What are the symptoms of substrate impaction?

I've been reassured not to worry about when my snake decides to poop, but I'm a little paranoid. The first time we got him to eat, he MAY have eaten some substrate (I no longer feed in his home with aspen).

Anyway, I just want to know what to look out for if this continues. He's eaten 3 times since I've owned him, and I haven't found a poop yet.

Could he have just been fasting so long that he's now retaining practically all the meals?

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Originally Posted by Azaria

I've been reassured not to worry about when my snake decides to poop, but I'm a little paranoid. The first time we got him to eat, he MAY have eaten some substrate (I no longer feed in his home with aspen).

Anyway, I just want to know what to look out for if this continues. He's eaten 3 times since I've owned him, and I haven't found a poop yet.

Could he have just been fasting so long that he's now retaining practically all the meals?

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He will poo when he needs to :gj:.I only find the white clump(bone stuff) in my 09 normal females enclosure because she absorbs the whole meal

I have not found any of those, either. :o

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Originally Posted by Azaria

I have not found any of those, either. :o

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How old is your snake? If its a hatchling it more then likely is absorbing the whole meal.You will see stuff when it needs to release it :P

I don't know his year, and I do not have a scale, but he is a little guy. I have guessed between 6-12 months, but I don't have any experience to compare that to.

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Originally Posted by Azaria

I don't know his year, and I do not have a scale, but he is a little guy. I have guessed between 6-12 months, but I don't have any experience to compare that to.

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Thats ok :gj:.He should be fine

He is really fattening up this month though, I must say! This is the best picture I have
for scale:

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-..._6319194_n.jpg

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Originally Posted by Azaria

He is really fattening up this month though, I must say! This is the best picture I have
for scale:

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-..._6319194_n.jpg

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Looks to be about the same size as my 09 female.What are you feeding it?

I have fed him for 3 of the last 4 fridays. After the first, we thought he must be supposed to poop between feedings, so we skipped the 2nd friday. He gets average sized live mice from the pet store.

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Originally Posted by Azaria

I have fed him for 3 of the last 4 fridays. After the first, we thought he must be supposed to poop between feedings, so we skipped the 2nd friday. He gets average sized live mice from the pet store.

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Ahh mice only have a little meat on them :P.So he is going to absorb the whole thing for his needs.So it might be a little while until you see any poo or bone mass put out.I feed my snakes rats so they get some meat in there bellies ;).I know some will not eat rats

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Originally Posted by Azaria

The first time we got him to eat, he MAY have eaten some substrate (I no longer feed in his home with aspen).

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All snakes housed in loose substrate will always swallow some amount of the substrate, but not a huge amount to become impacted. A snake would have to swallow a pretty large amount of substrate to be able to become impacted, although their stomach acids are so strong that those small pieces of substrate normally will not cause impaction.

You do not have to feed him outside of the enclosure, that just adds on to stress and raises the chance of the snake refusing the meal. I would suggest to keep feeding him in his enclosure so he is less stressed on feeding days, and don't feel any worry that he will become impacted. You can even place a paper towel down and have him eat on the paper towel if that makes you feel more comfortable.

Joe gave a pretty good answer. I'll add in that snakes can go months without going to the bathroom and they will be just fine. On another website, someone's Blood python didn't go for 8 months and finally decided to let it go. So don't be worried if he isn't defecating, he will let it out when he really wants to.

If you are pretty paranoid about it still, you can give him a warm soak. The warm water helps bowel movements so he will most likely go when bathing. ;)

I have been trying to stick to mice the size of his thickest girth. I have never seen a small rat, so I don't know what is within his limits!

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Originally Posted by Azaria

I have been trying to stick to mice the size of his thickest girth. I have never seen a small rat, so I don't know what is within his limits!

