Crohn's Disease

[lik3n]

seriously, i think my mexican black kingsnake has Crohn's because all he does is poop. i'm sure it's nothing to worry about, and he's just growing. but good lord, how much poop can one 2 foot snake have?

[Tigergenesis]

LOL - how often does he go? My kings go 3-4 times a week.

[Alkaurkharim]

Wow 3-4 times a week is normal?

I thought they only went once a few days after feeding. I've had Elysia for like 5 days now and I've only discovered one spot of urates and poop o_O I read that pet stores and breeders tend to only feed once every 7-10 days which is like the minimum to keep them healthy. So maybe feeding her every 5 days is going to fatten her up and make her wanna go more

[Tigergenesis]

Depends on the snake, how often feeding,meal size and age (i think), but colubrids go often.

Someone recently asked the same question about their Cal King on the Kingsnake forum. Anywhere from 2-4 times a week seemed to be what everyone's kings were doing.

[Alkaurkharim]

Oh ok good ^_^ One other question, I read that the Eco-Earth naturally like "decomposes" urates and poop. Is that right? I mean it would be kinda hard to find poop and urates in that loose kinda substrate right? I mean if I saw it on the top Id take it out but what if you cant find it lol.

[Tigergenesis]

Hmmm. Not sure about the decomposing part. But so far it is sometimes a bit difficult to find Indigo's feces (urates are easier since they are white), but he's still young and his 'presents' are small so I'm thinking it will be easier when he's older. I can usually smell it and I know there's something I need to find - plus I know based on his routine. I just sift through the substrate with one of those kitty liter scoops.

[Alkaurkharim]

So you take him out and just sift through thesubstrate until you find his present and thats all? All clean?

EDIT: I just checked Elysia earlier and I found a present and some urates under the newspaper and on top, as well as on the side of one of the hides. So I decided to do a clean sweep today and went to take her out. She promptly pretended to be a rattlesnake and vibrated her tail, which is the first time she has done so btw. I put her container inside the tank instead and she just went into it herself ^_^

I changed her newspaper, cleaned the tank with soapy water, dried it and disinfected it with my vinegar and peroxide bottles, then wiped it down again with water to get rid of the smell. I put her new nature's bark in this time between the cold and hot hide so she can use that to get between the 2. She dove right under and went into the cold hide ^_^

I think she likes it, but she seems stressed today, so I will wait until tomorrow to try and actually hold her.

[Tigergenesis]

Yep, that's my "daily" spot cleaning. The substrate causes his presents to clump together making it easy to scoop/sift. Sometimes I even leave him in there if I already know where it is and it's on the opposite side as him. I haven't determined how often I'll do a total change of the substrate since it's all still new for us both.

[Alkaurkharim]

Only reason I haven't gone out to get some Eco-Earth *Can get the three pack for 5$ at local pet store* is because the humidity where I am *upstate NY* Can be hell this time of year, and since I already had a humidity problem and today is no picnic either, I'm hesitant about getting a substrate that holds humidity like it does.

BTW whats your humidity at usually with your MBK Tiger?-

[Tigergenesis]

40-50% is where mine stays at. Humidity is higher here too due to all the rain. If you dry the EcoEarth out completely it won't really increase it - at least it hasn't for me. But it has to be bone dry.