Why is she having diarrhea?

My BP had a big, hard poop on Thurs. Today is Sat, and I found lots of wet, smelly, dark poop. Should I be worried? She ate around 4 days ago, and she usually passes feces 2-3 days after she eats.

Extra info:
She's captive bred
She's 3yrs, 4ft
I've had her for 9 months
She eats small live rats
Before I fed her 4 days ago, she had gone a while without eating
Humidity is always around 50-70%
Warm side temps are 90-97
Cool side temps are 75-83
She has a hide on both sides
I handle her for at least a few minutes every day except for 24hrs before/after eating and while she's shedding....

Have you thrown this poop away yet?

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Originally Posted by kellysballs

Have you thrown this poop away yet?

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Yes as soon as I see any feces I scoop it out and put in a handful of new bedding.

Call your normal vet Monday and let them know what happened. Internal parasites can cause diarrhea, you should be able to take a fecal sample into your vet for testing. It is not expensive and alot of times if you’re animal has been to the vet before and you provide them with the poo and the gram weight of you animal they can call you with results and a prescription if needed.

The next time your snake poops bag it in a Ziploc and put it in the fridge until you can take it to the vet. This will preserve the poo so you get an accurate test result.

parasitic poop has a very rank odor ! May need to have a smear and float done at the vet.

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Originally Posted by kellysballs

It is not expensive

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My vet quoted me $100.00 for the test during Desmo's visit the other day...

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Originally Posted by SYNNDAKAT

My vet quoted me $100.00 for the test during Desmo's visit the other day...

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This may sound dumb but I invest in an animal health care insurance policy. I pay nothing to go to vets and only pay a monthly bill. In the end I think I've saved at least 5-7k dollars in would be vet bills this year, vet bills are almost as expensive as doctor bills these days, anything I think might be wrong I always never think twice and take the animals in. Then again I have 25 snakes this may not be a good idea if you just have 1 or never really take your pet to the vet at all but it works for me.

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Originally Posted by Sebrina

This may sound dumb but I invest in an animal health care insurance policy. I pay nothing to go to vets and only pay a monthly bill. In the end I think I've saved at least 5-7k dollars in would be vet bills this year, vet bills are almost as expensive as doctor bills these days, anything I think might be wrong I always never think twice and take the animals in. Then again I have 25 snakes this may not be a good idea if you just have 1 or never really take your pet to the vet at all but it works for me.

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Animal insurance is awesome. i have it for all my pets and for a low payment each month added with all my other insurance its nothing.

but like stated, parasites are the usual cause of wet poop. and if it smells really nasty...then its pretty much guaranteed. just have her or him looked at by the vet and get some meds or something. should be no biggie. :cool:

I used to be a vet tech and $100 is WAY too much for poop. Was that with the visit and anything else?

I pay about 15 bucks for a fecal exam. Anyone paying over 20 should find a new vet. Thats someone ripping you off right there.

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Originally Posted by blb

I used to be a vet tech and $100 is WAY too much for poop. Was that with the visit and anything else?

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I am a vet tech and we do centrifuge fecals and they are around $15.00. Hopefully you misunderstood what the $100 was including.

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Originally Posted by blb

I used to be a vet tech and $100 is WAY too much for poop. Was that with the visit and anything else?

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Originally Posted by kellysballs

I am a vet tech and we do centrifuge fecals and they are around $15.00. Hopefully you misunderstood what the $100 was including.

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I wished... He was already there due to a prolapse and the vet wanted to know if I had any feces in the tank that we could run tests on and there wasnt but asked anyway how much for the next time and he said $100.00 for the total parasite tests..

A little much if you ask me........

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Sebrina

This may sound dumb but I invest in an animal health care insurance policy. I pay nothing to go to vets and only pay a monthly bill. In the end I think I've saved at least 5-7k dollars in would be vet bills this year, vet bills are almost as expensive as doctor bills these days, anything I think might be wrong I always never think twice and take the animals in. Then again I have 25 snakes this may not be a good idea if you just have 1 or never really take your pet to the vet at all but it works for me.

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:) I didn't know there was animal insurance! I'm sure that would save you a lot of money with that many pets, but I just have a BP and a cat, both of which have been fortunate and very healthy. So far.

Thank you all for the advice! She hasn't defecated since then, so I'm hoping that was a one-time thing, but if she has any more soft stools I will definitely take them in to be tested.
:)
~Crazy4Herps~

u deserve a thanks for spelling diarrhea correctly lol so you got one :salute:

Just a thought.... she always seems to be out of her hide, which is unusual for her. I did raise the temps a bit since it's getting colder, but is wanting to "stretch out" a sign of anything? Just wondering....

Hi,

Just a side point (hopefully) - when you said you raised the temperatures?

What are they now? And how and where are you measuring them?


dr del