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Boa ingested substrate / aspen

Posted By:

z0mbiieAp0c@lypse138

In Relation To:

Dahmer

please, i need to know if my boa wil die or get sick from injesting the aspen bedding in which i use in his tank, i just fed him and the pinkie had some of the bedding on him and im pretty sure the snake injested it, i tired to get it off with tweezers but i couldnt, ididnt want to scare him or make him throw it back up or get sick in anyway, hes only a baby maybe 3 months old, please some one help ASAP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Points:	250
Topics:	Feeding , Digestive , General Health
Tags:	Bci, Digestive, Ingestion, RTB, Substrate
Species:	Boas > Large Boas > Boa constrictor imperator
Administrative:	Show/Hide

Assisted Answer

5/10/2010 5:46:32 PM

Sonja K. Reptiles

If it was only a small piece, I would think he will pass it without incident. If it was a significant amount, just look up and watch for the signs of impaction.

Assisted Answer

5/10/2010 5:50:29 PM

Sylvias

the majority of snakes kept at the right temperatures will pass small pieces of substrate without any problems. If he got it down without choking on it then half the worry is done with. In all likely hood he be fine. But as was mentioned.... you should still watch for signs of impaction or any kind of problems.

Author Comment

5/10/2010 6:16:08 PM

z0mbiieAp0c@lypse138

ok thank you guys so much, i really appreciate the help, he got it down with out a problem, so ill take ur advice and keep an eye on him ,again thank you <3

Member Comment

5/10/2010 7:19:36 PM

treetrunkchris

if it was only a small piece or 2 then i wouldnt worry about it. just keep him at good temps and it'll pass through with his feces. just keep watch to see if he's acting weird. you could always put a small plastic shoe box in his tank and put the pinkie in there so that when you feed him you dont have to worry about anything like that again. some people feed in plastic tubs outside the tank so that that doesnt happen. if you only have one snake thats fine, i use to do it alot, sometimes i still do it to some snakes that wont eat frozen. hope this helps!

Member Comment

5/10/2010 8:02:43 PM

josh76

Always feed out side of the enclouser thats just my opion and besides my sand boa all my other snakes are on news paper its easy to clean i hope everything is ok wth your baby good luck

Assisted Answer

5/10/2010 8:14:04 PM

shellboa

Your snake should be fine but I would suggest putting it in a small plastic shoe box to feed. Just put the food in the box and set it into the enclosure. This will keep the ingestion of bedding down to none unless he drags the food out of the box. Watch for signs of impaction like swelling near the vent and lack of urates (those white chalky blobs) and especially if it refuses to eat and you don't see any feces after a week or so. A good soak usually helps whether it gets impacted or not.

Assisted Answer

5/10/2010 8:52:20 PM

Carusima

I agree with Shellboa. I don't feed outside the enclosure, never have for 10 years, but I do place a lid inside (Unless they're housed on paper towels) and put the pinky on top of it for the snake. Rarely do they ever drag it off the lid as long as it's big enough for them to sit with the prey. Also what's best, is if you're doing F/T, to make sure if the prey item is completely dry. It tends to not pick up stuff when completely dry.

Impaction tends to be caused by a mouthful of bedding, whether aspen or sand, so one or two small pieces should be fine. One single piece isn't going to do anything for your snake, though you can still do what shellboa said and watch for any signs and soak the snake if he hasn't defacated or urinated after 5 days. Snakes normally pick up dirt and whatnot in the wild, but there is only so much their small bodies can handle, and when it exceeds that amount is when the snake becomes impacted.

Assisted Answer

5/11/2010 12:50:35 AM

abi21491

I would just put the snake on a plate or lid in the cage to feed to avoid ingesting substrate again. A few pieces won't hurt your snake but it's easier just to avoid the problem altogether.

