Are Snakes Disgustingly Unclean? The Truth About Snake Poop
What do you think when you hear the word ‘snake’? Are your first thoughts of a slimy and unclean creature? If so, it may surprise you to learn that snakes actually have quite clean bathroom habits.
What Do Snakes Eat?
Though the list of things snakes can and will eat can be quite varied, the majority of snakes, like pythons, corn snakes and king snakes for example, usually enjoy a meal of live rodents, insects or eggs.
How Do Snakes Poop?
Snakes actually produce two types of excrement. The first is a slurry mixture of fecal matter and urates, which is the solid form of uric acid that snakes expel as a byproduct of their metabolism. This type of combination excrement is generally produced after their meals and is expelled as one special combination of waste.
The second type of waste snakes produce is a completely liquid type of poop which is much more like urine and is generally expelled after the snake has had a large drink of water.
Are Snakes Clean Animals?
In comparison to most other animals, snakes are actually quite clean. Their combination of solid and liquid waste does not create any kind of lingering smells as most other mammals will have. In fact, it has been recorded that snakes typically only poop every 10 to 14 days, leaving far less waste over the time varying from most other creatures.
In addition to this, snakes often defecate in a small, contained area that is away from their living and eating area. This keeps their immediate living environment consistently clean.
Conclusion
So, to put your mind at ease, snakes are actually far cleaner than most other animals. They keep their waste contained, often expel it away from their living area and only pooped every 10 – 14 days. Put simply, snakes are far less disgusting than you may have initially thought!
