Are my BPs healthy weights?

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Originally Posted by dr del

Hi,

A fecal is when you take a sample of fresh poop and put it in the fridge (not the freezer - it mucks it up ) until you can take it to a vet who will prepare it and look for signs of internal parasites.

Idealy you want to get it to the vets in under 24 hours.

There are alternatives but that is the best way to do it.


dr del

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gotcha, thanks for the heads up

Is this really something i should go see a vet for?

If your sure about the age, and weight they are a bit underweight, I have a 2 year old female and shes 759g and she is a picky eater, but yours look very helthy, so ???

I'll just increase their diet a little, and if I'm still having problems, I'll see a vet. I was planning to take them to our local petstore for a checkup on Tuesday anyway. ^_^

How much does the food you are giving them weigh? Sounds like you are underfeeding them. You should feed 10% of their body weight for each meal.

Do they ever refuse food? They do seem pretty underweight. Most snakes at that age are 100grams+, although all snakes grow at different rates.

I would take them to the vet just to be safe. A fecal costs about $25 if I remember correctly.

you mean 1000g? And no, they never refuse food..

Okay, It does sound like I've been underfeeding them. Ugh. I feel REALLY terrible now.

I'll look into getting a fectal ASAP, and start feeding them more.

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Originally Posted by Flicker

you mean 1000g? And no, they never refuse food..

Okay, It does sound like I've been underfeeding them. Ugh. I feel REALLY terrible now.

I'll look into getting a fectal ASAP, and start feeding them more.

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Yeah 1000 :bow:

Don't feel teririble! I am really glad you are active about doing the best for your snakes and not neglecting advice because it is inconvenient.

Looks like you could defiantly start feeding them bigger meals. I am sure they will be putting on weight like there is no tomorrow. Do you ever notice them cruising the tank a few days after they have been fed? I noticed this when I got my first BP and then realized she was hungry! I started upping her meals and now she is a fat and happy girl :D

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Originally Posted by Kaorte

Yeah 1000 :bow:

Don't feel teririble! I am really glad you are active about doing the best for your snakes and not neglecting advice because it is inconvenient.

Looks like you could defiantly start feeding them bigger meals. I am sure they will be putting on weight like there is no tomorrow. Do you ever notice them cruising the tank a few days after they have been fed? I noticed this when I got my first BP and then realized she was hungry! I started upping her meals and now she is a fat and happy girl :D

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Yeah, they do that sometime, but I take the hint and get them food as soon as I can. I think the main problem is that i waited WAYYYYYYYY too much time to switch them to rats. They are very picky eaters and used to refuse rats all the time, so I just kept them on largish mice. They're finally eating rats now and I think they're already putting on weight--and They're stopped cruising since I started them on rats too... I think that sounds pretty accurate, don't you?

And, just wondering, what is the purpose of the fectal? Could parasites be causing a increased motabalism or something? And do they need special equipment to do it?--or does a petstore have the knowhow?

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Originally Posted by Flicker

Yeah, they do that sometime, but I take the hint and get them food as soon as I can. I think the main problem is that i waited WAYYYYYYYY too much time to switch them to rats. They are very picky eaters and used to refuse rats all the time, so I just kept them on largish mice. They're finally eating rats now and I think they're already putting on weight--and They're stopped cruising since I started them on rats too... I think that sounds pretty accurate, don't you?

And, just wondering, what is the purpose of the fectal? Could parasites be causing a increased motabalism or something? And do they need special equipment to do it?--or does a petstore have the knowhow?

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Yep, sounds about right.
Although from your previous posts you have said that you house them together. Food refusal is very common with BP's housed together. Although you might not be having problems now, it would probably be more beneficial for them to be housed separately, especially if you are going to get a fecal done for each of them. That way you can tell who's poo is who's (haha).

A fecal float checks for parasites that could be leaching the nutrition from your BP causing them to either loose weight, or gain it very slowly. I am pretty sure only a vet can do it. I don't think a petstore would even know what one was.

A fecal should be done once a year as part of their yearly exam.