First of all, just to fill you in on any details you may need. I have two ball pythons, a male and a female in one tank together. They have been together since birth and haven't had any problems. I feed them two mice each a week (i just started feeding them two mice each about two months ago.) pretty regularly.
Today, I was switching their tanks because I got them a new 55 gallon tank and decided to put them in my tub with a little tiny bit of warm water because they weren't smelling too good. When I took them out, i noticed the female looked real big towards her tail and her belly was real red in that area. When I put them in the new tank, I noticed a bloody and almost fleshy substance coming out of the tail area (where poop would come from) and freaked out. About a half-hour later, I noticed real dark bloody poop that didn't look like snake poop (it was softer) and it has a REAL horrible smell. Is this really serious or is there something I can do? I love these snakes to death! Help
2007-11-21 07:20:14 · 4 answers · asked by jennaleeannebiggers<3 1 in Pets ➔ Reptiles
im sorry. i already cleaned it up because it smelled so horrible. i would have taken i picture if i could. i know it was a lot darker then usual but i wouldn't describe it as black and you could barely see a dark reddish color and it was really soft and almost liquid and i know snake poop isn't supposed to be that way.
2007-11-21 07:32:27 · update #1
Can u take a picture?
2007-11-21 07:24:31 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
Just to make you feel a little better, sometimes my snakes poop and then brush up against it when they move around the tank, making them stink. So, you're not necessarily keeping them in bad conditions.
Are they both juvies? Do you think they potentially attempted to breed and your female is injured from it? I have never bred a snake, but the pet store guy warned me about trying to breed them before they were big enough.
That is my best guess. I hope someone a little more experienced than me has more info than I do on injuries to that area. Good luck!
Oh wait... did you put repti-safe in that water in the tub? Tap water has enough crap in it to be dangerous to your snake. However, I've never done it to know how quickly the chlorine, chloramines, nitrates...whatever else is in there... may take to harm your snake.
2007-11-22 10:56:20 · answer #2 · answered by Rachel 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Sounds like you are describing Blister Disease. It comes from unclean habitat (which is why the snake "smells"--it should not "smell bad". This is an abscess or infection that must be seen by an experienced herp vet and treated. More on this here:
http://www.kingsnake.com/ballpythonguide/
2007-11-21 08:34:01 · answer #3 · answered by KimbeeJ 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I don't know much about snakes, but I would guess that it has an infection some were along the digestive tract. It could even be something like a tear in the stomach lining. Get her to the vet asap.
2007-11-21 07:31:45 · answer #4 · answered by Chevygirlfxr 6 · 1⤊ 2⤋