ball python not pooping

I have 2 ball pythons. My female poops pretty much next day after she eats. i bought her at 40 grams so i've been feeding every 3 or 4 days to fatten her up.

My male is the problem. I'm not sure if it's a problem or normal. I purchased him beginning of january, and he eat's whenever I feed my female, but he hasn't pooped once. Is this something I should be concerned about?

Thanks

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Originally Posted by akma

I have 2 ball pythons. My female poops pretty much next day after she eats. i bought her at 40 grams so i've been feeding every 3 or 4 days to fatten her up.

My male is the problem. I'm not sure if it's a problem or normal. I purchased him beginning of january, and he eat's whenever I feed my female, but he hasn't pooped once. Is this something I should be concerned about?

Thanks

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Can you see his tail end swelling up with what should be waste?

Could possibly be hard urates blocking his anus. You can try soaking him in warm water for a bit to try to loosen him up. Also possible to try to massage it out of him depending on your level of comfort doing that....I'd definitely try soaking him first.

I wouldn't worry about it too much. It's fairly common, I've heard, for ball python's to go irregularly and not on a schedule. I've had mine since September 2013 and I've only found solid poop about 3 times, but he passes urates weekly.

As long as urates are passing and you can see/find them, probably nothing to stress over. Some balls poop like clockwork, others once a season, and so on. Will also depend on their eating habits.
But, as RobNJ pointed out, soaking usually helps things along :) if you are super stressed.

Best of luck!

No. Some snakes poop less. And a lot of ball pythons wait until they shed to poop. So I would wait for a shed, before taking any action.

What satomi said. When you see signs of shed, you can soak him, this will help with the shedding and may encourage pooping.

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Originally Posted by NH93

others once a season

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That would be one massive dump :O

Maybe I've just lucked out...I can't recall ever having an adult, let alone babies, that haven't pooped like clockwork when eating regulary.

Having dealt with a moderate sized sample of babies, I don't think I've ever had one go a month without defecating, so long as they were eating regularly. Eat, wait 4-6 days, poop, clean, eat has always been the routine, save for sheds, which really only addedban extra week between poops. The very few, maybe 4-5, that went for any prolonged period without going ended up with large, hard urates blocking them from doing so. A warm soak fixed a couple, and I distinctly remember two that I gently massaged the urates out of to clear the way for the massive build up that followed closely behind. I can't recall exactly how long these babies went without going, but I'd say in the 5-6 week range.

Thanks for the heads up. I'll wait a bit more before I get worried. My female craps nonstop. Eats and 2 days later poop.

He's probably saving up to leave you a great big present.

You just got him in January? So it hasn't been that long. I wouldn't worry. Some only go when they shed. So long as husbandry is correct, he'll go when he needs too. He could just be more thoroughly processing his meal than your female.