Hair ball?

[lil-blu]

so i picked up my first ball python from a reptile show here in birmingham. desdemona was feeding on live small rats before i got her, but i am trying to switch her over to f/t mice. she was fed before i got her and i wanted to make sure that settled in to her new home before i tried to feed. well she pooped on the 24 and again last night, while i was cleaning up that poop i noticed what looked like a hairball in the tank. at first i thought my cat had gotten on top of the tank but then realized there is a mesh lid and she couldn't have. the hairball smelled horriable and made the whole tank stink.
i'm sure that this is not normal, but i don;t know what the heck it was. any insite would be appreciated.
desdemona is 1.5 pounds and is about 30 inches long.

thanks in advance

justyne

[Freakie_frog]

Sounds like a hairy smelly snake turd.. Some times all the hair doesn't break down and you'll get those. With out being to gross was ir solid and dark in color???

[lil-blu]

not a gross question. gross that i had to go look again(it's in a plastic bag in the garbage outside to keep the smell down).
it is dark in color and pretty solid, there is more hair than anything else in it.

[kc261]

If I understand your post, you just got this snake and have not yet fed it since you brought it home?

Do you know when it was last fed?

Since you talk about poop on the 24th I guess you've had her since then at least, and if it has been that long since a feeding that pretty much rules out regurge.

So it is probably just poop with hair that didn't get fully digested.

Sometimes internal parasites can cause wierd poops, so if you have any doubts about the source you got the snake from, or if this kind of thing continues, you might want to have a vet check it out.

Stress can also cause wierd poops, such as from having just moved in to a new home.

[lil-blu]

I got the snake on the 19th. she was taken to a vet on the 25th, at that time he did a fecal check and it came up clean. I have tried to feed her twice since i got her, once on the 26th and again last night. I was told she had been fed on the 15th but was eating live. when i tried to introduce the f/t mouse, she shyed away from it and curled into a ball. both times i left the mouse in the tank over night and it was still there in the morning.

i have no worries about the guy i bought her from he is a very reputable dealer and has gauranteed her for a year.

[kc261]

This isn't directly related to the hair ball problem (which probably isn't a "problem", just hair in the poop), but it sounds like you are trying to change too many things all at once...

1)- new home
2)- new species of prey (from rats to mice)
3)- f/t instead of live
4)- size of prey... unless you are feeding just about the biggest possible mice and she was used to the smaller end of what is considered a small rat

You will probably have more success if you get the snake eating in its new home first, then try to start making changes in what you feed it. Like get at least 2, preferably 3 or 4 successful feedings in a row with what she's used to (live small rats). Then try switching to live mice. Once she is taking that consistently, try switching to f/t.

If you do get refusals, wait a week before offering again. If you keep offering and the snake keeps refusing, that just causes more stress.