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The same comparison.My female eats rat pups the size just before they are old enough to be weaned.Since its feeding day tommorow i will try to remember to take a pic of her and her dinner so you can see :gj:

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Originally Posted by CoolioTiffany

You do not have to feed him outside of the enclosure, that just adds on to stress and raises the chance of the snake refusing the meal. I would suggest to keep feeding him in his enclosure so he is less stressed on feeding days, and don't feel any worry that he will become impacted. You can even place a paper towel down and have him eat on the paper towel if that makes you feel more comfortable.

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Currently, he refuses to touch frozen/thawed mice, so I am worried about feeding him live in his cage, or having to keep nudging the mouse in the right direction if I were to just lay something down over the substrate.. the first time, I couldn't keep the mouse in the tongs. I have been hoping to slowly get him into eating off tongs before I can switch to f/t... I don't know how much I should worry about a feeding reaction in his home, and he reacts really nicely when I scent the feeding tank with a mouse in a cricket box.

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Originally Posted by joepythons

The same comparison.My female eats rat pups the size just before they are old enough to be weaned.Since its feeding day tommorow i will try to remember to take a pic of her and her dinner so you can see :gj:

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Thanks! That'd be great!

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Originally Posted by joepythons

He will poo when he needs to :gj:.I only find the white clump(bone stuff) in my 09 normal females enclosure because she absorbs the whole meal

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are you referring to urates here? Because those aren't bone.. they're solid uric acid / urea . (the stuff that makes up the non water part of urine). A lot of reptiles create solid urates as a method to conserve water. It has nothing to do with bone, as all the bones are broken down. Go through a poo, you'll find hair and maybe some bits of bone, teeth and claws.

I was under the impression that besides urates, there are meat poops, and calcium poops.

Like others stated they can go months prior to poo-ing. Do not worry about the substrate as this happened to ours when they were on a loose substrate. We did end up putting down paper towels prior to feeding and that worked awesome for us. Loose substrate was a pain in the bootey on feeding day as we were picking stuff out of there mouth with a missed strike. I might suggest prekilling right before giving i to the snake...that way you can control that it will be on the paper towel. Hope that helps.

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Originally Posted by cinderbird

are you referring to urates here? Because those aren't bone.. they're solid uric acid / urea . (the stuff that makes up the non water part of urine). A lot of reptiles create solid urates as a method to conserve water. It has nothing to do with bone, as all the bones are broken down. Go through a poo, you'll find hair and maybe some bits of bone, teeth and claws.

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Ok i thought it was bone leftovers :O.I will take your word as i really dont want to sift thru poo to find out :P

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Originally Posted by Azaria

I am worried about feeding him live in his cage, or having to keep nudging the mouse in the right direction

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you dont have to worry about giving the mouse any direction, even if it stayed on the other side of the cage the whole time your snake would smell it and find it. they are great hunters

Ok here is bella my 09 female.Then a pic of her dinner of which is a almost weaned rat pup. http://i280.photobucket.com/albums/k...compare001.jpg, http://i280.photobucket.com/albums/k...compare003.jpg

Yeah the white clumpy stuff is not bone....it is urates, which is a hard form of urine. Almost all reptiles leave urates and not all of them eat mammals.

As for the impaction business. I have never heard of a ball python becoming impacted from ingesting acceptable substrates (wood shavings). Their digestive systems are very strong.

That being said, the big indicator of impaction is a hard bottom. If the area around the vent is still squishy and malleable then you are good to go.

Joe, your girl is a beauty! Is she something specific to make her so distinct?
I'm going to ask the pet store if they will let me see their rats next time! That thing definitely looks like a better meal :snake:

Kaorte, thank you :)

Yeah check to see what rats they have

For an animal that size....

Id be looking at Weaned rats

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Originally Posted by Azaria

Joe, your girl is a beauty! Is she something specific to make her so distinct?
I'm going to ask the pet store if they will let me see their rats next time! That thing definitely looks like a better meal :snake:

Kaorte, thank you :)

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Thanks! No she is just a normal female i bought in Feb at the reptile show.I picked her out for the reduced pattern though :D.If you have anymore questions or anything let me know :gj: