What is worng with my Boa?

[Dutti]

My 15 months old male BCI ate a large rat on the 24th of July and went into shedding. He shed his skin on 4th of August and did not poop or eat until now. He usually poops 2 or 3 days after shedding.Today i took him out of his enclosure and he started hissing at me and did not stop until i left the room. He never hissed at me before. I am able to feel a small lump down by his vent. But its small to be that large rat he ate. If it was constipation i think that the lump would have been bigger to match the size of the rat that he ate. I soaked him today for an hour in a a barely warm water and what came out was a yellow urine but no poop. Should i take him to the vet?

[bcr229]

You may want to, though he's probably just ready to drop a really large bowel movement.

Also a large rat is a big meal for a 15 month old male boa, both of my two year old male and female are still on small rats and they eat every three weeks.

[Sauzo]

What is your humidity like? Boas need around 70-80% humidity or they can run the risk of dehydration which combined with eating which uses liquid and shedding which uses liquid could easily back him up. Low humidity is also a big contributor to people who have impaction issues. A well hydrated snake can usually pass a lot of stuff unless you are talking a dish towel or giant paper towel lol.

And like BCR said above and what I said in your other posts....a large rat for a 15 month old snake is too much. Unfortunately you might now start seeing the results of all that stuff as it doesn't build up overnight. Takes a while to compound itself. Like I said, my 6.5' female eats larger rats and she is 5 years old....

[Dutti]

What is your humidity like? Boas need around 70-80% humidity or they can run the risk of dehydration which combined with eating which uses liquid and shedding which uses liquid could easily back him up. Low humidity is also a big contributor to people who have impaction issues. A well hydrated snake can usually pass a lot of stuff unless you are talking a dish towel or giant paper towel lol.

And like BCR said above and what I said in your other posts....a large rat for a 15 month old snake is too much. Unfortunately you might now start seeing the results of all that stuff as it doesn't build up overnight. Takes a while to compound itself. Like I said, my 6.5' female eats larger rats and she is 5 years old....

He had constipation before 6 months. The reason for that i think was the substrate i was using. It was a normal plant soil and he swallowed a bit of it when eating. So i changed that to Aspin. He solved his constipation problem at that time alone by drinking lots of water more than he usually drinks. He sheds in one piece always at a humidity level between 70-75. Always the humidity inside his enclosure when not shedding 65-70%. Now he is in a small enclosure, size in feet 3,30 long, 1,65 deep, 1,65 high. because of this he is spending lots of time outside of his enclosure inside a room where the humidity is around 60%. I have ordered his adult enclosure, size in feet 7,20 long, 2,60 deep, 4,60 high. It should arrive at the end of this month.

[Sauzo]

He had constipation before 6 months. The reason for that i think was the substrate i was using. It was a normal plant soil and he swallowed a bit of it when eating. So i changed that to Aspin. He solved his constipation problem at that time alone by drinking lots of water more than he usually drinks. He sheds in one piece always at a humidity level between 70-75. Always the humidity inside his enclosure when not shedding 65-70%. Now he is in a small enclosure, size in feet 3,30 long, 1,65 deep, 1,65 high. because of this he is spending lots of time outside of his enclosure inside a room where the humidity is around 60%. I have ordered his adult enclosure, size in feet 7,20 long, 2,60 deep, 4,60 high. It should arrive at the end of this month.

I wouldnt say eating a little plant soil caused the constipation unless like i mentioned, he was dehydrated. The drinking lots of water is the part that corrected it. In the wild they eat all kinds of stuff mixed in their food...bark, leaves, dirt and whatever else can get mixed in on the floor of a South American jungle lol. All of my boas and retic have eaten stuff from Eco Earth to Reptichips to aspen and they never had a problem. My suriname managed to get her whole mouth so full of Eco Earth, she couldnt close it or remove it. I had to use a Q-Tip to wipe as much as i could out of the sides and front of her mouth and then use the Q-Tip stick to prop her mouth open while i tipped her head downward and used a spray bottle to spray out the Eco Earth. She did this twice. She still had nice juicy huge poops.

I personally feel 65% is a bit low since most people use cheaper hydrometer(myself guilty too) so the accuracy can be as much as 5-10% off which would mean a reading of 65% could really be 55-60%.

And spending lots of time outside shouldnt matter assuming the cage is high enough. My big girl is out for hours upon hours when its hot out as she hates hot weather lol. She spends about 4-5 hours sitting by a fan that pulls in outside air to the room. And she still has big juicy poops lol.

