Mysterious Orange Goo

[Reptiliancousin]

I've had ribbon snakes for two years and none of them had ever gooed before. I was checking in on Singapore a few minutes ago and found this weird orange goo spread about her tank. I've never seen this before and I want to know if I should be concerned. I'm unsure how she disposed of it. Is it discharge, vomit, or even birthing stuff? I didn't spot any babies and she appears fine, bright eyed, alert, and curious as ever. Are any of you familiar with this orange goo?

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[ssssnakeluvr]

those are unfertilized eggs, commonly called slugs or jelly beans.

[guidofatherof5]

those are unfertilized eggs, commonly called slugs or jelly beans.


I concur with Dr. Don ;)

[kibakiba]

Jellybeans! Just in time for Easter, too.

[EasternGirl]

Yep..undoubtedly jellies...should he check her abdomen to make sure she got all of them out? Does it work that way with jellies?

[kibakiba]

It wouldn't hurt to (gently) push against her abdomen to see if there are more. I'm sure most of them pass over time. Mama throws me a jellybean or two every few months, but she eats normally and is always active. If she isn't lethargic or showing any sign of a problem, it should be fine. It's always better safe than sorry, though.

[ConcinusMan]

What they said ^^^ it's just unfertilized eggs. That yellow "goo" is egg yolk. Sometimes when snakes mate, something goes wrong and the eggs don't get fertilized. Typically when that happens, the snake will gain weight and appear to be carrying offspring but instead will "give birth" to quite a few unfertilized eggs. However, even if there is no male and no breeding, a female will occasionally toss out a "slug" or two. There's most likely no reason to be concerned as long as she doesn't retain any of them. As long as she gets them out, she'll be fine.

Watch her over the course of the next week or so. If she seems to be behaving normally, eating, etc. then everything is fine. If it turns out that you have a pair of them (male and female) then brumating them this coming winter will increase the likelyhood that next time they breed, the eggs will be fertile and you will get a litter of babies. Male's sperm count and fertility is generally better after he spends a period of time brumating.

Is she alone in her tank? was it just one or a few "globs" ? If so, then everything is OK. perfectly normal. You should get her a boyfriend though. She wants to reproduce.


Jellybeans! Just in time for Easter, too.

LoL! :D

[Reptiliancousin]

Thanks everyone. I was hoping that it wouldn't be unfertalized eggs. I guess she and Charlie didn't get along. There were two or three slugs and just a lot of yellow/light orange goo spread all over the tank. Should I try putting Charlie in again?

[Didymus20X6]

I'm no expert on breeding. In fact, I've deliberately avoided it until recently. But I'd say wait a while. Give the poor girl some time to recover, and then try again.

[Reptiliancousin]

I'll do that. Just finished cleaning up the tank. She may have one more egg inside her I'm not sure, but I will be keeping an eye on her.

[nitrogen15]

I was relieved to find this post. I ignored some funky squelching sounds from my garter's enclosure earlier. Apparently she was squirting out jelly beans and got them all over herself. At that point they were pretty smeared and smudged, so I wasn't sure what to think!

[EasternGirl]

Wow...keep an eye on those girls and make sure they pass all of those jellies out.

[Reptiliancousin]

Yikes, sounds messy. My girl is looking much better now. I haven't spotted anymore smears or jellies in her tank. I hope that your girl's okay nitrogen15

[guidofatherof5]

Glad to hear she's looking better.
You may be able to palpate her and feel if any are left.
She may still pass some down the road or she may be done.
Getting her back to normal eating and activity is all a sign that she took care of the issue.
Keep us posted.

[nitrogen15]

Good to hear that your girl is okay. My gal hasn't passed any eggs since last night and is perked up. I cleaned everything and gave her a bath, so hopefully this is it.

[harpercat]

I am another relived reader of this thread. Alice, my 4-year-old Albino chequered garter, had passed a huge quantity of jelly-like substance when I looked in on her this morning. This had never happened before. She is noticeably thinner, very active and keen to eat. There were so many jelly blobs that it's hard to imagine any could be retained and of course she has just eaten now so I am reluctant to palpate her at this stage, but she felt completely normal when I checked her before feeding. She hasn't been near a male at any stage. She is her usual self, always friendly and inquisitive and she enjoys a cuddle. She refused mice at her last meal and I'd offered her rat pups, which she absolutely loved. She has just had them agaiin. She has always refused fish of any kind. I was told she was a rodent eater when I bought her as a 6-month-old. I did offer her a varied diet in case that interested her but nothing doing. She was eating small mice until last time.

[chris-uk]

Adora has thrown the odd jelly over the last few days. I think she's passed 3, maybe 4, since she's been with us. The one this morning was the first one that hadn't been smeared, so I could see it clearly this time.

[chris-uk]

Adora has thrown the odd jelly over the last few days. I think she's passed 3, maybe 4, since she's been with us. The one this morning was the first one that hadn't been smeared, so I could see it clearly this time.

Realised that a photo of what I saw may be useful:
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[EasternGirl]

Interesting. I'm used to seeing the more solid looking jellies. That almost looks like salmon poo.

[chris-uk]

Interesting. I'm used to seeing the more solid looking jellies. That almost looks like salmon poo.

I actually put the first jellies from Adora down as salmon poo because they were smeared. This one can't be salmon poo as she's not eaten salemon for the last couple of weeks, and the texture is different to salmon poo (don't ask how I know about the texture).

[chris-uk]

Adora is still throwing jellies, and she's been with us now for over 2 months. I'd guess the longest gap between them has been around a week, some days she's pushed out 2, but there's generally a day or two between them.
I can't feel anything hard or lumpy in her abdomen, or at least nothing that doesn't seem normal, and being a new snake to me I don't have a benchmark for how she feels.
She's not eating great, just pinkies when she's hungry and actively refusing salmon and trout.
Do I have any reason to be concerned about the prolonged period that she's been throwing jellies?

[guidofatherof5]

As long as she's eating, drinking and pooping I think all you can do is wait for the process to end.
What do the jellies look like? normal?

[chris-uk]

Jellies look like wet pieces of orange goo, consistency is similar to a set honey (wet but holds together, sticky but not too sticky, translucent but cloudy, seems to have a very fine granular texture).
She's not eating a lot, but that could just be her, she's taking a couple of pinkies in a feed (I think she would have had more last feed, but I wanted to see her pass two as she regurgitated a couple the previous time she ate). When she's eaten she's pooing. No sign of dehydration.

[kibakiba]

I've only ever found dried up jellies. Mama is good about hiding them in plain sight. I'm blind though... I always lose things that are in my hand, it's no different with what's in the snake tanks. I want to see a non dried jelly just to know what it actually looks like.

[EasternGirl]

I agree with Steve in the fact that you probably just have to wait for all of this to come to an end...if she is in some sort of extended delivery situation, it could explain the fasting...Cee Cee has been done with delivering the stillborns for several weeks now...but she still hasn't eaten. She had no desire to eat during the entire process. Still, I might be a little concerned at this point, Chris. Even with Cee Cee's tendency to drag delivery out...she never took more than 3 weeks to get everything passed. If it were me, I would probably put a call into the vet. Just my opinion.

[nitrogen15]

Tiger was done passing her beans in a matter of days. I can't remember exactly, but no more than three or four. Her appetite wasn't affected at all. If it takes multiple weeks you might have internal infections or inflammation to contend with. That's based more on my fish and bird experience, but it probably applies to garters as well. Take care.