Reptile & Amphibian Forums

When I came home today the snake had defecated on the outside of it's hideout. It looked like it had been lounging on top of it and just let it rip. It was white and dry. I'm curious if the color and dryness is normal?

About two hours after I threw away the carpet and put down newspaper it did it again. I could almost imagine it laughing at me. This time it was brown and wet like I would expect except at one end it was white and dry again. Is it normal to take care of business twice in a day? It is at the end of a shed if that would make a difference.

I've heard that BP's are shy and spend most of their time in a hideout. The three days I've had this one it's been pretty active and not too shy at all. When it is in it's hideout it usually has it's head sticking out. Is this normal behaviour or something to worry about?

I've read that resting with it's head elevated can be a sign of RI. A couple times I've seen it resting with it's head at the top of the climbing tree and it's body stretched all the way down to the floor. It looks really uncomfortable to me but then again I'm not a snake. Could this be a sign of RI or do they normally stay on the ground and elevate the head? It was kept at low temps for a couple weeks that I know of, maybe more. It's going to be a week or two before I can get it to a vet.

I've also read that some people don't like glass tanks. Would be interested to know why. I don't know much about snakes and I'm sure it shows but I'm learning. I sort of confiscated this one from a family member who wasn't taking care of it. Right now it's in a 20L glass tank with a screen top. Is this wrong? Should I be looking for a new enclosure?

Last question, I swear. It seems to yawn an awful lot. Is it wearing itself out with all the activity or is something wrong?

Any reply would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

your tank is absolutely fine. I would put plastic over the screen top and leave about an inch on each side for ventalation. If you use a basking light, just leave the areas where the light is for ventalation. this will help keep your humidity. do you know the temp of your tank? if you are woorried about a RI then make sure your conditions are right (not going to get into what they are..you have a book but use guages on both sides to be sure and keep them low since that is where the snake is most the time). I would worry more about the yawn as a sign of RI than the resting. Still, I have seen young ball pythons open their mouths from time to time especially after eating and drinking...alsways after eating to put their jaw back. now for the poop. the dry white stuff was urine and it is supposed to be like that..snakes use the water more than we do so the urinate is dry. Now your brown stuff should not be runny and wet so I would watch that and have a vet look at that for parasites.It is very normal for a snake to pee and poop in the same day, don't you : ) tell us more about your setup and maybe we can help fix a few things. I saw you have a hide so thats a start. I would have one in both warmer and cooler ends of the tank. good luck.

Hey,
about the pee and water thing, they actually dont really use water much, they are excellant/really efficient in retaining water, instead of urinating, the sorta poop out those cakes, its not called urine, its called urea. look how much liquids we drink compared to reptiles. the poop is similar looking to bird poop too, since birds originated from reptiles.

i got my BP about 2 weeks ago, he was not active for 2 days, just hid, now he is always moving around and wadering. he yawned 3 times in a row and 2-3 times after that while i was watching him the 1st and 2nd day. i watch him the same amount but he doesnt yawn anymore.

just fed him the 1st time yesterday, he was real active about 3 hours after he ate, i think he was still hungary since he ate fuzzy, but then he spent the rest of the day resting in his hide. today he spent part of it in the hide and for the rest of today he was out and about
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Monty - The Ball Python

ok, ya ya uric acid and what not...thats not the point. Second...ball python poop should not look like bird poop eventhough reptiles are more closely related to birds than mamals...I think some people have been telling you a few things out of nowhere. If your snake has a RI watch for weasing and foaming or any discharge from the mouth or nose.

similar to bird poo...no exactly is what i said, i was posting that info to let him know, im sure u know that stuff
didnt mean to offend u
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1.0 Monty - The Ball Python

Thanks for the repies. As for the poo, I guess I wasn't very clear, sorry. The white was chalky and I'm glad to hear it's normal. The brown wasn't runny. It was solid and about 2 1/2 inches long. It was moist and the newspaper was damp in the immediate area. If it is supposed to be dry like a dog or cat then there may be a problem.

I do have a UTH and digital temp/humidity gauges. ATM warm side is 88.7/53% and 82/58% cool side. I have hides at both ends and put the sensors in the hides above the paper. I thought that might be best since it would spend most of it's time in there. The warm hide is directly above the UTH. I also have a IR temp gauge. The sensors are reading air temps, when I point the IR at the floor it reads about 2 degrees higher on the cool side and as much as 7 degrees higher above the UTH. Water temp is about 84. It's raining here today and temps are fairly mild so I'm leaving a window open and that should help get the humidity up to help with the shed. Sonya recommended sphagnum(sp?) moss in a shoe box but the local pet store doesn't have it.

It seems to yawn about 5 or 6 times a day, probably several times more that I don't see. I've never seen it drinking or soaking, of course that doesn't mean it isn't done. When it does yawn it is pink and I can't see any kind of fluid discharge. I might have to try to get off work this weekend and get it to the vet to make sure. If it does have a RI wouldn't it be less active? This snake really likes to get out and about. It's very entertaining to watch it go back and forth and up and down it's climb tree. I've heard that BP's can be clumsy climbers but this one seems to be pretty agile to me.

sounds like your animal is perfectly fine

he gets up on his clay pot and pokes around the screen a lot. does it every night, i caught him doing in pitch black, funny how he went through the hole

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1.0 Monty - The Ball Python