Constipation?

So I took my 11 month old BCI out tonight to clean her water and check her out before feeding day. I thought we'd hang out for a bit while I studied. However, when I took her out I noticed she has sausage butt AGAIN. This is the second time since I've had her (mid-Feb) and the first time was about 2-3 weeks ago. This is becoming a reoccurring issue and I am a bit concerned. I took her out and she seems uncomfortable, but no hard masses or anything. I soaked her in some lukewarm water for about 10 minutes, dried her and put her back. Last time, this method worked almost instantly. However, this time it has yet to cause her to pass the poo.

I noticed she had a mouthful (might be a slight overstatement) of bedding, I use aspen, the second to last time she ate. So I placed some paper towels down for last weeks feeding and she did not appear to have that issue again. But now she's constipated again. I am thinking that maybe I need I switch her to paper towels or something permanently. In the mean time, is the substrate ingestion the likely culprit and should I just soak her again tomorrow if she hasn't passed it yet?

She managed to push it out last time without too much difficulty, and it was huge! There was also a fair amount of liquid in it. Could she have an underlying condition that is causing this? Her humidity is 52%. Temps are good. I just don't want this to continue to be an issue.

Also, I will not be feeding her until she passes this. The normal feeding day is tomorrow so she's a little on the feisty side.

Anyway, any suggestions would be appreciated.

She didnt ingest any of the paper towels did she?
I would advise against doing that. They can easily be ingested and cause a blockage. A bit of aspen wont hurt her at all. Im sorry i cant be of more help as to whats constipating her though :/

No no. She didn't ingest the paper towels. Just a bit of aspen. This is her second bout of constipation in a row though. :/ I've never had a snake get constipated before her. It's a tad strange. Which makes me wonder if there's some underlying condition? I don't know. Hopefully she passes the blockage by tomorrow and we can avoid future bouts of this. If it happens again though she will be going to the vet for sure. She will also be going if she doesn't pass this by Wednesday.

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Originally Posted by WarriorPrincess90

No no. She didn't ingest the paper towels. Just a bit of aspen. This is her second bout of constipation in a row though. :/ I've never had a snake get constipated before her. It's a tad strange. Which makes me wonder if there's some underlying condition? I don't know. Hopefully she passes the blockage by tomorrow and we can avoid future bouts of this. If it happens again though she will be going to the vet for sure. She will also be going if she doesn't pass this by Wednesday.

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Keep her warm and damp. Soaking backed up boas in warm water can also help them relieve themselves too.

Is it common for boas to get backed up? Do they generally poo with each meal, or are they at random like bps?

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How often and what size meals are you feeding her?

My Dumeril goes every 2 weeks roughly. My darling BCI hasn't been regular since I've had her. Again, only mid-Feb. I feed her every 7 days, and I feed rat pups. Someone on RTB.net suggested I switch her to every ten days though. She's usually waiting eagerly to be fed by day 6, but if it helps her digest more thoroughly, it's fine with me.

Ya I'd switch to at least every 10 days, even 14 wouldn't hurt at all. Boas don't metabolize like other snakes and feeding every 7 days is too much. Just because she's waiting for food doesnt mean you need to give it to her, don't let her fool you shes definitely not starving. I feed my younger boas every 10-14 days and my older boas every 14-21 days and trust me that's plenty of food for them. :)

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Originally Posted by boadaddy

Ya I'd switch to at least every 10 days, even 14 wouldn't hurt at all. Boas don't metabolize like other snakes and feeding every 7 days is too much. Just because she's waiting for food doesnt mean you need to give it to her, don't let her fool you shes definitely not starving. I feed my younger boas every 10-14 days and my older boas every 14-21 days and trust me that's plenty of food for them. :)

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Even brand new baby boas? We just got one that is now about 5 weeks old. I have seen suggested to feed every 7 days. At what age do you switch to 10 days?

We use to feed our young one every 7 days. His rat pups are a bit big so I've been doing every 14.

Maybe our snakes are weird but both our bp and boa defecate every 1-2 months, 3 if the prey items have been small. They'll get sausage butt for a few days and then let loose a nice, perfectly formed stool. These guys are so awesome at digestion that they will use as much as possible. The only time our bp defecated every 1-2 weeks was when he got a rat that was too large for his weight. He had no problem taking it down but he left us some frequent, large, formed stools for about a month. Since switching to smaller rats he's back to his average 1-1 1/2 months bowel movement.

Heck, if you always feed slightly small prey items you could do weekly for the rest of their life. These guidelines aren't laws. You can do what you are comfortable with. Young boas are hard to feed because they grow out of prey sizes soooooo quick. I've experienced a size to only be perfect for 2 weeks. Then all the sudden it's too small. Use your best judgement. The rule of thumb I read was to wait at least 2-3 days after all signs of feeding are gone before feeding again. For example... Our guy goes DARK when he's digesting. He will lighten considerably at almost the exact same time that any food bump signs are gone. At the same time... if his prey is too small he doesnt darken at all. Interesting huh? Observe your snake. Watch for signs of a chunky snake. As long as they aren't too thin or too round you're doing great! You'll discover what's perfect for him/her.