl.

My guess is it's a form of bacteria from using tap water. Change the water more regularly and if the problem persist then it's prob your snake.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by MitsuMike

In my bowls if water isn't changed a red slime develops. It's a bacteria that excess amounts of calcium helps to grow. It's not poisonous but I would rather not have it in my guys water bowl.

My guess is it's a form of bacteria from using tap water. Change the water more regularly and if the problem persist then it's prob your snake.

---

Ahh the fun of living in the South and having extremely hard water, always fun.

As long as the snake is healthy and there is no RI, it should all be fine, maybe just clean the whole cage out really well and see if it comes back.

not to be a butt but i think you should change your water more often than once a week.

but mystery gunk... idk... listen to the more knoledgeable... :)

Male BP's will leave hemipenial sheds usually in there water bowls. They are commonly referred as "sperm plugs" but they are hemipenial sheds. :slamhead:

Is it a male? If so thats him telling you hes ready to visit some lady friends.:banana:

Anthony

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by MitsuMike

In my bowls if water isn't changed a red slime develops. It's a bacteria that excess amounts of calcium helps to grow. It's not poisonous but I would rather not have it in my guys water bowl.

My guess is it's a form of bacteria from using tap water. Change the water more regularly and if the problem persist then it's prob your snake.

---

Wow where I am they add so much chlorine it kills everything I have to filter the water before use (for my snakes and for me too!) I would get a slick coating eventually (like 2 weeks) but I never let it go much longer than 2 or 3 days for the snakes! (the plant watering can is a different story...)

Thanks for the input, This is the first time i've ever had a problem with the water or seen this so I'll start changing it more often. Like I said i change it if stuff gets in it or it gets low, but it at the very least gets changed once a week. I've been using either bottled or distilled water for the snakes since the tap water (even brita filtered water) here isn't even fit for watering plants. I checked for RI and other mucus and didn't see anything abnormal.