Accepted Answer

5/11/2010 7:14:59 AM

Jeffriey

Snakes unlike some lizards can pass quite large pieces of substrate and you don't usually have to worry about impaction but just in case it's a good idea to watch for it like the others have mentioned since we haven't seen how big the shavings are. Judging by you saying you tried to pick it off with tweezers I'm asuming they were very small pieces. Sometimes larger sharp pieces of substrates can cause internal problems but he still looks like he's a good size and you shouldn't have much to worry about. As for feeding in a separate enclosure I've always been against that especially with species that can get quite large and you're already holding it with a glove. This just creates an unnecessary situation where you could be in the middle of a feeding response mode. Been there, done that with snakes that I've aquired that were raised being fed outside their enclosure. Not a fun situation to be in when a 7 to 8ft plus snake wants to strike at anything that moves LOL. It's also not an easy habit to break of. Boas may not get as big as some of the large pythons but they are still quite powerful. Once any of the larger snakes I've had were out of their cage they knew they weren't getting fed. On a side note Dahmer is a BCI (Boa constrictor inperator) listed under Common Northern Boa and not a Guyana Red Tail boa (Boa contrictor constrictor). It's easy to tell by just by the one photo you have.

Member Comment

5/11/2010 7:54:02 AM

abi21491

I agree with Jeff on being against feeding out of the cage (especially with larger species) it can cause more harm than good, IMO.

Member Comment

5/11/2010 8:15:30 AM

Jeffriey

Only once did I feed a Burm in the bathtub while I cleaned out her cage. She was one of the gentlest snakes I've owned. Was that a BIG mistake!! LOL. I had to wait awhile before I could go back in the bathroom. I took a snake hook with me lol. Yeah I do a lot of crazy things sometimes like trying to pull a big rabbit out of a retics mouth because it was trying to eat it backwards. I like a little adventure once in awhile. Don't try this at home kiddies. This is only for people that have a death wish

Member Comment

5/11/2010 9:45:01 AM

thestef

my ball python eats it sometimes and he is fine, as long as they don't have a ton of it in thier mouth then it's not a big deal.

Member Comment

5/11/2010 12:09:51 PM

amarilrose

The whole idea of feeding in a separate enclosure is a debate you'll never hear a definitive answer to. People who have been doing this a while generally have their opinions, and a whole bunch of experience to back up their position. Basically, I would say that pretty much all of these suggestions are good. I would say none of them are wrong, and more than a few of them are right. :) Go with the one that works best for you.

Personally, I feed my bigger animals in a separate enclosure (my "big" ones really aren't very large), but NEVER a bath tub; the point for me is that I use a plastic tub with a locking lid, so if the animal is still thinking it will get more food, I can leave them sit a while longer, basically giving me control of how and when they will be handled & transferred, and I go about my business until they're ready. This works for me because my animals are not bothered by it & they know what the feed bin is all about; there is no confusion about being handled versus being placed in the feed bin. Some animals just won't accept this, but mine do very well with it. This also gives me a good opportunity to thoroughly clean their cages.

happy herping!

Member Comment

5/11/2010 7:01:13 PM

Geegmasta

I will end this right now...

If you have the balls or audacity to try to pull this snake out, feed her a few rabbits then actually try to grab her again...well, you deserve everything that ya have coming to you...

She's even bigger now...so like what Jeff said, dealing with smaller snakes in a different feeding enclosure is fine, but I feel uneccesary. Even my "smaller" giants are fed in their enclosures and still come out without little to no aggression whatsoever. There's just too much danger in trying to feed giant snakes outside the enclosure, and I'm sure Jeff will definitely back me up on this (as he already pretty much stated prior anyway haha).
And BTW, you're boa should be fine...I'll just ditto what everyone else said. We seemed to hijack your question ;)

Member Comment

5/11/2010 9:56:49 PM

amarilrose

well one of the points of feeding in a separate enclosure is to avoid having to watch out for any substrate sticking to the prey or in the mouth during feeding at all, which is why it came up :)

as others pointed out, there are a few ways to approach all of this

Member Comment

5/14/2010 12:22:52 AM

EbonayiasGirl

Best way to look at it is do they live in glass or plastic cages in the wild? newp...He should be fine. as long as you don't shove a spoonful down his throat a few pieces stuck to his food is going to be just fine :) besides...they're stomach acid is pretty hard. It'll most likely just soften the chips n pass through the other end :)

Member Comment

1/24/2011 7:10:20 AM

abi21491

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