Is our BP constipated?

[Superpop]

The last time our Snickers went poop as well as urates was on March 11th.

She ate a hopper the next night on March 12th.

She ate again a week later on March 19th.

Still no poop or urates and when March 26th rolled around we didn't feed her because she seems to be a little bit on edge and skittish right now....not in an aggressive way but in a more passive way.

She is due for a shed. She shed last on January 23rd.(it was her first perfect 1 piece shed)

She is looking pretty "dull" but her eyes have not yet clouded over although they are starting to look dull as well.

Is 18 days without pooping a long time? (she ate twice in that period)


I just don't know if this is a impending shed issue or a constipation issue or something else entirely?

[coldbloodaddict]

Unless your snake has a huge bulge near the cloaca your're probably just underfeeding it and there's nothing to waste.

You don't mention the size/age of the snake, but most hatchling Balls can be started on hopper mice and move up to adult mice pretty quickly.

[Superpop]

Unless your snake has a huge bulge near the cloaca your're probably just underfeeding it and there's nothing to waste.

You don't mention the size/age of the snake, but most hatchling Balls can be started on hopper mice and move up to adult mice pretty quickly.

She is under 1 year old. My boyfriend purchased her in July of 2010(it's his pet...I am just the one who takes care of her) from stupid Petco! Of course he believed all the crap they told him and purchased what they told him to purchase and I am the one picking up the pieces on this forum.

We ran into major issues which have been corrected and many items purchased are worthless due to petco employees who know NOTHING!

Anyway....Rant over!

She is under one year old but is quite a bit bigger than when we got her.

It's only been 18 days since her last poo/urates but I think she is either constipated or acting this way due to her impending shed.

It's her weird behavior that is freaking me out more than the fact that she hasn't pooped in 18 days.

I don't think our BP has it(and I PRAY she doesn't) but what are the major signs to look for for with "Inclusion Body Disease"?

[ballpythonluvr]

I really don't think your snake is constipated. It sounds like the snake could be eating a little bit bigger of prey then what you are currently offering.

[Adam Chandler]

BP's can go a good while without defecating. It can vary but going monthly is about normal for BP's, Many times you'll find defecation usually follows shedding.
Once she pushes 2 months then I would be concerned.

Also that's great that you are keeping such detailed records.

[Superpop]

Unless your snake has a huge bulge near the cloaca your're probably just underfeeding it and there's nothing to waste.

You don't mention the size/age of the snake, but most hatchling Balls can be started on hopper mice and move up to adult mice pretty quickly.

We got her in late July of last year and she was very small compared to the other young BP's we have since seen at pet stores. There is no bulge near her cloaca and my boyfriend felt her body around that area tonight and it wasn't hard or anything.

We were feeding her frozen/thawed "fuzzy" mice for a while but due to this forum we found out that they were too small and moved up to "hoppers" months ago. How do we know when to move up to the next size? I don't want her trying to swallow prey that is too large. (Will BP's try to swallow prey that is "too big" for them to eat???) Snickers is now much larger than when we got her.


I don't know why she was so edgy those few days but regardless she has been acting normal again the last few days but still hasn't pooped.(it's been 22 days now) Even though she has been looking dull her eyes still have not clouded over yet but I am guessing any day now for that.

We fed her again tonight and she ate. We still have 2 hoppers left so even if they are a little too small for her at this point we are not going to waste them.(I would feel bad just "throwing away" mice that died for her to eat.)

I just want to make sure the next time we buy mice for Snickers that we are buying the correct size for her to eat. We don't want to buy too small or too big. How do we know the correct size to feed her??

[Vypyrz]

defecating every 3-4 weeks is about normal, especially for young BP's who are growing fast. Alot of times they will hold on to it if shed is coming on and pass it after the shed. Don't worry.

For selecting the right size prey, there are a couple of ways to do it. First, you can get a digital scale, weigh your snake, and then go find a prey that is 10%-15% of the snakes weight.

Another way to do it is to get a prey that is roughly the same girth as the snake at it's thickest point. To do this you can kind of "eyeball" it and use your judgement. If you want to be more precise, you can use one of those fabric tape measures to measure the circumference of your snake at it's thickest part, then take it to the pet store and find a prey of comparable size. You can usually find them at stores like Wal-Mart, Target, or stores that sell sewing fabric. If you can't find one of those tape measures, you can make one with a strip of paper. Hold the paper by one end. wrap the rest around your snake and where the paper overlaps itself, make a mark. Now you have a gage to use for sizing your prey... Hope this helps.

[KatStoverReptiles]

for selecting the right size prey, there are a couple of ways to do it. First, you can get a digital scale, weigh your snake, and then go find a prey that is 10%-15% of the snakes weight.

Another way to do it is to get a prey that is roughly the same girth as the snake at it's thickest point. To do this you can kind of "eyeball" it and use your judgement. If you want to be more precise, you can use one of those fabric tape measures to measure the circumference of your snake at it's thickest part, then take it to the pet store and find a prey of comparable size. You can usually find them at stores like wal-mart, target, or stores that sell sewing fabric. If you can't find one of those tape measures, you can make one with a strip of paper. Hold the paper by one end. Wrap the rest around your snake and where the paper overlaps itself, make a mark. Now you have a gage to use for sizing your prey... Hope this helps.

x2

[Superpop]

defecating every 3-4 weeks is about normal, especially for young BP's who are growing fast. Alot of times they will hold on to it if shed is coming on and pass it after the shed. Don't worry.

For selecting the right size prey, there are a couple of ways to do it. First, you can get a digital scale, weigh your snake, and then go find a prey that is 10%-15% of the snakes weight.

Another way to do it is to get a prey that is roughly the same girth as the snake at it's thickest point. To do this you can kind of "eyeball" it and use your judgement. If you want to be more precise, you can use one of those fabric tape measures to measure the circumference of your snake at it's thickest part, then take it to the pet store and find a prey of comparable size. You can usually find them at stores like Wal-Mart, Target, or stores that sell sewing fabric. If you can't find one of those tape measures, you can make one with a strip of paper. Hold the paper by one end. wrap the rest around your snake and where the paper overlaps itself, make a mark. Now you have a gage to use for sizing your prey... Hope this helps.

Thank you very much!

We were only worried about her defecation because it was generally much faster before...although there were times it took her almost 2 weeks.(but now this is slightly over 3 weeks so we were worrying)

As for her food size... The hoppers are about as thick as she is....it's kinda hard to tell with their frozen limbs sticking out....maybe we should move up a size.

Anyway I will use your tape measure method. We already have a "fabric tape measure" from the Minnesota State Fair from 2 years ago.(I got it free from tossing a bean bag into a cut-out hole.) At least that fabric tape measure will finally come to use.(Seriously I almost gave it to good will and another time I considered throwing it away....Now I am glad I kept it....it does finally have a use!)


Thanx Vypyrz

[Superpop]

Just a quick update...


Snickers pooped and urated(I guess "urated' is a word??? LOL) 2 days ago and urated again tonight. We will soon start feeding her larger prey.

As for her shed it's is now very close as her eyes were very dull tonight and will probably be completely clouded over either friday or saturday.

I'm just happy she was not constipated and that it's time for her to move up in prey size.

Thanks to everyone who replied in this thread.