Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I bought a Spotted Python hatchling last October. Really cute little guy, if a bit stupid. I think there might be a problem with him though. Maybe you can help. He eats wonderfully, usually consuming 2 pinkies a week. He's about 7 or 8 inches long, and as thick as my ring finger. However, I don't see any feces in his aspin bedding. He seems to be urinating all right, but no bowel movements.

He lives in one of those large plastic containers meant for firebelly toads. I keep the temperature at a steady 80 degrees, and a blacklight heat lamp raises it to about 90 on one side of the tank, and I mist daily with a squirt bottle filled with dechlorinated water. He sheds every month and a half or so (this is his third or fourth shed). Is this normal? What can I do to make him poop? What does his poop look like, for that matter? Maybe I'm missing it among the aspin.

One last question--is his cage the right size? If its too small, I'll get him a new one this summer. Obviously he'll need a bigger one when he gets older, but it seems almost too big for him now

I had the same 'problem' with my baby southern pine. I have her in a large vision with aspen, and other than NEVER finding her poop, she's doing great.

The fact is that she IS pooping, but it's so small, and she tends to go 'underground' to do it, so it's very difficult to find. It does tend to get lost in the aspen bedding, and aspen does such a great job of neutralizing odors, you'd never know it's there by smell.

I'd say that if it hasn't pooped in that long, you'd definitely see an impaction/bulge somewhere in the little guy. I'd get in there, and get your hands 'dirty' to find it- it has to be in there somewhere...

//Todd

I have 2 '05 granite phase spotteds, and keep them each in a rubbermaid shoebox type enclosure. They each have a small hide which they spend alot of time in, but they poop on the surface of the aspen. Their feces is large enough that I don't think you'd miss it unless it's under the bedding like the last reply said. If you check and don't find any, I'd try using a paper towel as a liner for the next couple of weeks to be on the safe side (that would make it hard to miss). Hope this helps.
mike

Like others said, it may be in there.

Of course, defecation can be linked to hydration, and poorly hydrated snakes definitely experience more difficulty in passing stool. If you see some "bulging" or impaction, a ~80 degree soak for 45 minutes may be precisely what the little guy needs to loosen things up. That said, I wouldn't really worry.

I used to worry about a couple of my anally retentive snakes--warm water soaks, palpating the bulges over concerns about fecolith formation, but really all my worrying was wasted. Though in a couple instances the snakes were underhydrated, in general a snake thats still eating is doing alright and will take care of business in its own time.

My favorite example of this was a semi-adult p. brongersmai I acquire a few years ago. I kept her in identical conditions to my short tailed pythons, but after three months she was yet to defecate, or even to pass solid urates. Then she finally did, in large volume. I thought my worries were over. She continued to be a great feeder, and rapidly grew into her full adult size. But she did not defecate again for 8 months, and in that time passed solid urates only twice. Once again I began to worry, about 3-4 months in, but she simply could not be induced to defecate and eventually I just left her alone---again, in stable environmental conditions, a snake thats feeding is probably doing just fine. She went on her own good time, and post defecation weighed almost 600 grams less!