Baby Ball Not Pooping? :(

[Amy_Anthrax2010]

Hey there =]
I am brand-new to this site and was a little confused as to where to post this thread (I hope this is the right section!), so hopefully someone out here can help me out!

I adopted a baby female Ball Python from work around the end of October of this year. She's never had any problems with shedding, eating, "peeing" or pooping.. Until recently. Now she still eats like a pig and is very active, but I haven't noticed poop in her cage in what seems like a month now. Is this normal? I have inspected her body for any signs of illness but she looks A-OK to me.

Here is some basic info on her:
*She's about a foot and a half long
*She's had one shed (a good one at that) since I've owned her
*She eats once a week
*She eats, and always has eaten, frozen mice ("fuzzies" to be exact)
*She hides a lot during the day but is always zooming around at night
*She lives in a 30 Gal terrarium with a nice rock house, plants, and giant soaking dish
*Humidity is always around 45-50% (unless it's shedding time)

She's also my first snake I've ever owned!

If anyone can shed some light on this situation, I'd gladly appreciate it =)

~Amy

[KatStoverReptiles]

It's fine. They're very efficient when it comes to digesting, so they don't produce alot of waste.

You might consider upping her food size though. Feed a prey item that's slightly bigger around than she is at her largest point. You could probably feed every 5 days as well.

Fuzzy mice are quite small even for a young bp.

[VEXER19]

I was going to add that your bp should be on adult mice by now and probably isn't pooping due to the lack of food size with a growing youngster. Also could your bp possibly be near another shed? I've noticed that my girl will hold it until shed and then unleash hell. As she is doing right now. I know either tomorrow or th next day I'm in for a lovely clean up. And its off topic but buy a food scale that way you can weigh your bp and feed around 15% of the body weight. Also its good to know the growth rate or if they lose too much weight in future hunger strikes. Also I would keep your humidity at 55-60% and 70% during shed. Good luck.

By the way don't forget to post a pic. Always love to see the bps!

[Amy_Anthrax2010]

Woot, thanks for all of the advice!
I shall buy her the next size up tomorrow when I go into work. I just finished feeding her about two minutes ago and she still seems hungry.. I might give her an extra one =P
And I'll go ahead and post a pic of my lovely lady. Her name is Hakkar =D

On a side note, anyone know how to get a dog used to being around a snake? I recently adopted a dog (boxer/bulldog mix) and whenever I've got my snake out he seems to cower in fear xD


^Pretty snake on an ugly couch.

[VEXER19]

Woot, thanks for all of the advice!
I shall buy her the next size up tomorrow when I go into work. I just finished feeding her about two minutes ago and she still seems hungry.. I might give her an extra one =P
And I'll go ahead and post a pic of my lovely lady. Her name is Hakkar =D

On a side note, anyone know how to get a dog used to being around a snake? I recently adopted a dog (boxer/bulldog mix) and whenever I've got my snake out he seems to cower in fear xD


^Pretty snake on an ugly couch.

I have 2 boxers and they both are very interested in my albino. But they both know to keep their distance. No need to be near one another it will just stress the snake or I guess the dog in your case but there really should be no need to get them aquainted but the opposite IMO. Your bp really shoulnt be handled to the point where your dog will get used to it but in time your dog will become used to a snae in the house.

[Amy_Anthrax2010]

Good point.
It's just difficult to keep them apart from one another because my dog is always up in my business. Lol. She seems un-phased (is that a word?) in his presence.

[Emily Hubbard]

She looks about the same size as my girl and I feed her adult mice every 4 -5 days. I am going to do that until she grows into small rats, she is at an in-between size right now.

And I would recommend never getting the dog and snake used to each other. I have a no contact rule with my snake and cat, not even in the same room. Where I live, I really don't want my cat to learn than snakes are safe because we have tons of rattlesnakes, so I would rather my cat instinctually keep her distance from all slithery things as opposed to me having to pay a major vet bill. Your dog is probably afraid on instinct too. Lots of snakes are deadly, so lots of creatures, including many humans, will naturally avoid them.

[VEXER19]

Good point.
It's just difficult to keep them apart from one another because my dog is always up in my business. Lol. She seems un-phased (is that a word?) in his presence.

Oh I knows the feeling with those attention hungry breeds. And don't get me wrong my dogs lay right next to me when my snake is out but I've trained them to not get all in her business.
Your snake really won't be bothered my the dog unless they are like my 2 and want to play and be friends with everything that moves. But apparently your dog doesn't have that problem. But gotta love that mix. I can only imagine how cute your dog is!

[RichL]

My I ask where you got the name 'Hakkar' from? I have an idea, but it would reveal my true dorkiness..haha

[Amy_Anthrax2010]

Whew! Sorry for the late response.

Sadly, I must admit I got her name from World of Warcraft. All of the animals (except my dog, his name came with him when I rescued him from the pound) in my house are named after things on that game xD I know, I am a weirdo.

And I'll upload a picture of my dog for you all to see :3