Fatty tail or?.....

UserNameIsValid · 03-28-16, 06:22 PM

Hey guys, so my ball, Monty, hasn't eaten in four weeks, hasn't pooped, but has peed like normal. Except for his lower third. It's super fat and you can see the skin under his scales. Just wondering if anyone knows what this could be or if it's normal.

UserNameIsValid · 03-28-16, 06:35 PM

Also just expelled this pretty dark urine 😬

**Minkness** · 03-28-16, 06:46 PM

Not normal, may be compacted.

Is it hard? If hard, get to a vet ASAP. If soft, attempt to give mineral oil orally and 15-20 min soaks in luke warm water along with gentle massages towards the pooper.

REM955 · 03-28-16, 07:27 PM

You say compaction because of the time since a poop and the bulge near the vent?

Albert Clark · 03-28-16, 07:52 PM

Firstly, what type of enclosure is Monty in and what are the temps, humidity and substrate you are using? How are you heating the enclosure? What are you feeding him and how often? Are you sure Monty is a male? Has he ever been bred? How are you monitoring the temps, ambient and hot spot and the humidity percentage? Impaction is a possibility but ball pythons can hold on to feces for extended periods of time for various reasons. The urine and urates look normal to me.

UserNameIsValid · 03-28-16, 09:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Albert Clark

Firstly, what type of enclosure is Monty in and what are the temps, humidity and substrate you are using? How are you heating the enclosure? What are you feeding him and how often? Are you sure Monty is a male? Has he ever been bred? How are you monitoring the temps, ambient and hot spot and the humidity percentage? Impaction is a possibility but ball pythons can hold on to feces for extended periods of time for various reasons. The urine and urates look normal to me.

He is in a 29gal breeder with a 80-70 degree variant with a 90 hotspot. 60 percent humidity. I have a 60 watt heat heat lamp and a 30 gallon heat pad. I offer him a 18gram adult mouse once a week. Not sure he's a male, but have had him since he's a juvenile, about a year now. I monitor the heat and humidity with dials. I have one one each end along with the middle and hotspot. I have a humidity dial in the center as well. I feed him on paper towels, so I doubt it's an impaction. I'm just wondering why his tail area is so swollen ☹

**Minkness** · 03-28-16, 09:29 PM

Could be parasites.

Take him to a vet. Compaction or not, that's not bormal and it'd e better to diagnose sooner rather than later.

sirtalis · 03-28-16, 09:47 PM

Do you have a screen top on the cage

sirtalis · 03-28-16, 09:48 PM

Oh and how are you measuring the temps

Albert Clark · 03-28-16, 10:30 PM

Ok. Are you controlling the heat with a thermostat? The reason I ask is so we can make sure the husbandry is correct. As far as the temps, do you use thermometers and hygrometers with probes or are you using the circular aneroid types? The snake is most certainly not gravid then since you have had him for a year. And also since he was a juvenile rules out that this is a ball python who is gravid. I don't know for sure if this could be a ball python who is in the stages of building follicles and hasn't been bred which would mean this is a female ball python. That may be a possibility. Do you feed live or f/t and do you monitor the feedings? This is important bc there has been cases of ball pythons swallowing paper towels along with their meal. Which could be a form of impaction. Long shot IMO. How long has the protrusion been evident to you?

AwesomeGuy376 · 03-28-16, 10:44 PM

I would just say husbandry. I've also seen people online who soak their snake to get rid of constipation if you wanted to try it, but please take him to a vet just to be safe.. Hope it gets fixed!

Albert Clark · 03-28-16, 10:50 PM

Certainly the exotic vet will be the definitive recourse bc we can speculate all day on this situation. I thought we could try to get a sense of several possibilities.It does look suspicious but just trying to rule out a few things.

UserNameIsValid · 03-29-16, 05:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Albert Clark

Ok. Are you controlling the heat with a thermostat? The reason I ask is so we can make sure the husbandry is correct. As far as the temps, do you use thermometers and hygrometers with probes or are you using the circular aneroid types? The snake is most certainly not gravid then since you have had him for a year. And also since he was a juvenile rules out that this is a ball python who is gravid. I don't know for sure if this could be a ball python who is in the stages of building follicles and hasn't been bred which would mean this is a female ball python. That may be a possibility. Do you feed live or f/t and do you monitor the feedings? This is important bc there has been cases of ball pythons swallowing paper towels along with their meal. Which could be a form of impaction. Long shot IMO. How long has the protrusion been evident to you?

yeah, i have a Zilla thermostat hooked up to the light and mat. i use the circular aneroid type thermometer/hygrometer. I feed hime f/t and always monitor the feedings, I noticed it about five minutes before I posted on here :/

Albert Clark · 03-29-16, 06:18 AM

Today is there any change in the size of the swelling/ protrusion? Also, can you post a picture of the underside/ belly of the snake? It's not unusual for a ball python not to have a defecation in a months time. They usually go when they have to. Even not feeding for one month is normal but when it's associated with a suspicious protrusion /swelling of the abdomen is problematic l. Your husbandry sounds great. I would invest in a probed thermometer/ hygrometer for better accuracy and also a ir gun to monitor your surface temps. Feeding f/t also lessens the likelihood of parasites.

**Andy_G** · 03-29-16, 07:01 AM

If it were a female I would say that it's probably eggs in there...but that isn't the case here. I would get that thing to a vet ASAP. When a snake is that constipated, and make no mistake...it is very severely constipated...soaking and passing stool can actually compound the problem and/or cause a severe prolapse. Please keep us updated and best of luck.