I'm just saying constipation in a snake isnt something that is common and is more of an indicator of husbandry issues. It's kind of like how usually the first thing people jump to in a snake that is acting weird is IBD which isnt common as well. Usually its something like a chemical, trauma, infection or the most common problem, overheating.

[Dutti]

I personally feel 65% is a bit low since most people use cheaper hydrometer(myself guilty too) so the accuracy can be as much as 5-10% off which would mean a reading of 65% could really be 55-60%.
.

I paid for my hydrometer 24 USD. Its not a cheap one. I would say the accuracy can be as much as 2-3% off, not more.
I am taking him to the vet today, i will post an update after that.

[Dutti]

He was constipated. I took him to an experienced knowledgeable vet. The poop was solid like a stone. He would not have been able to get it out without a vet help. The vet didn,t mention a particular reason for constipation. Several things could cause it.

[Sauzo]

He was constipated. I took him to an experienced knowledgeable vet. The poop was solid like a stone. He would not have been able to get it out without a vet help. The vet didn,t mention a particular reason for constipation. Several things could cause it.

The snake was dehydrated lol. It doesnt take a rocket scientist to figure that out. If he has been constipated multiple times now, you need to figure out your husbandry. None of my snakes have ever been constipated since i have had them in over 5 years. Even my old BP which i had for 10 years never got constipated.

Not sure why the vet wouldnt talk to you about it. My vet takes note on everything when i bring a new snake to her. It's like 100 questions about husbandry, feeding, temps, history, everything. But my vet is pretty awesome. She saved Allies life when Allie accidently ingested some Provent-A-Mite. She did try and bite the vet a few times when she felt better lol. The vet called me and told me i think Allie is ready to go home now as she took a couple shots at me lol.

Anyways, like i said, constipation is from humidity issues or the snake ate something that was entirely too big and couldnt be digested like a bunch of paper towels, wash cloth or something else like that. A few pieces of coco husk or a pinch of ground up coco husk would not create that kind of blockage.

Also good that the vet got the poop out. I bet it was like uncorking a bottle of shaken champagne lol.

[Warren_Booth]

Personally, I have been keeping and breeding boas (normally around 100 boas in the collection up until this past year), and my humidity is in the low 60s. I have never had a constipation issue, and here is why... I feed my boas appropriately. If you are feeding your 15 month old boas large rats, your are putting massive physiological stress on that animal. This, will ultimately result in constipation and very likely death prematurely for that animal. Boas are not built to eat at that rate, but they will if offered. I highly doubt soil was an issue early on either, as remarkably boas and their relatives have been living in the wild, on soil, for millions of years. No boa I have ever caught in the wild looks like a boa from most collections in captivity. Overfeeding is very likely the issue here.

My feeding schedule for adult boas is simple. I do not feed from November through to March. I then feed adult females once every two to three weeks, and males once every three to four weeks. I feed subadult females every 2 weeks and males every 2 to 3. Neonates are feed every 7 to 10 days or so, depending on sex.

Warren

[Sauzo]

Personally, I have been keeping and breeding boas (normally around 100 boas in the collection up until this past year), and my humidity is in the low 60s. I have never had a constipation issue, and here is why... I feed my boas appropriately. If you are feeding your 15 month old boas large rats, your are putting massive physiological stress on that animal. This, will ultimately result in constipation and very likely death prematurely for that animal. Boas are not built to eat at that rate, but they will if offered. I highly doubt soil was an issue early on either, as remarkably boas and their relatives have been living in the wild, on soil, for millions of years. No boa I have ever caught in the wild looks like a boa from most collections in captivity. Overfeeding is very likely the issue here.

My feeding schedule for adult boas is simple. I do not feed from November through to March. I then feed adult females once every two to three weeks, and males once every three to four weeks. I feed subadult females every 2 weeks and males every 2 to 3. Neonates are feed every 7 to 10 days or so, depending on sex.

Warren

You ever get the 'lazy lines' on your big boas from that low of humidity? The vertical creases from them coiling up. I noticed when I kept my humidity around 60% a long time ago, my bigger girls would get those lines. Then when I up'd the humidity to 70-80%, they quit getting them.

And that's just about like my feeding schedule except I don't cool down and 'winterize' my boas. They live in an eternal summer but do get fed less in the winter. I usually do anything on mice every 7-10 days. Then once they hit about 1.5-2 years old, they go to weaned/small rats every 2 weeks. Medium rats every 3-4 weeks. Larges every 3-4 weeks. Rabbits every 4-5 weeks. And males getting the farther end of the feeding scale.

I also generally feed on the smaller side overall for everyone except my retic who isn't happy unless his food is big. Heck my 1.1 year old suriname and 1.2 year old Longicauda are still on hopper mice.