How to tell if impaction?

[EmiLee]

Hi guys. It’s me again and experiencing another first here with my boa. I got her beginning of November, so far have fed her 3 times since she’s been here and she has not pooped once. I’ve cleaned out the tank and haven’t seen anything that even looks like urates. I’ve been keeping an eye on her bottom so see if it’s swollen and I can’t really see anything major, mayyyybe a tiny bit bulgy but you can barely see it. I tried soaking her in some warm water about a week ago to see if that would get things moving but still nothing. She’s about a year old dwarf boa (Sonoran) and I’ve been feeding her about every 10 days a 20 gram rat pup (she’s around 200 gram)
any thoughts on if it could be impaction? And what would be other tell signs that it is?

[jmcrook]

Babies use a great deal of every meal they consume towards growth. Both of my boas, a male Suriname and female Argentine just under 2 and 1.5yrs respectively, only defecate every 4-8 weeks. Unless it becomes increasingly distended I wouldn’t fret too much


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[richardhind1972]

It might be that the small rat pup is all being used up, especially if it's too small, you will see swelling around the cloaca often known as sausage but. normally a good long soak in warmish water will help solve the problem,

Does the small rat pup leave a bulge at all when fed?
It should only be slightly anyway. the prey item as a rule of thumb I use is a mouse or rat should either be the same size or slightly bigger than the fattest part of your snakes body
Remember sonoran are a smaller boa anyway

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[EmiLee]

It does leave a small bulge, she’s pretty long but fairly slender and read everywhere not to over feed and that a boa should eat something around 10% of their body weight? She’s a great eater but it did take her a long while to figure out how to eat the f/t pup first time I fed her as she kept trying to eat it from the side for about 20 min, so I think that the previous seller was probably feeding smaller than what I am. I may try to soak her for a little bit again.

[WrongPython]

It sounds like your girl is fine and probably just holding it in. For what it's worth, my almost-five-month-old Sonoran hasn't gone since mid-November even though she's had five meals and drank plenty of water in the interim. She just came out of blue and is getting ready to shed, so I have a feeling the long gap was due to her fueling a growth spurt. Perhaps your girl is getting ready to do the same. She may also be holding it in a bit because she's still hasn't quite settled in from her move. Either way, I don't think you need to soak her again. If she feels the need, she'll probably just soak in her water bowl herself.

Your feeder size sounds fine from what you described. My girl wrestles with her food the same yours does (and her f/t hoppers barely leave a bulge anymore), so it's not really a matter of the f/t pups being too large as much as it's a young snake trying to figure things out.

[paulh]

A large part of boa poop is rodent hair. A 20 gram rat pup sounds to me like a fuzzy, which has little hair. Low residue diets like that tend to lengthen time between poops.

[Bogertophis]

... I may try to soak her for a little bit again.

If you're feeding f/t, thaw them in water & don't dry them before feeding...the extra moisture may help. But I agree w/ above post explaining that young rodents are mostly digestible, so it takes a while before your
snake will have enough waste products to bother expelling. I wouldn't worry, & unless you see a real bulge above your boa's cloaca, don't bother soaking. Gentle handling will also promote some intestinal mobility, &
with less stress to your snake. In all probability though, there is nothing wrong with your snake right now. Wouldn't hurt to encourage her to drink more water though, & be sure enclosure humidity is adequate.

There are frequent misconceptions when it comes to soaking a snake, so here are my "favorites"-
1. water temperature: frequently too warm, so snake thrashes to get out. Remember we are 98.6* so if the water feels "warm" to us, it's over 98.6* & is TOO HOT for the snake. OK? Measure the water temp. first.

2. loss of traction: the other thing that causes panic in a snake being soaked is the lack of traction in the soaking container or sink. Put a towel down first, & keep water shallow...your snake should not have to swim.

3. Much like with a human kid, don't leave unattended in water tub! Soaking is useful for dehydrated snakes, & gentle hand-supported swimming motions in bathtub may help a constipated snake, but only IF it's really
needed (I doubt that yours is needed att), and the water is at the right temperature.

[bns]

Babies use a great deal of every meal they consume towards growth. Both of my boas, a male Suriname and female Argentine just under 2 and 1.5yrs respectively, only defecate every 4-8 weeks. Unless it becomes increasingly distended I wouldn’t fret too much


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Yep ^ but I'll add one thing. Don't fret at all...


And don't soak the boa again...the only thing that has a possibility of doing is reducing your misplaced stress while offering a real potential of stressing your boa. I've kept snakes for 40+ years. They eat. They poop. Not one snake has have never needed my assistance for either of those functions. I have never seen a case or even heard of a case first hand...

[EmiLee]

Hi Guys its been since Novemver 1st and she still hasn't pooped! Not sure if I should take her to the vet at this point? She has a small bulge but nothing like some photos that I've seen. She has an amazing apatite and get fed every 10 days. Gonna try to post some photos to see what you think.

[EmiLee]