My BP hasn't pood for ages!

Hi there,

I have had a Royal for a couple of months now and although he is in good health, always eats very well and has had little problem shedding, he has not left a proper poo in his viv for a few weeks now.

There is sometimes a small lump of urates or a small bit of normal dark poo left but there has not been anything sunstantial for ages.

Is this normal? not really sure how often/much the should be excreting.

Any comments welcomed.

Well the poor shedding could be from the lack of humidity. that would be my first guess. as for that lack of poo. snake poo really isn't that much and snakes usually poo about a 4 to 7 days after they eat, sometimes longer. its days that you feed him and he doesnt poo for weeks i would be worried. hope I helped a little bit

My snake has now eaten his first small rat. He has eaten 6 large mice and the rat since his last BM. Although he has not pooped, he has had a major growth spurt and is acting very normal. He usually only poops during a shed and that has been a while. I'm expecting a shed any day now. Don't worry, your snake will poop eventually.:)

It's not true that you should expect snakes to poo x-number of days after they've eaten. Some species may have faster metabolisms and be more regular or predictable....but ball pythons are not like that. They can go weeks between poos and it's perfectly normal.

Make sure you always have fresh water available....and work on bumping up the humidity some. And if you're really anxious to see a poo, try letting him take a little swim in the tub in shallow, luke warm water. (Water that feels neither warm nor cold to your touch...if it feels "warm" to you, it may feel HOT to the snake). Watch him to make sure he doesn't escape the tub or get himself into trouble somehow. :P A swim sometimes induces a bowel movement.

Sounds like everything is fine sometimes mine go awhile without a BM but usually if they do I get a really large one eventually. And I also agree with JLC a bath in lukewarm water will get them to go sometimes. I wouldn't worry unless he is showing other signs that there is a problem.

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as for that lack of poo. snake poo really isn't that much and snakes usually poo about a 4 to 7 days after they eat, sometimes longer. its days that you feed him and he doesnt poo for weeks i would be worried. hope I helped a little bit

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Really? I wouldn't!

There is no set schedule such as BP defecates every 4 to 7 days after they eat (they do not defecate each time they eat either), they can go weeks without defecating and this is not unusual at all.

To the OP as long as your BP does not seem obstructed it will be fine and he will go whenever he is ready to. (They always do ;) )

when we first got our BP, it was malnutritioned and very dehydrated, it ate a med rat 1x per week for 6 weeks and didn't poo one time, then all of a sudden, he filled, and I mean FILLED, his hide with poo. Now he poos about 5-8 days after each meal. I wouldn't get too worried unless he seems like he's obstructed, definately work on the humidity and have fresh water in his enclosure.

Good luck.

If the snake is on a regular feeding schedule with constant environmental temps, I would expect a regular pooping schedule. Constipation can be due to dehydration -- animals absorb water from their GI tracts, thus taking from what will be poop. If an animal needs to take a lot of water from the GI tract, this can make the poops really hard and cause constipation.

Make sure humidity in the cage is at least 40% and that snakey has access to fresh water all the time. Providing him a large enough water bowl that he can choose to soak in may be less stressful than force-soaking.

Other than the poor shed, which can be remedied by a raise in the humidity, I wouldn't worry about the lack of poo. =)

I've had my little female for... actually, 2 months as of tomorrow, and she's only pooped twice. She's due to shed any day now, and I expect something to pop up then, despite the fact that she didn't poop her last shed. Every snake is different.

Thanks to all you guys for posting replies/solutions.

I will not worry about the lack of BMs for now then and get the poop scoop ready for when it does finally come :weirdface

His shedding is fine, sorry, it was just my poor choice of words. I actually meant that he has had very little (almost no) problem shedding. The only thing not perfect about his shed as it was not a "one piece" shed but it all went fine. I have upped the RH a bit and we will see how next shed goes.

Thanks again for your help everyone.