Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi everyone,
I have a four year old jungle carpet python, about six feet long. I've had him since he was a month old. He's currently eating 122 gram thawed rats. The thing is that he hasn't defecated in well over a month. I have only fed him about one rat every three or four weeks lately, as he doesn't get a whole lot of exercise and therefore isn't looking for food. He's shed twice since last he went to the bathroom, so he's definitely growing. He urinates sometimes but not as much as "usual". At this point I'm just wondering if he's okay. Any input? Is this relatively normal for a snake of his age? Should I feed him even less often if he's not going to the bathroom? Thanks for any help.

I'm sorry, for the last 6 months he's been eating 240 gram rats. At about one a month. Thanks...

This actually is pretty normal sounding. Chondros defecate once every 3 months or so. So it's really dependent on the snake. Also, a four year old snake's growth is probably starting to slow down. For one meal a month, I'd think that defecating every month to every month and a half would be healthy. If you're worried though, you can always go to the vet and see what they have to say.

The more you feed, the more comes out...the less....well, you can figure that out. One rat a month is not a lot of food, but adequate.. All carpets grow rather quickly. My female Irian Jawa eats a small rabbit every 2 weeks, and she's about 5'. Same with my coastals, who are 8' each. Medium rabbit every two weeks, although the male is closer to a month. The female laid 24 eggs, so she's still getting some weight back. Then again, my female MacLott's ate a large rat every weeks for 6 weeks (5') after laying. Just check for impactions near the cloaca. If there aren't any, no worries.

Thanks both of you for your helpful answers. He's certainly slowed down since he was younger, just sits around and gets big now. I'll keep doing like I'm doing, possibly step up the rat size next month. Thanks again!

Maybe he's just lonely for some female company??

Heh. Unfortunately, I'm the most female he's gonna see. I'm not looking to breed pythons in here, my apartment manager would not appreciate that. They're on edge about his existance in the first place. Now I feel bad, though, for not getting him a girlfriend.

ps. He finally went to the bathroom this morning. Woo!

Yes. That's very cruel. How would you like to be locked in a box with no contact with the opposite of sex, just to prevent conception? lol. Go on, get him a girlfriend. Don't tell the landlords

Tell the landlord it's another male...how will they know?

Remember that pissing off your landlord is never a good idea.
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0.1 Irian Jaya carpet python
0.1 Ball python
0.3 Crested Geckos
2.2.7 Leopard Geckos (male-jungle, hypo tangerine carrot tail. female-normal, albino. babies-leucistic, blizzard, normal)
0.1 Western Hognose snake
1.0 Eastern Milksnake (currently free roaming in my home =/)
1.0 Albino Lavender California Kingsnake
1.1 Bearded Dragons
0.2 Water turtles
1.0 Umbrella Cockatoo (belongs to my mom and I)

indeed. i think i won't push my luck just now.