Reptile & Amphibian Forums

3 months ago I aquired an adult ball python. I know he passed a ton of feces in the store just before I bought him, but they didn't have a record of how often it's been eating/defecating/shedding as he had just been sold to them by someone who got bored of him. He seems to be in extremely good health, and has been eating 1 small rat every two weeks without losing weight.

It's been 3 months sine it last passed any feces however, and I'm wondering if I should be worried at this point. If so, bath in warm water? or should I leave him be for a bit longer before I start intervening?

Thanks!

i dont know much about that but if its been months...then you should prob. go to the vet right away ?

.....a nice LONG, WARM soak should work. Is (s)he nice and fat around the back end?
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Dave

www.DNReptiles.com
Myspace/DNReptiles
Myspace/blog

a soak should do the trick
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GOOSEBALLS

lamina1982@hotmail.com

as soon as I do that 80-90% of my snakes take a nice healthy dump to thank me for all of my hard work

HAHA yeah that usually works too
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Dave

www.DNReptiles.com
Myspace/DNReptiles
Myspace/blog

"as soon as I do that 80-90% of my snakes take a nice healthy dump to thank me for all of my hard work"
^^^^^^
ha! thats hilarious and so true!!!

maybe put something extra extra hard to clean in the cage...like some wicker baskets! j/k

so funny...
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1.0 normal ball python - wolfgang

"i've got a fevah...and the only prescription...is more ball pythons"

LOL.
Yeah ok, hes gone into shed now, so I'm gonna have a mighty pissed off snake if I try and move him right now, but after hes done with that I'll try the soak.

And hes no fatter around the rear then usual, why? Kinda tapers off to a stubby tail.

Thanks guys

He will more than likely crap when he sheds. Almost all of mine do.
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John Vandegrift

Its not unusual for a ball python to go a loong time between defecations. Its also not unusual for them to defecate when they shed. Make sure the humidity in the cage is high while he is in shed. That will help him to slough the old skin. Chances are when he sheds, he'll defecate also. His eyes will clear a day or so before he sheds, you might want to give him his "bath" as soon as you see his eyes clear. That can help him with the shed as well.

Steve

A small rat every 14 days seems rather light to me....how old is the snake? I feed medium rats to my female ball python once a week or once every 10 days, at least when she decides to eat them that is.
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PHLdyPayne

well supposedly its 4-5 years old, but it's a rescue so I really don't know how old it is at all. Some guy just decided he didn't want it anymore so he left it in a box at a pet store.

I'm fairly sure it's a male, but I haven't had it probed yet, so its hard to say. its not losing weight, so the rat every 2 weeks doesn't seem too bad, but I'm thinking I'll start giving him/her mediums now that he/she doesn't put up a fuss about eating in a new cage.

Sound like a good idea? or more frequent small rats?