Regurgitation?

[Bogertophis]

And it’s ok that the reptile is taking rats as his usual diet. This is a health issue and it’s a rehabilitative approach that’s being taken to get the treatment into the animal that’s needed. It’s a very short term dietary change and probably a one time change and monitor the animal as the OP considers switching to a smaller prey item with less / no fur.

I was just thinking that with some BPs, they get "stuck" on the prey they prefer, so it can be risky to offer mice if they've been eating rats, & assuming the owner wants to keep them on rats.

If it was a rat snake, or one of many other kinds of snakes, I wouldn't think twice about offering a different kind of hairless rodent, but some BPs will be goofy about it.

Another option: The OP could always shave the rat...you wouldn't have to get all the fur off, just some would likely help.

[BallBoa]

Looked in his enclosure today and saw this pink spot and also some other small spots that I think are blood. This has me extremely concerned and I am making a vet appointment. I haven’t seen many posts with people talking about bloody pee in ball pythons.


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[Albert Clark]

Well, we surely hope that it’s not blood. Out of curiosity, has the reptile been dosed with acidophilus? I ask, because it doesn’t look like blood but I do feel a reptile vet is in order and the right thing to do. Has there been any new regurgitation episodes? Or have you not fed him since the initial insult? Also did you go with the hairless large mice at Rodentpro ?

[BallBoa]

He has not been fed since and I have changed the substrate since as well. It seems like this came out when he peed. It is strange that it appears to be an almost neon pink, but some smaller spots were slightly more red. The only other explanation I could think of is it’s leaked die because one of his fake plants has red leaves. But that’s a bit of a stretch. Here’s another close up photo


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[Albert Clark]

Ok. Got it. Better safe than sorry for sure. We are all concerned! How soon is the vet visit?

[Bogertophis]

Looked in his enclosure today and saw this pink spot and also some other small spots that I think are blood. This has me extremely concerned and I am making a vet appointment. I haven’t seen many posts with people talking about bloody pee in ball pythons.


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That spot is very faintly pink- any chance it came from decor or dyed substrate? It doesn't really look like blood to me. Or from prey? Also, blood exposed to air for any length of time tends to turn brown, so that would have had to be very fresh.

I know how concerning it is to see even just a tinge of blood in a snakes urates or stool. It may possibly indicate that your snake has some gastrointestinal parasites* that need to be medically eliminated, so you can expect your vet to need a fresh stool sample to test for this. (*usually from live prey eaten- even before you got the snake) to you for realizing something may be going on & not waiting for it to become worse before investigating.

Have you checked your snake's cloaca for signs of irritation? Sometimes when they expel a hard urate "stone" it causes temporary irritation. Also check for prolapses- that IS a serious issue that requires immediate help.

[BallBoa]

I don’t have a stool sample to test unfortunately. I could take him for a wellness check but the only option past the would be to feed him again and collect the next one I guess. There were some other spots that looked slightly more brown, but this main spot is just bright neon pink, even more so than it looks in the photo. Looking at his cloaca everything seems normal. His weight has gone from 249 to 235 in this same time frame, though he has peed twice.


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[Albert Clark]

This for sure. ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ What Boger said….

i would take the paper towel also that has the reddish pinkish staining to the vet also. Any stool sample should be double zip lock bagged and refrigerated to go to the vet.

[BallBoa]

Would it be better to wait until I have a stool sample? That likely won’t be for another 1-2 weeks at least as he won’t be fed until the 26th.


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[Albert Clark]

Would it be better to wait until I have a stool sample? That likely won’t be for another 1-2 weeks at least as he won’t be fed until the 26th.


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I would go ahead and get the appointment but as you explain your concern to the desk at the vet. Ask them what they require or will need in your specific circumstance. It’s important that you feel comfortable and the situation investigated ASAP.