What in the world is this? (Warning gross image)

I fed one of my baby ball pythons tonight, and about an hour later found this in his enclosure. No idea what it is or even which end it came out of. There’s this white stringy thing that sort of looks like a parasite and also this goopy stuff and little yellow specks. It seems like it should be a regurgitation but I didn’t know the rat would be that digested and the white stringy thing is really bizarre. Only thing I can think of is it’s a parasite or he somehow puked up part of his intestinal lining. He’s only ever eaten frozen thawed since hatching out of the egg so a parasite would surprise me. Any thoughts appreciated.


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If you showed that me photo with no back story: I would say it looks like a coconut seed embryo starting to germinate. :)

Parasite transmission can occur from frozen rodents, as normal freezing doesn't necessarily kill parasite eggs. (example source)

That could be a roundworm, but hard to say sometimes even up close. The goopy stuff might just be mucus. The yellow dots remind me of Leucocoprinus birnbaumii, a very common fungus in herp enclosures (the yellow dots of that fungus are a distinctive part of the mycelium), which could have been ingested accidentally or may have been on the substrate where the goop landed.

Unless it is obvious one way or the other from an up-close inspection, I'd personally run that into the vet to get their input on the long white thing (and possibly include a fecal sample if one was available).

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Originally Posted by tegu

I fed one of my baby ball pythons tonight, and about an hour later found this in his enclosure. No idea what it is or even which end it came out of. There’s this white stringy thing that sort of looks like a parasite and also this goopy stuff and little yellow specks. It seems like it should be a regurgitation but I didn’t know the rat would be that digested and the white stringy thing is really bizarre. Only thing I can think of is it’s a parasite or he somehow puked up part of his intestinal lining. He’s only ever eaten frozen thawed since hatching out of the egg so a parasite would surprise me. Any thoughts appreciated.

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How's your snake? Does he seem o.k.?

He has been eating just fine and looks perfectly healthy I’ve just never seen a snake expel something like that


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Save the whole thing in a ziploc bag in the refrigerator if you can. I once had a snake poop something similar to the white object and it ended up being a tapeworm. A vet can check it out to determine if it’s a parasite and then prescribe proper treatment. A full fecal work up on this snake would be ideal.

And FYI, often times a snake with tapeworms will eat really well and not show much if any obvious signs of illness. But over time you will notice that they don’t gain weight like they should, especially with how well they are eating. Once you treat the parasite(s) that will resolve.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Malum Argenteum

Parasite transmission can occur from frozen rodents, as normal freezing doesn't necessarily kill parasite eggs. (example source)

That could be a roundworm, but hard to say sometimes even up close. The goopy stuff might just be mucus. The yellow dots remind me of Leucocoprinus birnbaumii, a very common fungus in herp enclosures (the yellow dots of that fungus are a distinctive part of the mycelium), which could have been ingested accidentally or may have been on the substrate where the goop landed.

Unless it is obvious one way or the other from an up-close inspection, I'd personally run that into the vet to get their input on the long white thing (and possibly include a fecal sample if one was available).

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Thanks for the insight this was very helpful


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That’s an interesting point about the tapeworm. Do those come from the rodents?


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