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  1. #1
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    Parasitic eggs? Undeveloped ova? Or normal poop?

    So I saw this in one of my garters water bowls when I was getting ready to dump it. The garter had been escaped for a few month or two, had her back for about 2 weeks now, she was hiding in the basement.

    Since her recapture she has rejected all but tilapia filet. So her diet has just been that for about 2 weeks now, eating almost daily to try getting her back up to healthy weight. Temps are good, enclosure size is a little big, hides are good, clean watered often.

    She is wild caught from last year and I worry that these may be some type of parasitic egg sac, (worms?) But many possibilities occurred to me, such as the possibility that she bred and these are undeveloped eggs/ova of hers,

    Also, idk if its completely normal given she's only had tilapia for a couple weeks now, I wouldnt expect a very solid poop from that diet and maybe the poop is covered in a little of whatever they lubricate their excrement with to pass through intestinal tract. I just thought the globular shape of each bead gave me cause to worry.

    Any help or information would be greatly appreciatedIMG_20180204_134105.jpgIMG_20180204_133924.jpgIMG_20180204_133847.jpgIMG_20180204_133836.jpgIMG_20180204_133831.jpg

  2. #2
    "PM Boots For Custom Title" Albert Clark's Avatar
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    Re: Parasitic eggs? Undeveloped ova? Or normal poop?

    Well, because of the wild caught history of the animal I would look at this as suspicious but it doesn't really have the appearance of slugs or unfertilized ova. It may well be a form of diarrhea based on the sole fish based diet. I would consider scenting some small pink mice with the tilapia to get her to take some of that. If she does, then continue to observe the waste to see if the consistency changes. If it remains soft and watery then I would consider taking a sample to my vet for testing.
    Stay in peace and not pieces.

  3. #3
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    Re: Parasitic eggs? Undeveloped ova? Or normal poop?

    Thanks al. So far I've shown it to a few people, and compared many poops in and out of water dish with it. The perfectly spherical mucous membranes around the small white uniform chip shaped centers has a few people on the consensus that we think this is a very early term miscarriage, they remind me of frog eggs, and white centres are what would have been embryos.

    She has had a normal (normal for a snake on fish filet anyways) poop since this happened [little white and brown piles]. And the tilapia filet digested fast enough to let me feed every day but now that she's starting to look healthy enough to handle it again I'm gonna try getting her back on pinks, she fed on pinks exclusively before her escape.

    I think the coldness of the basement and dehydration caused her body to terminate a pregnancy that was already started but early. (A week or two fertilized). But she was too dehydrated too dehydrated to pass anything. And warming her back up and feeding and watering her, let her pass it. She was fairly dehydrated when found and I could see that state making it hard to pass... These.

    I decided to check her for abnormalities and there was a little swelling of her ovaries. Seemingly solidifying the current theory. She's small but she's just big and old enough that she would attempt breeding and before her escape she was in a small group that did have a couple males in it,

    I had my timeline off earlier too, she hadn't been loose as long as I thought, only about 3 weeks. Hopefully getting her back on pinks gives her some good brown poops! Lol

  4. #4
    "PM Boots For Custom Title" Albert Clark's Avatar
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    Re: Parasitic eggs? Undeveloped ova? Or normal poop?

    Most of the slugs or jellies that I have seen look uniformly yellowish beige in coloration and have a irregular shape which is dissimilar to your presentation. However stranger things have happened. Hope to see her get back to normal and feeding on pinks. Remember the fish filets are incomplete nutrition which was why I was leaning more towards a diahrreal type of thing. It look like a mucousy stool. Whole fish is a better bet if you can get her on that as well. Sallys f/t silversides is a safe whole fish too. Consider multivitamin powder supplementation onto her foods until she makes the switch to pink mice or whole fish.
    Stay in peace and not pieces.

  5. #5
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    Re: Parasitic eggs? Undeveloped ova? Or normal poop?

    She's back on pinkies! She just wanted to get her system "primed" before taking the good stuff! Thanks man! Her poops look good now!

    My main issue with whole fish is finding something safe and affordable, that's also local. Guppies are just too small to do it for most of my garters or garters I decide to keep that I come across at work, it would usually take several dozen.

    Before I was more educated I used to buy minnows in bulk and keep it in a big tank at home. Then I found out how bad it was and the garters I had at the time were already hooked and set in their ways, lost 2 of 4 due to refusal to feed, 1 due to problems associated with thaiminase (I'm sure I misspelled it). And the last I released some time later in apperantly good health.
    This was quite a few years ago and since moving away from whole fish I've never had an issue of that nature. I supplement with tilapia sometimes when I'm short on pinkies or pups, but if I have a stubborn one that refuses pinkies for too long I supplement the tilapia with mutli-vitamin and calcium, and occasionally offer earthworms, until I'm ready to try switching them over again.

    I've also had success with chicken breast! But can't advise this to others as I have no proof that it is or isn't healthy. But they get fat fast on a rodent diet supplemented with chicken breast. And the ones that take the chicken really... really... really love it

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