Bloated Ball python

[ChaoticNao]

Hello, so I got my first BP hatching a bit over 3 weeks ago and while he's fed consistently on fuzzies every 6 days I noticed that he hasn't pooped at all.

(With regards to his cage everything seems good. The ambient temp inside the cage never drops below 25 degrees celsius, he has a UTH controlled by a thermostat on one side, 4 hides in total - 2 on the warm side, 1 on the cooler side and 1 in the middle. There's also a water bowl on the cool side. Humidity is always around 50-60 percent. Although sometimes it goes up to 65 after I have just misted for 1-2hours approx.

I do take my BP out like 2-3 times a week but even then - he usually climbs up my arm , enters my sweater and just chills at the crook of my back. I dont touch him extensively to not stress him out too much.)

While I read that it's normal for him to not poop for that long and more, when i took him out 2 days ago i took a picture of him sliding around my arm. I didn't notice anything at first but after feeding him yesterday I looked at the picture and noticed he looked really bloated. Since he fed yesterday I don't wanna go check to see if it's hard or not or give him a warm bath(i saw this as a suggestion) cause I don't want to stress him out and make him throw up his food.

Heres the zoomed in version of the picture - is this normal and am i just panicking - or am i right to be worried? Thank you

[tttaylorrr]

EDIT: welcome to the forum!!!


rat fuzzie or mouse fuzzie? if mouse, ball pythons fresh out of the egg eat bigger meals than you're offering.


do you wait 48hrs after feeding to handle?

also, do you have any more photos? with the snake stretched out on the floor?

i would try and hold him (48hrs after his meal) and feel the bloated spot. if it's hard i'd be very concerned, if it's soft i'd still be concerned.

EDIT 2: what temperature is your hot spot? where do you take this temperature from?

[ChaoticNao]

I feed him rat fuzzies and yes usually I only handle after 3 days have passed just to leave him be.

I don't have a picture of him stretched out on the floor - just him trying to find his usual spot

Should I wait another day and take another picture then?

EDIT: the hot spot is at 32 degrees celsius and I have a digital therometer with probe that touches under the substate to measure it. Also, i have other analogue thermometers and hygrometers stuck in multiple areas of the cage

[tttaylorrr]

I feed him rat fuzzies and yes usually I only handle after 3 days have passed just to leave him be.

I don't have a picture of him stretched out on the floor - just him trying to find his usual spot

Should I wait another day and take another picture then?

if you're gentle you can take him out quickly for a photo then put him back.

i edited my other post to ask this but i'll ask here: what is the temperature of your hot spot inside the enclosure?

[tttaylorrr]

EDIT: the hot spot is at 32 degrees celsius and I have a digital therometer with probe that touches under the substate to measure it. Also, i have other analogue thermometers and hygrometers stuck in multiple areas of the cage

okay, good. after the 48hrs i'd try a soak to see if you can get his bowels moving. if this persists it might be time for a vet to take a look.

[ChaoticNao]

I took him out and quickly took a few photos.


also,i responded to the temp questions above and sorry if the quality isn't that great - he wasn't a happy camper

[tttaylorrr]

I took him out and quickly took a few photos.


also,i responded to the temp questions above and sorry if the quality isn't that great - he wasn't a happy camper

his body looks good there. could he just be gassy? i hope someone more experienced can chime in; i was helping to narrow down whether it could be caused by husbandry or not.

[CALM Pythons]

...the Hatchlings I've had seem to hold food 3 weeks to aprox 5 weeks for the first couple months. The size of their movement is smaller also using most for nutrition... However the fact your are feeding the appropriate size and there seems to be a bit of a lump would concern me too. It also could just be the angle of the Photo and how it was laying that moment. Like tttaylorrr said give a soak after 48hrs and look at him then so see if that widening is there when he is stretched out.

Edit: I see your new pics. Looks good to me. I bet it was the position he was in before.

[ChaoticNao]

...the Hatchlings I've had seem to hold food 3 weeks to aprox 5 weeks for the first couple months. The size of their movement is smaller also using most for nutrition... However the fact your are feeding the appropriate size and there seems to be a bit of a lump would concern me too. It also could just be the angle of the Photo and how it was laying that moment. Like tttaylorrr said give a soak after 48hrs and look at him then so see if that widening is there when he is stretched out.

Edit: I see your new pics. Looks good to me. I bet it was the position he was in before.

Oh thank goodness. Should I wait another day and give him a bath regardless? or just leave him alone?

[Craiga 01453]

It also could just be the angle of the Photo and how it was laying that moment.

Edit: I see your new pics. Looks good to me. I bet it was the position he was in before.

I was gonna say the same thing. Looks fine to me.