Great. Are these parasites.

Ok, so I'm a bit freaked out. This animal has not eaten since I've had him, but he was on live. I have been trying to convert him to FT, but without much luck. He is an extremely shy and easily stressed, so I've thought that his not eating was just due to the switch and him taking a while to get comfortable. Downsizing tubs does not help, and I do not handle him unless I need to do something necessary for his care.

I am kicking myself for not offering him live sooner, because I should have. He has gone from 260g to about 224g in 3 months, but has no visible backbone, so I figured I could wait him out for a bit, but I still am realizing that I should have offered him live sooner. Usually he hides all the time, but lately he has been coming out looking for food, but becomes afraid of it when it is offered.

I have had him for over 3 months now, and he has pooped during this time with no sign of illness. The only thing remiss between then and now is being off feed, but I was told by the breeder he was eating fine prior on live, so I figured it was due to the switch. Through the over 3 month span he has seemed perfectly healthy. He is currently with the others, but by the looks of it he will be pulled out today.

Today I walk in, and see this. None of the poops he has produced in the time I've had him looked like this. He is currently in the tub system with my others, but none of them have produced anything like this.

Are these parasites? I couldn't reach our exotics vet when I tried. They don't move, or anything like that. But I have not seen this before. Please help and tell me if you have seen this before.

http://i.imgur.com/p3zwOXR.jpg

(Deb, yes this animal is the same one I messaged you about, but I wasn't aware of this issue until this morning)

Not much poop there, just a ton of urates, which is to be expected with the hunger strike. Are you concerned with the flecks in the urates? It's hard to tell what they are from the picture, it's rather blurry.

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Originally Posted by Eavlynn

Not much poop there, just a ton of urates, which is to be expected with the hunger strike. Are you concerned with the flecks in the urates? It's hard to tell what they are from the picture, it's rather blurry.

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Yes, I should have specified I'm talking about the flecks in the urates.

Here is a better photo, sorry about that.

http://i.imgur.com/11sMa8E.jpg

I've not seen anything like that before. If it were me, I would go to a professional reptile vet, and then see if they can do a poop sample on it to see if any parasites are detected.

If that snake is housed with the others, I would remove it immediately and put it into quarantine in a separate room (tub and everything disinfected before putting it back in the rack). You dont want your other snakes getting what he has.

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Originally Posted by LightningPython

I've not seen anything like that before. If it were me, I would go to a professional reptile vet, and then see if they can do a poop sample on it to see if any parasites are detected.

If that snake is housed with the others, I would remove it immediately and put it into quarantine in a separate room (tub and everything disinfected before putting it back in the rack). You dont want your other snakes getting what he has.

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This is what I'm thinking as well, on all counts. I couldn't reach the vet earlier when I tried, but I will try again Monday as they closed a few minutes ago.
I couldn't find anything remotely similar on Google in the meantime :(.

Definitely strange. Hopefully the vet will know what's going on. I haven't seen anything like that. Quarantine time for the little guy. With any luck, it won't be anything serious.

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I'd love to answer but same issue I have with the pic from you pm I can't see it :rolleye2:, every time I get this message.

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Zoinks! You've taken a wrong turn.
Let's split up, gang. If you're looking for an image, it's probably been deleted or may not have existed at all.

If you are looking for groovy images, visit our gallery!

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I am also seeing the same thing as Deborah.

Copied the image and reposted. Can you guys see it now?

http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/2016...29c36b0ac5.jpg


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Yes, I can see it. And wow. I've definitely never seen that before.

This is not poop this is a byproduct of urine called urate which is usually white (when people found it, it is usually dry and chalky, here you can tell it's fresh)

In your case it looks like what we call green urate, the green is from bile, sometime it's there sometime it's not.

Thank you BPGator!

And yes Deborah, I misspoke. I know it's urate, but I used the wrong term for it. I'm surprised you think it doesn't look like a parasite, but also your explanation makes sense since it wasn't there before. What causes this, I know in dogs it's hunger, but not sure if snakes have it the same way.

Urates are naturally present in snakes. :)

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Originally Posted by dr del

Urates are naturally present in snakes. :)

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The urates themselves aren't what I am concerned about, it's the specks in the urates in the picture ;).

IMO, it looks suspicious. I would double ziplock bag it and refrigerate it to take in for microscopic testing. Because its associated with inappetance is more suspicious.

I will stick it in the fridge for now. I hope it's not too late to cool it in order to preserve it for testing since I hadn't put it in the fridge earlier. :/

If nobody is 100% sure that it's innocuous, I'll see about having it tested. If anyone else sees this between now and Monday and knows what it is, I'd be very interested to hear additional input. Thanks to everyone so far!!

It's just not my day.

Full quarantine, emergency mode here I come. The good news is that the specks look like specks of seaweed, and not bugs. They are green, flat, and leaflike. Upon closer inspection, he also has mites?! The poor thing, I feel absolutely terrible that all of this is happening to him. About to do full checks on everyone. Wish me luck.

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Originally Posted by PeanutButler

It's just not my day.

Full quarantine, emergency mode here I come. The good news is that the specks look like specks of seaweed, and not bugs. They are green, flat, and leaflike. Upon closer inspection, he also has mites?! The poor thing, I feel absolutely terrible that all of this is happening to him. About to do full checks on everyone. Wish me luck.

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Well don't feel like it's not your day bc this is just one of the things that happen when you have reptiles. It's not your fault and doesn't mean that you are a bad keeper. Now bc the animal has mites and mites are bloodsucking pests that means they can also transmit disease to your snakes via the direct contact bloodborne route. This would include things like endoparasites and respiratory disease and general immune compromise. That is why I would be suspicious of the urates output and discoloration and consider having it tested. Is this a definite confirmation of your case? No. Just something to consider. The fact that he is not feeding and has mites is what is concerning. Hope it's negative. Best of luck. :)