Snakes are prevalent across Australia. There are lots of different species and numerous individuals across the country. But people do not always know what snake poop looks like or how to deal with it. In this article, we ask what snake poop looks like, and what to do when you find snake poop.
How to do Snakes Poop
Snakes don’t eat very much. This is part of their survival strategy. They consume everything within a meal, including bones and hair. When a snake eats, it consumes its prey whole, they have no way to chew their food. They can often eat meals that are half as wide as their girth.
This reduces the amount they need to eat too. However, it does mean that it can take a long time for a snake to digest a meal. Often after feeding, a snake will hide in a warm location to help it digest their food.
Photo from: Feeding Snakes Frozen Mice and Other Prey of Lianne Mcleod of the Spruce Pets
The size of the meal and the snake determines how long it takes for them to digest a meal. On average it can take about 48 hours for them to digest a meal. For their size, this is a relatively long time. For comparison, a mouse’s digestion time is just six hours, a cat takes about 10 to 20 hours.
Once the snake has digested, they will often leave their hiding place and find a suitable location to poop. Often in the open, they poop in locations where they rest or sleep.
What Does Snake Poo Look Like?
Snakes, like many other groups of animals, have different poop. Some species, like those that are from the colubrid snakes, can have very messy poop. It can look very slimy and doesn’t have much form. However, there are then those that are related to boas and pythons, which can look rather twig-like.
The problem is, that without many other signs, it can be very hard for you to know what the snake droppings are, and what is something else.
One way that you can tell whether a mammal or reptile has left the droppings is based on the area around the poop. You might notice some white chalky substance near the poop. This is a urate and it is how a snake or other lizard wees.
Therefore, if you see this, then you can assume that a snake or another lizard is in the area.
Also, you need to consider the shape. Snake poop is never rounded. It is always long or splattered in appearance.
Does Snake Poop Smell?
Again it all depends on the snake. Most snake poop isn’t particularly smelly, certainly not like you get with a dog or cat. Instead, it tends to be odorless. But that isn’t always the case and it can depend on what the snake has been eating.
Snakes that are eating fish or amphibians tend to have more smelly poop than other species. So do those that have venom, but it is not always the case.
Are there Health Concerns with Snake Poop?
As with any type of poop found, there are going to be some health concerns. These include carrying diseases and parasites. But they aren’t any more unhygienic than other poop that you would find in the wild, like cat or dog poop.
Therefore, cleaning it up with a dog poop bag is one of the best options. This poop can then be thrown away as you would with your dog.
How to Prevent Snake Droppings in Australia
There are numerous ways that you can prevent snake droppings in Australia. The key is to ensure that there isn’t a snake in your home, garden, or other outdoor space in the first place. You can discourage snakes with the following options.
- Unfriendly Plants for Snakes
Snakes aren’t attracted to humans, they’re attracted to pests that humans don’t like that tend to live around human homes. Namely rats and mice. If you discourage these from your home space, then you will discourage the snake as well.
Mice and rats want to live near a food source, like open bins, abandoned buildings, and food stored in the open. You might also want to ensure there are no locations for fresh water in the area, mice can live days without water, but rats can’t live more than 24 hours without water.
Envirobug has developed a device that sends vibrations into the ground. These vibrations simulate the vibrations made by snake predators. Snakes are secretive and don’t want to be near predators. Therefore, they will leave an area if they think a predator is living in the area.
These can be solar-powered as well, so you never need to charge the batteries.
There are lots of other smells that snakes do not like. Fox urine is another smell that will discourage them from a certain location. Fox urine can be purchased from many outdoor stores and can be dispersed around your garden.
Snakes will think there is a large predator nearby and hide.
- Removing Hiding Spots
Snakes love to live in abandoned burrows, abandoned buildings, and under log piles. By removing these potential homes for the snake, they will need to seek an alternative, which can be far away from you.
Final Word: Snake Droppings: What Are They and How to Identify Them
Snake droppings are often not seen, but when they are seen, you can be sure that you are going to have snakes nearby. If you don’t want the snakes around, then taking time to discourage them is the best option. Luckily, there are several options here, which are all eco-friendly and don’t harm the snake, but allow them to just find new places to live.
