ick... question about undigested poop and worms...

[Dracaena828]

Hi guys~
I noticed today that one spot of feces of my new Puget had a pink/redish spot in it along with the white urates. I looked further in around in the tank and found several more like this. It looks very much like fish that I have been feeding it (salmon) just in a much smaller piece. She (if it even is a she- it looks much more like the size and color of the males in the pictures I've looked up) has been eating well and today ate many small rosy minnows with much gusto. While I was cleaning out her tank I saw her poop and it was the same pink with white, and a small white worm, ew ew ew. Now the worm wasn't really much surprise, from what I've heard about these pugets I expected as much, and we have a vet appt coming up soon. But the pink concerns me. Could this be caused by the worms? Or does salmon normally come out pink the other end?? She had normal dark feces right when I got her and after eating the first group of minnows I offered. Any experience with this?
Angela

[mikm]

hello Angela ... It would be helpful if you could take a sample of the worms to the vet with you ... or if you have a dig camera with macro setting, you could take some close up pics for the vet to view. Just take the dig cam to the vet with you. I am sure there are others here with more knowledge about the pink coloration. I may still have pics of the tapeworms my Blues had. I will post for you ...

'talk' to you soon .. hang in there !!
marian

[GarterGuy]

Yeh, I'd take some fresh poop along with you when you hit the vets so they can check it out for themselves. I know sometimes if worms get bad, they can cause some bleeding of the intestinal walls and this might account for the red. Also, like you had assumed, it might be undigested salmon.....again something that can happen with snakes that have large parasite loads.
Roy

[Cazador]

Angela,

The first thing I thought of when reading about the pink, undigested feces was intestinal worms because they can irritate the GI tract, which leads to rapid passage of the digesta (contents of the lower GI tract). The snakes eat like mad, but they don't get the nutrients out of their food because they're not able to properly digest or absorb it. Then the parasites take a portion of the nutrients for their own growth/reproduction. I'm guessing that you're seeing roundworms, which typically migrate through tissues and organs as larvae. This can lead to bleeding and obviously, tissue damage. Not to freak you out, but don't miss the vet appointment.

I occasionally feed wild salmon and have never seen colored feces. Farm-raised salmon, on the other hand, is treated with dyes to give it the same color that wild salmon get from eating phytoplankton and smaller organisms that feed on phytoplankton. I don't know if you're even feeding farmed salmon or if the dyes they use could be passing undigested due to the rapid passage rate from the parasitic infestation?

[mikm]

Hey Angela ... Were the feces you found 'fresh' or hours/day old ?? I ask as once blood has dried somewhat it has an orange or rust colored tint, turning brown eventually. I have never seen anything that looked 'pink'. Could it be a matter of color perception ?? Is it 'pink' like this ' :p ' smiley pink ??? Also is the substrate you are using colored in any way ??

all the best,
marian

[adamanteus]

I don't know about the salmon issue, I've never used it as a regular food. Pink faeces suggests blood to me. I would be thinking worms or Amoebiasis. You need the vet to take a look. Are the faeces particularly smelly?

[Dracaena828]

Most of the ones I saw in the tank were old, and so blood was what first pooped in my head too. But what I actually saw her pass was just a really little pink blob, not red at all. Definately not any shade of blood I've ever seen, even watered down. I would imagine it's probably the fish not being digested properly from heavy parasite load like some said. We will be at the vets Tuesday morning, is this soon enough or should I call back? It's the weekend now so poor timing. Oh, and no colored substate. Recycled paper, similar to carefresh.

[adamanteus]

If it was Amoebiasis (which can be bad news) I think you would have noticed the unpleasant smell. So maybe just round worms. Let us no how you go on next Tuesday.

[Cazador]

Tuesday sounds fine if there aren't any other symptoms. It sounds like they're still eating well, so it's not critically urgent. If you see any more of these pink blobs (or parasites), be sure to take a picture, okay.

Rick

[Dracaena828]

Hi all~
Just got back from the vet. They (it's a teaching hospital so you get a vet and one or more students) were very impressed with Azuli, thought she was just beautiful. I wasn't able to get a fresh fecal sample before we left, but they said she kindly provided them with one when they took her back to give her the de-wormer ( fenbendazole) and probe her. There was a worm in this which they took to the parasitology dept. to check. The student was very curious to find out what kind it was. They tried to probe her, as she prolapsed a bit when she pooped so they were unable to accurately insert the probe, and were worried about hurting her. But they said they felt a mass in her and are assuming she is female and likely pregnant. So I'll be crossing my fingers. She has another appt. in two weeks for the follow up de-wormer. They said I could do it myself if I wanted, but I've never administered this before and would rather just pay the 25 bucks to have them do it then risk hurting her. All in all it was very good.

[Cazador]

Congrats on the proper diagnosis and treatment of your pickeringii. Hopefully now, it will live a long and healthy life and offer you many more babies to come. Parasites are the number one cause of reproductive failure, so hopefully you caught it in time. Out of curiosity, is this another one of "Bob's" snakes that needed treatment?

Rick

[mikm]

Hey Angela ... very happy for you. These appear to be very strong, co-operative animals in general so you have that going for you as well :)

best wishes,
marian

[Dracaena828]

Yes, this is another "Bob" snake. But all in all, nothing too terrible. She is eating like a pig and very active and curious. As I write she is prowling around the water bowl waiting for some food to appear. I held her for the first time yesterday when we went to the vet's (I'd been just leaving her alone so as not to stress her) and she was very squirmy but no snapping or musking, which was awesome. I'm very pleased with her and am getting a male from Ameivaboy so I can breed them and have healthy captive bred babies in the future. He kindly selected me one from their shipment and I am picking it up next week. I will take this one to be checked up and de-wormed as well, and then will be putting them in a large 5'x2'x2' tank I am going to have free in a few weeks. Lots of roaming room for these active little guys.

[Cazador]

Hi Angela,

The fact that they're rare and also that they had worms made me ask. I'm glad you got yours treated. After they get rid of the parasites, they're very robust, hardy, and friendly little snakes. I know you'll be very happy with them.

Rick