Ball python pooped undigested rat, help!

[Snizards]

So I walked into my reptile room this morning and I was greeted by a foul smell. I look over and see the back end of a rat and what looks like splotches of diarrhea in a few places around the tank. Twister, my Ball Python, ate on Sunday, November 6th (5 days ago). Nothing like this has ever happened to him.

I'm wondering if maybe the mouse was bad? I thaw my rodents in the fridge for a whole day and night, all my other snakes ate on the same day as Twister and one has pooped already, and the poop was normal. However when I fed Twister I dropped the rat in, he lunged at it, and all the others had been fed so I left the room. I came back a couple hours later to check on them, and realized Twister hadn't eaten. I think he lost the rat, probably because it cooled down from being warmed up in warm water before feeding. So I warmed it up in warm water again and he took it and ate. And now here we are. I'm thinking maybe I shouldn't have fed him the rat because it could've gone bad in that amount of time?

I picked him up, everything looks fine and he seems fine. Wondering if this is possibly a regurgitation or if it's poop? And what should I do about this? Your advice would be much appreciated.

A bit more info: He's kept in a tank, I keep the humidity up by misting and covering half of the screen top with paper towels and misting them daily, humidity sits around 60-70% during the day, although at night it sometimes drops to 50-55%. I'm planning to move him to a viv soon. And his thermostat is set at 90 degrees and varies between 88-91 during the day. Oh and this is his first time eating in a month, I had some trouble with ambient temps being too low a little while back, so I held off feeding to avoid any digestion issues. Before that he ate once every 10 days, a medium rat. He is 1200 grams.

[Albert Clark]

Sorry to see this. I would keep on track with my temps , humidity and triple check them daily. Also, I think you should skip the next scheduled feeding then if all seems on track resume feeding with smaller prey item.

[Mangiapane85]

That looks like regurge. There's no way they could poop out a undigested rat like that.


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[Eric Alan]

Looks like a regurgitation. The foul smell you encountered is par for the course for those little nasties. As far as the length of time between the first and second attempts, it certainly could have played a part - especially since it'd been thawing for a fair amount of time before then.

It sounds like your husbandry is on par, so that's out of the equation. For you, the best thing to do (after you clean up the grossness) is to be extra vigilant in your observations over the next couple of weeks to see if there are any additional signs of something larger going on. Keep handling to a minimum (necessary tank maintenance only) and make sure his water bowl stays full and clean. Once a couple of weeks have passed without concern, you can offer a meal again. Make sure it's one that's quite a bit smaller than his usual size to give his digestive system a chance to ease back in to things. Regurgitation is a pretty traumatic thing to happen, but doesn't have to be something that should loom over your head as a concern as long as you take the proper steps afterwards.

[Snizards]

Thanks everyone. I've never dealt with this before, so wasn't sure what it was. I definitely won't ever feed a rat that was out that long ever again. Not worth the risk, even if it wasn't part of the problem. I will keep handling to a minimum, definitely. I refill his water bowl every day, so no change there.

I appreciate all the advice, I will keep this post updated on how he is doing and if I see anything concerning.

[Snizards]

Also, is it uncommon for them to regurge almost a week later? I was under the impression it was more common to happen only a couple days after feeding. Maybe I'm wrong though.

[Mangiapane85]

Also, is it uncommon for them to regurge almost a week later? I was under the impression it was more common to happen only a couple days after feeding. Maybe I'm wrong though.

That's why a large portion of it seemed to be digested. I'm guessing the rat may have gone rancid due to it being "overcooked"... and just like us humans, if we eat bad food, we will probably throw up.


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[Snizards]

That definitely makes sense and I'm pretty sure that's what did it. I feel really bad about it... lesson learned.
I was wondering why he wasn't crawling about at night like he usually does, I guess an upset tummy would do it.

[Mangiapane85]

That definitely makes sense and I'm pretty sure that's what did it. I feel really bad about it... lesson learned.
I was wondering why he wasn't crawling about at night like he usually does, I guess an upset tummy would do it.

I've done the same thing before. I over heated one for my little Pastel Enchi, and when he constricted it, it popped. Very disgusting. But it's been a few days now, so I'm hoping all is well... all this f/t crap really makes me wanna just do pre killed instead. But that'd be even more of a hassle I guess. Lol


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[Snizards]

Lol, that would be nasty. I've thought about pre-killed, but only if I breed my own rats/mice. Buying live from a local store has always been more expensive. For me personally, frozen has been the easiest, cheapest, and safest.