Ball possibly eating his own stool?

So this morning I happen to see a piece of what looks to be poop in my ball's tank. Because I'm running late I think to myself "hey I'll just get to it when I get home" just because I figure he never seems to leave his hide anyway during the day and I'm already late to class. However, I get home and the stool is missing, and it also happens to be lingering around the spot?? I feed him once a week and happened to be a day or so late because of refrigeration issues with what I had in store going bad. He eats perfectly fine and I'm sure what I feed him is good size.

Is it possible he did eat his own poop? I searched the tank, flipping over things and sifting through the substrate but could not find it. Please help.

i highly doubt your snake ate their own poop. that being said, The Case of the Disappearing Poo is interesting...are you sure of what you saw in the morning? you stated you were in a rush; maybe your eyes deceived you.

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Originally Posted by tttaylorrr

i highly doubt your snake ate their own poop. that being said, The Case of the Disappearing Poo is interesting...are you sure of what you saw in the morning? you stated you were in a rush; maybe your eyes deceived you.

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I'd like to think what I saw was real. I remember sort of looking closer to get a better look at it because I had looked quickly and looked back again to figure out what I was looking at. So I dont think I was seeing things.

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Originally Posted by jadekris00

I'd like to think what I saw was real. I remember sort of looking closer to get a better look at it because I had looked quickly and looked back again to figure out what I was looking at. So I dont think I was seeing things.

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what type of substrate are you using? sometimes the poo can dry out and - for me - it can camoflague really well with my ReptiChip substrate. i'll assume you've already done a second look tho.

i'll just repeat that i highly doubt your beep ate poo lol.

sorry if i'm not too helpful. hopefully others can help you out here, too!

I've been keeping snakes for a long time & I have to say, I've never seen or heard of a snake eating their feces. But strange things happen in nature sometimes.
I think if I were in your shoes, the next time he defecates in his cage, I'd be tempted to leave it for just a bit & see if this happens again. I'd just have to know...:confusd:

One other thing occurs to me that's also unlikely but would make more sense than him eating his feces: is it possible that he regurgitated, then re-consumed it?
A poorly-digested rodent can look like a log of poo, & I guess would still smell like rodent to him? Not a pretty thought either, do keep us posted?

Considering the fact that most balls I've seen tend to keep a good distance between them and their poop, I'd say it's highly unlikely that your ball ate its own poop. I do think that tttaylor's statement is pretty logical, but it really does depend on your substrate and lighting. Another possibility is that your ball might have accidentally spreaded the poop over the substrate and it dried out. I really do suggest a closer check and possibly replacing the substrate.

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The snake didnt eat its own poop. I've seen snakes do pretty stupid stuff like try and coil a plastic garbage bag full of soiled substrate as well as a retic try and coil a smart phone but never seen or heard a snake eat a poop lol. Like mentioned, either you mistook the way the Reptichips were sitting for a poop or the poop got pushed or buried into the substrate. Shove it all over to one side and pick up handfuls and sift it through your hand to the other side. If you dont find anything, then you were just seeing things.

Sometimes light reflects in my enclosures to cast a shadow that looks like cleaning is required.

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Originally Posted by Sauzo

The snake didnt eat its own poop. I've seen snakes do pretty stupid stuff like try and coil a plastic garbage bag full of soiled substrate as well as a retic try and coil a smart phone but never seen or heard a snake eat a poop lol. Like mentioned, either you mistook the way the Reptichips were sitting for a poop or the poop got pushed or buried into the substrate. Shove it all over to one side and pick up handfuls and sift it through your hand to the other side. If you dont find anything, then you were just seeing things.

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I use coconut fiber substrate. But yes I may have to sift through and just look around during my free time.

Thank you everyone I'm concluding I may be insane. Next time I see something I will also not make sure to take a picture of it before I leave my house lol :gj: