Question about Levi's.. uh... potty habits.

[Indigo]

So, Levi, the one who has constantly annoyed me with his frequent pooping, has kind of got me worried, now that I go back and think about it. The first week or so that I had him, nothing. Then I started feeding him (small rat), and after he... uh... exploded all over my roommate's girlfriend, he's been defecating and otherwise at least once in a 48 hour period, sometimes twice. I've seen plenty of posts that say that they usually go once a week, I'm assuming sometime soon after they eat, or even longer without. Anyone have any ideas, and is a vet visit in order, or is he just cleaning out his system or something?

[hoo-t]

... after he... uh... exploded all over my roommate's girlfriend, he's been defecating and otherwise at least once in a 48 hour period, sometimes twice. ...

Sounds like a vet visit is most likely needed. But, could you break it down a little more? "defecating and otherwise"... How often for defecation specifically? What does it look like? Is it solid (kinda like dogs) or more like diarrhea?

Could very well be internal parasites. Depending on the size of the snake and size of the prey, normal digestion should take closer to a week (give or take), and the defecation should be solid. Please excuse the terminology, but it should look like a dog or cat "turd".

Steve

[frankykeno]

Like Steve said, be a bit more specific. Are you talking about finding a brown poop pretty much like a cat would pass or white lumps (urates)? Don't worry about grossing us out. Heck we've looked at close up pics of snake poop more times than I can count!

[Indigo]

It's both feces and urates, usually both at the same time but that's not always the case. And usually it's a regular, uh, log, but this last one looked a little softer and not as formed of a shape. Not anything I'd call diarrhea, per say.

[hoo-t]

How long has this been going on? How many times has he defecated on a 48 hour schedule? How big is the snake? How big are the rats you are feeding him? How often are you feeding him?
Has he lost weight? If so, how much?

Urination could be more frequent than defication. AND... it is possible that he "pees" on you as a defense mechanism. But what you are describing with defecation doesn't sound normal. The substance sounds ok, but not the frequency. 48 hours is just not long enough for a ball python to completely digest a rat.

One thing that comes to mind is that he may have been blocked (constipated), and now that he can, he's emptying up, which is why I asked about weight loss. Bear in mind though, that a snake can lose a fair amount of weight with a large defecation.

Steve

[Indigo]

I'd say it's been going on for a week and a half or two. I just weighed him, and the scale says exactly what it did when I first got him, 2.8 pounds (~1270g). I feed him nearly-full-grown rats.

Looks like he's going into shed again, which is odd with no weight gain, but he's getting the pink belly again. I'll just wait and see, and if it keeps up, to the vet he goes.

Thanks guys.

[West Coast Jungle]

is it runny? a fecal exam is probably a good idea.