Hi all! I bought a yearling male amelanistic corn at a rep expo on the 24th of jan. I have 13 reptiles and amphibians, but this is my first corn! It's going great, only one catch..... he's eaten 4 times since then, every 4 days or so, and readily eats, has a good appetite, acts normal otherwise, but hasn't pooped yet! i've torn his viv up looking for poo and there isn't any! i read an old thread talking about baths to stimulate poo, but he didn't like that too much, and didn't do anything but piss him off i'm pretty sure. the room temp is about 75-80 during the day and 70-75 at night, he's got the under tank heater on one side and the cool side has his water dish..... i don't think it's his set up or temp, but then again, i'm just a novice! Is this normal? any advice? thanks so much!
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My amel won't poop!
- Thread starter saszoo
- Start date
psychoprimate84
Awesome!
first off what size mice are feeding him. and can you get a picture of his size and do you happen to know his weight that will help us help you and how sure are you of those temps you said also i would put him on paper instead of a substrate so u can more easily spot the fecal material
i'm feeding him pinkies, and i'm positive of the temps as i have expensive posion dart frogs in the room that need to be at that heat. humidity is 45%. I look through his substrate just about every day when i check on him, and haven't found any poop, are the paper towels really neccesary? and i don't know his weight yet, i don't have anything to weigh him with yet. he's almost 12'' long. will be a year old around june
i handle him about once a week, because i don't want him to regurge since i'm new at the snake thing. i held him two days ago before he ate again. he has a great appetite, i'm just confused.
PirateCaptainLoo
Adopt-a-holic <3
More than likely you should take him to the vet. "He" may not be a "he" and could have hidden clutch that simply won't come out causing an obstruction or other health problem. The only advice I have is to take him to the vet. Good luck!
He's a yearling, and you're feeding him pinks?
Pinks don't really present any difficulty to fully digest.
They're mostly water. Move him up a size and see what happens.
I suggest getting a gram scale.
Weigh your snake, and weigh what you're feeding him, and list the weights in grams. I suspect that may shed a little light on this.
I suspect he may be ready to move up to fuzzies, at least. Go slow.
When you feed him a pink, does it leave a visible lump in the snake? No lump=too small.
Is he really 12" or is that an estimate? That doesn't sound right.
When I first started corns I grossly underestimated them because I was used to king snakes.
I thought they were small, weak, fragile. I was mistaken. I was holding them back by underfeeding. They don't have the feeding response of kingsnakes, but they can handle a lot bigger prey items than I thought they could. I was making them fragile by underfeeding.
This is very common with someone new to corns.
Compared to a just hatched honduran milk, a corn snake hatchling is teeny.
Pinks don't really present any difficulty to fully digest.
They're mostly water. Move him up a size and see what happens.
I suggest getting a gram scale.
Weigh your snake, and weigh what you're feeding him, and list the weights in grams. I suspect that may shed a little light on this.
I suspect he may be ready to move up to fuzzies, at least. Go slow.
When you feed him a pink, does it leave a visible lump in the snake? No lump=too small.
Is he really 12" or is that an estimate? That doesn't sound right.
When I first started corns I grossly underestimated them because I was used to king snakes.
I thought they were small, weak, fragile. I was mistaken. I was holding them back by underfeeding. They don't have the feeding response of kingsnakes, but they can handle a lot bigger prey items than I thought they could. I was making them fragile by underfeeding.
This is very common with someone new to corns.
Compared to a just hatched honduran milk, a corn snake hatchling is teeny.
Jadie.Glitch
:) colubridstudios.com :)
YEAH they are. The wee little wormies ^_^.
So you say he'll be a year old in June? That makes him about 7 months old now? A foot or so is about right if that's the case (should probably be a LITTLE longer) and I agree, try feeding him a small fuzzie and see if that helps.
Having a UTH would help as well with the digestion process and to get things moving along. Cornsnakes like belly heat.
The next time you handle him I would definitely take him for a bath. Just make sure that the water is slightly warm (not too hot, not too cold) and give him an "island". I put a towel in there and let it soak up water. That gives him a wet squishy island to land on if he needs it or is tired of swimming. I push mine off of it every so often so they are forced to swim. This stimulates TONS of muscles.
