Runny green urate BHP

[haz1111]

Hey All,

I was wondering if any one could help me? I have a 3 year old BHP never a problem til now. I have notice his urate is runny and a lime green color. I have taken him to the vet and are waiting on blood results. He has seemed to have lost weight and is constantly pooing runny lime green. If anyone could shed some light on this it would be great.

 

[Ramsayi]

The green stuff could be bile and in that case would indicate fatty liver disease.Did the vet give you any clues as to what the problem could be?

 

[prettypython]

I was thinking the same, what size rat are you feeding?

 

[The Devil]

Some years ago I asked Clayton Knight (Vet) about the same thing happening with one of my BHPs.
His thoughts were that it would be bile and if the snake had not been feed for a while (as mine had been) the body has to produce more bile then normal to utilize and digest the fat reserves.

I usually still see the green stuff each winter when they are not eating but never in summer.

 

[haz1111]

He gets 2 large rats once a month... The vet wasn't to sure and just told me to wait for the results..Fatty liver disease doesn't sound good

 

[Boidae]

BHP's are especially sensitive to fat, as they are natural reptile feeders. If he is on large rats, I would strongly recommend starting him on rabbits as rats of that size contain way too much fat for any snake.

 

[andyscott]

Who was the Vet you went too?

 

[haz1111]

Lort Smith Hospital... Dr Tom...

I will wait for the tests to come back in the mean time we were told to give him antibiotics every 3rd day..just hope my little man will be ok..Will try him on rabbits

 

[FusionMorelia]

this is weird i was just reading about this!
wow just as i was about to ask some questions i have a thread to watch lol

i hope it all turns out ok mate.

Nato

 

[haz1111]

Thanks Nato me too!!

 

[FusionMorelia]

does the green stuff stain everything it touches?

 

[haz1111]

Yeah..and its really running like water... but when i soaked him..and he pooed it was like a green and white soft serve. its weird and they are frequent, 2 poos a day at least..

 

[FusionMorelia]

this is a section of a DocRoc artical i recently read
not sure if it helps,

Over the years I have found that the snakes least sensitive to fatty food are the Inland and Centralian Carpets and the snakes most sensitive are the Womas and Black-headed Pythons. Diamond and Jungles sit somewhere in between these extremes and are among the more sensitive of the Carpet Pythons. The symptoms of excessively fatty food in snakes can vary from sudden death through fatty liver disease to a slow lingering death where the snakes start passing a dark green pigment that stains everything it touches. This is bile and I have yet to see a python make a complete recovery once it starts to do this from too much fatty food.

im hoping this is isnt it though mate

 

[prettypython]

2-3 weaner rats are better food for bhps than adult/large rats. Goodluck and I really hope its not fatty liver.

 

[solar 17]

Gee l have several BHP's around 10kgs and they get a sub-adult rat weekly which are a hell of a lot leaner than large adult rats especially when you are feeding are feeding two at one time imo its like eating a giant roast dinner every two days, not real good from a nutritional point of view especially for a snake that is traditionally a eater of lean food.....solar 17 (Baden)

 

[Renenet]

Hope your snake is okay. Keep us posted.

 

[liney]

Lots of people I know with Black heads are alternating feeds with quail or chicks which are a lot better and closer to their normal food make ups eg: lizards and birds etc... in the wild diet. Not as many feeds of rats because of the fatty liver disease.

 

[Ramsayi]

Some years ago I asked Clayton Knight (Vet) about the same thing happening with one of my BHPs.
His thoughts were that it would be bile and if the snake had not been feed for a while (as mine had been) the body has to produce more bile then normal to utilize and digest the fat reserves.

I usually still see the green stuff each winter when they are not eating but never in summer.

Yes that explanation could also be on the money as Nev said provided the snake hasn't been feeding.

Lots of people I know with Black heads are alternating feeds with quail or chicks which are a lot better and closer to their normal food make ups eg: lizards and birds etc... in the wild diet. Not as many feeds of rats because of the fatty liver disease.

Lots more keepers also feed nothing but rats with no long term problems.I have some BHPs here that are well over 20YO that are fed only on rats and don't have any problems.As has been stated it all depends on the size of the rats,big old ones tend to carry a lot of fat and should not be used.

 

[turtle]

I've lost 3 Blackheads now to sudden green faeces
both that I had for over 5 years which is the reason I don't breed them anymore. I was just getting sick of them dying on me. It starts with a small amount of green then gradually just green and white urates.
I will be very surprised if this snake makes it.

Please let us all know what the results from the vet come back as.

Cheers,

Dan. PS- I never fed mine overly large rats and was particularly careful as I was well aware of fatty liver disease..

 

[Bluetongue1]

Haz111,

I don’t want to be the one to rain on your parade but it really doesn’t sound good. The green stuff is bile and it sounds like the liver has gone into overdrive producing it in response to the large amounts of fat that are probably deposited in and around it and other organs. When it gets to the stage where the amount of bile produced is effectively creating diarrhoea, then that is quite serious and probably terminal.

That said, their may, in fact be other reasons for the liver to be producing excess bile, including bacterial infection, which is a lot of the reason the vet prescribed antibiotics. So my advice would be to hope for the best but at the same time prepare yourself for the worst case scenario too. Bear in mind I am not a vet and I have not examined the animal.

NATO Black-headeds are the most susceptible, followed by the woma and then the carpet. From memory, Aspidites consume around 60% reptiles and 40% small mammals with the odd unlucky bird.

Size wise, rats no bigger than 180 g or so should be offered. Suprisingly, mature male rats are a lot fattier than mature females. Native and wild rodents do not tend to have much in the way of fat reserves due to the nature of the seeds they feed on and the amount of travelling they have to do on a regular basis to find food.

By the way, you did the absolute right thing in getting it to the vet straight up. It also pays to locate a vet who is experienced in treating reptiles. There was a thread on that at one stage, if memory serves ne correctly.

Fingers crossed,
Blue