ball python urine(or white chalky substance)

question my ball python urine is a slight green instead of pure white like normal,any ideas why it's that color? let me know

What you are seeing is mold growing on the urine, I think ;)

I've noticed sometimes I'm searching through Elysia's tank, I will find a little dried urine thats a little green, which tells me its been there a while. The more green it is the longer its been there is what I've been assuming.

However, if its coming out of your snake green, I have no idea what that means.

I dont think its mold. Bp urine can contain more than just urine. Sometimes it comes out with a little poo with it and any other nasties that could be in the kidney. I've had bp urine come out with a little green in it, and i never thought it was something to be concerned about. My fecals have included green urine samples as well and the vet didnt say anything about it.

I think it's likely tied to the diet of its prey.

hey my bp hasn't even pood yet and he ate this tuesday so how long does it take? well i have to check his tank forr poo but i doubt he has.

Just check daily. Generally they expel urates every 1-3 feedings and p00 every 4-8 feedings, but it can be more or less frequent than that.

Sorry if I posted anything that misinformed o_O Was just going on my assumptions there ^_^;;

Nah, it's all good. You could have mold grow on the urates too. It's just that we would generally catch it before it would get to that point (maybe if you go on vacation or something).

Sophie goes almost weekly (both urates and feces, sometimes even twice a week). I didn't think this was a problem, but if they generally go every 4-8 feedings, should I be worried?

I don't think it should be a problem unless the poo's don't look too healthy, IE loose, oddly colored :P

she must be getting plenty of fiber. are you giving her bran mice or something? :mrgreen: :wink:

Caren, unless you are giving her bran mice ;) that will probably slow down a bit with age. As long as everything looks good, I wouldn't worry about it, though I would double-check prey size and make sure it's leaving a good lump.

thanks,it's not mold as soon as it came out it was that color i remove any fecal dropping as soon as they are noticed,so i'm assuming that it's something in his diet,and if your snake is not poobing within a couple weeks of eating i suggest putting him in luke warm water in the tub for about 5 min's and i gurantee he will poob within the day, my bp poobs about once a week and it's always large and solid

On the other hand, I suggest waiting it out unless your snake has an engorged tail for more than several days as it's very unusual for a well-tended captive snake with sufficient humidity and a safe substrate to get constipated or impacted. Just my $0.02.

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she must be getting plenty of fiber. are you giving her bran mice or something?

Caren, unless you are giving her bran mice that will probably slow down a bit with age.

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They're fresh out of bran mice down here, so it's plain ol' mice for Soph. I did just switch her to small rats though as the adult mice just weren't cutting it anymore, i.e. I couldn't even tell I had just fed her w/the mice. The rats leave a nice lil' lump. Seems like she's gotten really fat over the past month--she's had 2 feedings w/rats at this point. She's at 300 grams according to my not entirely accurate scale. I have decided to feed her every 10 days instead of every 7 as her girth is outgrowing her length and I don't want to cause her to become obese as she is an eating machine!

I'll bet her system will take longer to process the rats completely and you'll see a bit of a slowdown, especially with the change in her feeding schedule. For what it's worth, I typically see the same pattern in my snakes as I do in my kids, growthwise: they go through cycles of getting longer and skinnier and then slowing down on the length and picking up the bulk. As long as you maintain a good feeding schedule (and I know you do), I wouldn't be too concerned about a "stocky" period.

i think nellie is having a stocky period right now. that little booger is getting some girth on her! :) she had a little spurt when i first got her and grew a few inches, but that slowed down and now she's gotten stocky. so i guess that is exactly what you just described. good to know we're all normal. :D

I wish I'd known about that whole cycling thing when I was 12. ;)

ha ha, yeah but i bet that wouldn't have made you feel a whole lot better about it.

he pooped aw and now his tank kinda reeks but it is going away. this is really ironic cuz i jat remodled his cage yesterday lol(new astroturf and hide)

you may want to remove the astroturf and soak in a solution of 10% bleach, 90% water. that should help to disinfect it and take away the smell. just make SURE to rinse it out VERY well, so there is no leftover bleach smell or residue. you can use an extra piece of astroturf, paper towels, or newspaper in the mean time in the tank.

he just ate can i take him out

just pick him up gently and set him in a box or something while you take the astroturf out and put newspaper or whatever you are going to use in the tank. then carefully put him back and leave him be for a few days. generally i think that it is ok to do minimal handling for sanitation and cleaning reasons.

is it imperative that i change the astroturf because it doesn't smell that bad anymore and i cleaned the spot where the poo was(was no sign of residue just felt i should clean it) plus the turf looks so cool lol.

was it just feces or was there urine as well? bps can relieve themselves of quite a lot of urine at one time. if there was a lot of urine i would say that you really need to take it out and clean it, otherwise it will get moldy and unsanitary.

well no pee jst feces and some white nugget

The white nugget was urates, which is pee, and means that he almost certainly released some fluid too. More thorough cleaning is in order.

ok i will get to it then

:)

ok so how long should i let the turf soak

how long do u soak astroturf in the disinfectant and also how do i dry it

come on can someone tell me how long before i take it out and how do i dry it?

i just spray it down with the hose really good and let it air dry over night

i hung it up and plan to let it dry over night

I soak astroturf for 30 minutes then rinse well. I keep two pieces on hand for each tank so that I have a clean, dry piece always on hand. That way, I can immediately put in the clean, dry piece, and the freshly disinfected piece has days to dry before I need to clean the cage again.

i will cou t the second peice today