And if the snake is only 7 months old, I would completely disregard the comment about "her" being egg-bound. This just doesn't seem possible at that age. Can the experts please correct me if I'm wrong? I'd like to know for sure on this as well.
And at 7 months, you should probably still be able to "pop" him to see if he is really a he.
Also, considering how small he is and the fact that you are still feeding him pinkies, it's VERY possible that he is just pooping REALLY small and you can't find it. I agree with putting down paper towel so you can see for sure. It's much easier to tell on that, especially with a snake that small. Also, check the water dish. Sometimes they relieve themselves in there and it's hard to tell.
So you say he'll be a year old in June? That makes him about 7 months old now? A foot or so is about right if that's the case (should probably be a LITTLE longer) and I agree, try feeding him a small fuzzie and see if that helps.
Having a UTH would help as well with the digestion process and to get things moving along. Cornsnakes like belly heat.
The next time you handle him I would definitely take him for a bath. Just make sure that the water is slightly warm (not too hot, not too cold) and give him an "island". I put a towel in there and let it soak up water. That gives him a wet squishy island to land on if he needs it or is tired of swimming. I push mine off of it every so often so they are forced to swim. This stimulates TONS of muscles.
And if the snake is only 7 months old, I would completely disregard the comment about "her" being egg-bound. This just doesn't seem possible at that age. Can the experts please correct me if I'm wrong? I'd like to know for sure on this as well.
And at 7 months, you should probably still be able to "pop" him to see if he is really a he.
Also, considering how small he is and the fact that you are still feeding him pinkies, it's VERY possible that he is just pooping REALLY small and you can't find it. I agree with putting down paper towel so you can see for sure. It's much easier to tell on that, especially with a snake that small. Also, check the water dish. Sometimes they relieve themselves in there and it's hard to tell.
that's a good point but i bought him from a reputable dealer, 20+ of corn snakes so i wanna doubt that, but i'll keep it in mind : )
aright, i bought a gram scale today, and i'm gonna weigh him a measure him. and for the pinkies, i can see a lump in his first 1/3 body length, but once it's past 1/2 body length, i can't really see it. i wouldn't of thought of fuzzies yet, so thanks for that advice, i'll order some today. i'll get back with the weight, here in uno momento (or longer if he makes it)
just a side note, i have the UTH but he's usually up on his ledge after feeding, funny too because he can't fit that lump up there in the ledge so he's silly to watch. thanks guys!
UPDATE: yay! thank you guys! i put him in the bathtub with his towel island.... he wriggled around and i got him to chill out on the island, had my lil bro watch him while i searched his tank... found a little 'poop' if you will, didn't look like anything, took the aspen out and put paper towels down, when i returned to the tub, there was more poop on the island! yay! i tried to weigh him, he squirmed a little so im not sure on the accuracy, but the common weight i got was 14.5 grams... give or take... how does that sound? the pinkies are 2.5, so i just fed him, and will try to give him another pinkie if he will take two, and i'll order some fuzzies! he's a little longer than a foot, too. THANK YOU GUYS!!!! so much! i feel like a better mom now! baths are going to be a regular routine now!
http://www.cornsnakes.com/forums/showthread.php?t=50106
According to the munson plan he's ready for double pinks.
Your little one will start putting weight on rather quickly now. WOOHOO!
Glad you got everything all worked out.
According to the munson plan he's ready for double pinks.
Your little one will start putting weight on rather quickly now. WOOHOO!
Glad you got everything all worked out.
I didn't think of that.
Sometimes, if they know they're going to shed they "hold it" and poop inside their shed skin on the way out.
Maybe I'm anthropomorphizing, but it seems that's what they're doing sometimes, as there seems to be a lot of sheds with poop in them, disproportionately so.
Sometimes, if they know they're going to shed they "hold it" and poop inside their shed skin on the way out.
Maybe I'm anthropomorphizing, but it seems that's what they're doing sometimes, as there seems to be a lot of sheds with poop in them, disproportionately so.
hmmm. i'm glad that i got him to poop before the shed, now i have my first shed to hang on the wall! then one day he'll be 4 ft long and i can look back.... ah..... i swear though, out of my chameleons, geckos, frogs, and fish, this snake is the most mind boggling rep i've got!