Help! Is this poo or a regurg?

[cassandra]

Okay, we have to come clean now. Our new baby is a Surinam Red Tail, bought from the great folks at LLL Reptile. Pictures of her later, we promise!

We were checking on her temps and such after we got home from work and found what we are not sure is either a poo or a regurg. Our salesman at LLL said that she's about 6 months old and feeding well on small adult mice on Wednesdays.

Rick thinks we should go ahead tomorrow and see if she'll eat, but I know I've read something somewhere that says if a snake regurgs to wait a week before offering a small food item.

So, I know this is gross, but we need your experience, so if you can, have a look and tell us what you think. Just linking it - don't want everyone to have to look if they don't want to. And thank you in advance. =)

*edit*
Oh, it measures about 2.5" long, if that helps.

[iceman25]

I'm not a redtail expert, but looks like poo to my eyes.

[Kizerk]

looks like poo

[mr~python]

dats a poopy! (hehe, my baby sis is three, we here that a lot)

[cassandra]

Whew...thanks guys. Just having a mom-panic moment...=)

[iceman25]

Whew...thanks guys. Just having a mom-panic moment...=)

Panicky moments are well understood Are you keeping her in quarantine? I know you got her from LLLreptiles, but I would definitely keep her in a different side of the house for a full four weeks before moving her into the same space as your bp. Also, see if you can bag up that poo for your vet. Its usually good practice to take the new ones to the vet for a checkup regardless from whom you purchased it from

[The Cannibal Monkey]

Whew...thanks guys. Just having a mom-panic moment...=)

Hehe I did the exact same thing when my bp had his first poo =P

[cassandra]

Yes, they are in different rooms; Cleo is on the first floor, Carmen on the second. =)

[frankykeno]

Cass I have to disagree, I don't think that looks like a normal boa stool. It seems slimey and almost appears to have the shape of a rodent head in the area to the far left. I'm no expert on regurges please understand but I've cleaned up a far bit of boa poop with Rauri and none of them appeared like your picture.

Do you know when the snake for sure last ate before you transported it home? Does it have any history of regurging? I wish I could remember where I read that BCC's tend to regurge a bit more easily than BCI's but I will have a good search today and try to find reliable links on this.

I'm not saying it's a definite regurge, just that it appears to not be a typical defecation to my eyes. I hope those members with more BCC experience will chime in here as I don't wish to worry you unduly if I'm way off base here.


~~Jo~~

[ssscales]

The link doesn't seem to be working, I would love to see that picture because if it is regurge you don't want to handle or feed for two weeks.

BCC's are prone more to regurge than BCI's. I know a few keepers/breeders that have a few BCC's and have dealt with more regurge scenarios than I have with all my BCI's. I've even heard of a few cases developing regurge syndrome out of the blue even when kept at optimal husbandry. This isn't to say ALL BCC's have this problem, just that it is said to be higher and more common in BCC's than BCI's, especially the imports! You may have read this many times on boa forums, boa website such as RioBravo or even the Boa Manual.

If it is a regurge and you feed it again too soon, it may regurge again and then you can really start to have a problem! In order to try to avoid another regurge or possibly regurge syndrome, I’d advise you to wait 14 days before feeding again. I’d also advise feeding a smaller prey item for the next 1-2 feedings before returning to normal sized meals. The idea is to let the stomach acids and bacteria within the digestive system build back up a bit before feeding is attempted again.