Urates?

[Snakeydoodles]

So I’ve only been finding these hard white blobs in my BP’s enclosure. I’m assuming they’re urates, and if so why have I not been seeing anything that looks like poop? He’s been fed about three times in my care.

I found a “fresh” urate today (it was still kind of damp and squishy), and it had a weird squiggly blue thing in it. Here’s the pic I got before I threw it out:


Is this okay or should I be concerned?


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[Bogertophis]

Looks like you have one of the highly-artistic BP's that try to make fancy Venetian beads? The blue squiggle's a nice touch.

But seriously, it's fine...I assume this is a young BP? (younger snakes eating younger, more digestible rodents make less poop)
(and psst, we don't always do #1 AND #2 either!)

[Craiga 01453]

How much does the snake weigh?
And what prey are you feeding and how often?

[Bogertophis]

Re the similarity to fancy (& pricey) Venetian (glass) beads...SEE?
-and these 26 beads are priced at $125....seriously, you've got a "gold mine" there...

[KevinK]

Yup, those are urates.

That blueish tint isn't anything to be concerned over. Ive had boas and carpet pythons do the same thing in the past. Some times they turn out pretty off looking.

[Snakeydoodles]

How much does the snake weigh?
And what prey are you feeding and how often?

I need to weigh him again but last I checked he was about 120 grams, eating f/t rat fuzzies.

[Bogertophis]

Wouldn't worry...

[Craiga 01453]

I need to weigh him again but last I checked he was about 120 grams, eating f/t rat fuzzies.

Ok, cool. Unless he hit a big growth spurt or it's been a long time since last weigh-in. But seems fine to me.

[paulh]

Nothing to worry about here, IMHO.

The blue and brown specks on the urates are intestinal waste. The blue color is caused by bile salts from the liver. Blue or green coloration generally occurs when a snake has not been fed in a month or two. Much of the intestinal waste is made up of hair from the prey. When the snake has not been fed for a while and the gut has emptied out, it takes a while for waste to build up in the cloaca. As hair from fuzzy rats is minimal, it takes longer than with older rats with more fur. Be patient; the poop will return to normal within a couple of months.