Undigested Hair?

[Taybeh Chaser]

Hi, everyone. I am wondering about something I found yesterday when cleaning Zanjibil's cage. It was stuck to his heat mat and looked like it was probably dried feces, but it was weirdly fuzzy, so I wasn't sure, and put it aside in a bag. When I later pulled it apart (while wearing gloves, of course), it appeared to be only hair. Zanj has been eating mice with fur for months now, and I'd never noticed any undigested fur, but maybe I wasn't looking closely enough before--plus this was on the heat mat, so it dried up more completely than his other leavings, I guess. Anyway, I want to make sure this is not a sign of a partial regurge (is that possible?) or some other health problem, before I feed him again. Here are some pics, so you will know what I mean (apologies in advance if it's gross).

I should note the pics are out of order. The ones with more pieces are after I pulled it apart. It was actually one piece when I first found it. I also should note it did not smell, but it does look old so maybe that is why.

 

[KingCrimson<3]

Are you sure it isn't mold? When I miss a poop and it sits near the warm side for a while, it tends to be fuzzy when I find it, but I can tell you that I have never pulled it apart. My only other thought would be that the temps might be a little low, but I don't think they really fully digest the hair since it doesn't have any nutrition, I think it is just supposed to pass through.

 

[yojoe05]

It looks like hair to me, but the fact that it's only hair is what is weird to me. Mine is on fuzzies and you can see the hair mixed in but I've never seen it by itself so I can't be sure. If he's eating a fully developed mouse then it is possible that he may not be digesting it at all. It would look slimier typically if it was a regurge and you would see at least a "form" to it.

 

[marieK]

Sometimes my snakes pass little nuggets which seem to be just hair. I don't think that snakes digest the mouse fur, it just passes through. Maybe yours had a fuzzie with more fur than usual? Or maybe you only noticed because it was dried out on the heat mat.

 

[kc261]

I think it is totally normal for hair to pass, and depending on how much of the rest of the mouse is digested and used by the snake, the feces can at times be a fairly large percentage of hair. One of my BPs went on a hunger fast once, and when she finally did start eating again, her first few droppings looked like nearly pure hair all matted together because, I guess, her body was making use of pretty much everything else to make up for all those missed meals. I've also noticed furrier droppings after having fed long haired mice (when I used to breed my own mice, I had some long haired ones).

So, it might mean that if your snake's droppings are frequently very furry like this, that the snake is underfed. As a one time thing, I would not worry about it.