Extremely Odd Defecations

[Tubswubadubs]

I've had this little female for about 4 weeks now. I've barely gotten her to eat two meals and she has been refusing left and right. When she goes to defecate after a meal, it looks as if there is indeed a solid mass, when in reality both her urates and fecal matter are both liquid. At the same time there is still this lump in her body. The lump will move all the way to her cloaca and then get "sucked" back into her body after she gives up. I mean she looks as if she's trying to prolapse to get it out but never passes it (possibly due to pain?).
Mind you she is also extremely underweight and it's not like I can have her miss a meal as she is too damn small for her body size already. She hasn't even hinted at gaining weight and her spine is becoming more prominent.

(I do have a vet appointment set up, but I would like some input from some of ya'll to see what you think it is.)

[Albert Clark]

Welcome to the forum. What species of snake is this? Is the animal wild caught or captive born and bred? What type of enclosure are you working with and how do you monitor and keep track of the temperatures and humidity? Are you regulating the heat and offering hides? Do you have any lighting sources? All this info will help as will pictures of the enclosure and the snake.

[Tubswubadubs]

Snake is a Ball Python, female. She is captive bred, bought from petco by her previous owner, then purchased by me. She is in a tub, with an offered hide and water. Her heat mat stays at 84 F and there are no lighting sources other than that of my bedroom light. I have kept two other ball pythons within the same conditions with no problem, but they were both purchased from breeders and not pet owners.

As far as I know she was owned for about 2 weeks before coming to me, but the guy said he didn't have a problem with her eating and she had just come out of shed when I purchased her. She is going back into shed (possibly why she won't eat) but the defecation habits were there since I got her.

in short:
Ball, Kept in sterilite tub, heat mat, water bowl, hide, no lighting (but as she has under tank heating i do not find this to be an issue). Humidity kept between 53 and 60%

[Andy_G]

Whats the ambient temp? I want to mention that hot spot is about 8-10 degrees too cold..heat plays a big role in stimulating appetite and that isn't hot enough to stimulate the hunger of a snake that lives in the african savannah. Hope your vet visit goes well but definitely make that change to higher temps either way.

[RAD House]

Light is unessicary and humidity is on point. I agree your heat mat is too low. It should be closer to 90 degrees Fahrenheit.

[Albert Clark]

Ok, got it. How old is this little female? Often times as the animal prepares to defecate there is the intermittent contractions of the colon and cloaca as it expels the waste. That can appear as a lump during the procedure. Accurate temperatures and humidity are the driving forces in ball python health as previously stated. You said that the lump seems to be a solid mass so that is disconcerting. You should try barely warm water soaks as a second line backup treatment. Couple the soaks with lightly massaging the lump towards the cloaca in the hopes that it may be a partial fecal obstruction. The temperature upwards adjustment should be the primary treatment. Then, of course the exotic vet will be your absolute best bet. Hope this helps. Please keep us posted on your progress.

[Tubswubadubs]

Update on the little one:

Took her to the vet, some eggs were found in her feces. She got a dosage of ivermectin, and now I am awaiting test results to see if they found anything else/ if i would need a harder wormer.

She was weighed in at a whopping 109g so, as far as age goes she's very young. I do not have a definite birth date on her (or even a month) as she was bought from a pet owner who got her from petco. (He basically said OO pretty, bought her, sold her 2 weeks later)

Temps have been changed to those stated above and we also managed to push the fecal matter out at the vet (she started to poop again, tried pulling the same crap, but vet still cleared her out.) All fecal matter was again, an odd texture, but this time it was still squishy, but with way less water in it.

TL:DR Temps changed, snake wormed. Update on feeding and weight to come.

[Andy_G]

Sounds like things are on the right path now! Keep us updated.

[Albert Clark]

Wow, bittersweet then. Glad that the real etiology was diagnosed by the vet. Sad that it has to be something so pathological. At least she is on the road to recovery. Good call.