No bowel movement in 11 days

easkone · 02-16-17, 01:33 AM

I'm a new ball python owner, I got it Sunday the 5th from a women who wanted it out of her house since her so left it was his snake. It was neglected for a while there was shedding and a couple movements in the 20gal but I got no info from her other than it needed to eat and liked live food. So I brought it home cleaned the aquarium bought a large mouse because I wasn't sure if it would eat from the stress but I wanted to offer something. I fed the snake 24 hrs later on Monday and it was right on it. Tuesday I moved it to a bigger 40 gal terrarium because I thought the 20 gal was a lil small. I put in the hides, water bowl, and artifical plants in that I got with him in the 20 gal. He seemed comfortable and I figured he was still hungry (being a bigger snake and only eating a mouse). So on Wednesday I fed him a soft fur rat. A week passed he seems to drink regularly and everything and I fed him another soft fur. He seems to be eating very well but no poop yet. I noticed his eyes bluing last night so could him starting to shed have something to do with this? He may have also swollowed a small wood chip during the week but I didn't think this was a huge problem because they digest whole rats. I also heard they take a lil longer to digest soft furs but I fed him a mouse first. Can anyone give me some advice?

**Andy_G** · 02-16-17, 05:47 AM

That's a lot of changes in such a short time for a snake but it sounds like you're doing your best. I'm willing to bet it will poop once it sheds and then you can start a proper feeding schedule. Hold off feeding until then, and consider using a humid hide to help the snake shed properly. Keep us posted!

easkone · 02-16-17, 07:11 AM

Yea I was thinking it could be stress related. I keep the humidity at 60-65 and both the hides have damp moss in them. Thanks

sockSnek · 02-16-17, 07:54 AM

I wouldn't worry about the bowel movements. Both my snakes hold it longer than that every time. They also tend to hold it when they're shedding and will drop a load in their old skin so I can't preserve it. Clearly to spite me. But actually that's pretty common too.

GyGbeetle · 02-16-17, 08:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sockSnek

I wouldn't worry about the bowel movements. Both my snakes hold it longer than that every time. They also tend to hold it when they're shedding and will drop a load in their old skin so I can't preserve it. Clearly to spite me. But actually that's pretty common too.

No, it's to spite you

My big boa baby holds on to his poop for a couple of weeks, sometimes even a couple of feedings (he eats every 2 weeks on jumbo rats). Then he'll drop a nuclear bomb in the bathtub while taking a soak, after we've cleaned the bathroom. It gets up onto the sides and... well, you get the idea. so it may be that he's going into shed, and has had a lot of changes in a short amount of time. They can get constipated too. Imagine going to Disneyland or something, and your stomach gets all tied up in knots from the excitement and all the activities. It's super fun, but your body stresses. That may be what your new guy is going through. Try not to handle him too much for the first week or so too.

jay's reptiles · 02-16-17, 11:15 AM

Yeah my retic wiil do the same thing, she holds all of her waste in, untill shed. Than i wake up to a giant present from her.

easkone · 02-16-17, 11:18 AM

Thanks I feel better about the situation now. I haven't handled him more than a few min switching it to the new terrarium. I'm trying to do the best I can for it I've done nothing but researched snakes since I got it. Now the hardest part is figuring out what morph I want next to put in this 20gal I have lol.

GyGbeetle · 02-16-17, 12:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by easkone

Thanks I feel better about the situation now. I haven't handled him more than a few min switching it to the new terrarium. I'm trying to do the best I can for it I've done nothing but researched snakes since I got it. Now the hardest part is figuring out what morph I want next to put in this 20gal I have lol.

I don't see any red flags with your husbandry, other than switching him to a bigger tank a little earlier than I would have. But if you've got a handle on temps/humidity, and feeding slows down, I think you're good. Just don't change the substrate until he poops; lesson learned on that one! I swear, every time I change out substrate and spend all that time sanitizing, etc, within an hour someone will leave me a nice big pile, even if they've already gone.

Yes, I really do think they do it to spite me.

akane · 02-16-17, 08:37 PM

That's not even 2 weeks. Time moves slowly with snakes. They can't be hurried and they can often hold off bodily needs for weeks to months with no harm if conditions are good around them. I've learned to mostly just worry about dehydration and stuck sheds. Most of my snakes not even humidity and sheds are a concern. It's that blood python species that gives me headaches. When he refuses food he doesn't just fail to eat. He ripped a fresh kill to pieces with blood everywhere across the bin and the last time went over everything to grab my wrist when I tried just a fuzzy. OK.... so I guess you don't want any food while shedding.... noted and I'll go examine my puncture wounds before buying longer feeding tongs.

easkone · 02-17-17, 03:37 PM

Oh wow that's crazy. He seems to be feeding really good on the soft furs. But I was just reading somewhere that they should go a few days after they eat. Then I heard soft furs take longer. Idk I did too much reading. I just wanted some opinions, I appricate it folks.

akane · 02-17-17, 04:07 PM

Most info is going to give you the standard results you get from a snake settled into a consistent routine but that doesn't give you all the variation that can happen for different reasons.

GyGbeetle · 02-17-17, 06:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by akane

That's not even 2 weeks. Time moves slowly with snakes. They can't be hurried and they can often hold off bodily needs for weeks to months with no harm if conditions are good around them. I've learned to mostly just worry about dehydration and stuck sheds. Most of my snakes not even humidity and sheds are a concern. It's that blood python species that gives me headaches. When he refuses food he doesn't just fail to eat. He ripped a fresh kill to pieces with blood everywhere across the bin and the last time went over everything to grab my wrist when I tried just a fuzzy. OK.... so I guess you don't want any food while shedding.... noted and I'll go examine my puncture wounds before buying longer feeding tongs.

Oh my. 😳 Oh dear