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Blaine keeps pooping on me :( help?
I tried to search for any answers on this, but I couldn't find any.
I have a normal ball python, male, thats a little over a year old. And I swear he waits till I take him out to poop! Or maybe its the movement that gets things flowing (sorry about the visual!)?
Anyways, I've even tried keeping him out for shorter periods before putting him back in (I worried that maybe it was me having him out at too long a time let to the pooping), and its only helped a little.
Snake poop is super gross, so I'd love to avoid getting hit as much as possible.
My close friend has a 5 year old male and he NEVER poops on her, is it an age thing?
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I've never had a BP do this to me. How often do you handle him? How much do you feed him?
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Re: Blaine keeps pooping on me :( help?
Quote:
Originally Posted by The Serpent Merchant
I've never had a BP do this to me. How often do you handle him? How much do you feed him?
I feed him every other week (I can't seem to get him to take food more frequently than that, so I don't push it). When I have time I'll hold him a little bit every day, but frequently I'm too busy and sometimes will go 4 or 5 days without holding him at all. But on an average week I'll take him out for at least 3 or 4 days of that week for a little bit. I'll take him out for anywhere from 10-30 minutes (any longer and I worry about his warmth levels). It depends on Blaine's body language, how long I keep him out, if he is moving quickly and trying to get away, I put him back in. Or if he refuses to come out of a ball, I put him back in. If he is moving slower and just "hangs out" and slowly explores I'll keep him out a little longer.
Sorry for the long answer! But my point is, I'm definitely not wearing my snake to the store or having him out for hours at a time! I would expect to be pooped on at that point.
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Wow, then rotten luck?
It might be something to do with applying pressure to his bowels, this might help move things along so to speak.
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I can usually tell when mine need to go, they get sausage butt. And usually that night they will go. Is it everytime? Or a few days after eating?
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Re: Blaine keeps pooping on me :( help?
Quote:
Originally Posted by The Serpent Merchant
Wow, then rotten luck?
Yup...Gotta be bad luck..they don't go that often...
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Re: Blaine keeps pooping on me :( help?
Quote:
Originally Posted by The Serpent Merchant
Wow, then rotten luck?
It might be something to do with applying pressure to his bowels, this might help move things along so to speak.
I did notice that the weeks that I gave him a bath, he tended to go in the bath and not on me. Maybe I should start bathing him more? (as it is, I do it maybe once a month, just to get off stray bits of skin and poo and pee)
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Lol sorry to laugh but oh so funny ive been pooped on once by my baby bp i agree its nasty just bath him every week right before you feed him or before you would feed him and he should poop if he doesnt...... BE WEARY OF THE POOP!!!!
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Re: Blaine keeps pooping on me :( help?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Snake.chick09
Lol sorry to laugh but oh so funny ive been pooped on once by my baby bp i agree its nasty just bath him every week right before you feed him or before you would feed him and he should poop if he doesnt...... BE WEARY OF THE POOP!!!!
its definitely gross! He also can projectile pee/poo if he's wrapped up tight around my arm and its putting pressure on his back area :O
Its just funny 'cause my friend who has a 5 year old male says it NEVER happens with him. Like, she had Whiskers out the entire time we were watching titanic and I swear he curled up and fell asleep in her shirt. No pooping. If I tried that with Blaine he usually has accidents :/ But she claims Whiskers used to do it a TON when he was little, so I was hoping it was something they grow out of?
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I would stop bathing him, soaking BP's can dry our their scales leading to bad sheds and can stress them out as well.
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Re: Blaine keeps pooping on me :( help?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Miss Brie
I did notice that the weeks that I gave him a bath, he tended to go in the bath and not on me. Maybe I should start bathing him more? (as it is, I do it maybe once a month, just to get off stray bits of skin and poo and pee)
It's not generally recommended to bathe ball pythons as their skin loses their needed natural oils. Plus it can stress out, burn, chill the snake if done incorrectly. If the snake has bits of stuck shed, putting them in a damp towel or pillowcase works im told.
Unscented baby wipes work great for cleaning snakes
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I had one that would pass urates a lot when I held him. I think it just has to do with the handling kind of massaging it out of them, as gross as that sounds. Or maybe something to do with human body heat, too.
As for remedies, the only thing I can think of is to make sure that he has gone to the bathroom before you hold him. Like others have said, they don't go that often and because of that it should be somewhat easy to predict when they are likely to go, so maybe try to work handling time around that accordingly?
How long do you usually have him out for, and does he do it EVERY time? Does he ever poop IN his cage?
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Re: Blaine keeps pooping on me :( help?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sunnyvale420
It's not generally recommended to bathe ball pythons as their skin loses their needed natural oils. Plus it can stress out, burn, chill the snake if done incorrectly. If the snake has bits of stuck shed, putting them in a damp towel or pillowcase works im told.
Unscented baby wipes work great for cleaning snakes
I don't leave him in for very long, and the water is not too warm.
Is this widely agreed among python owners though? not to bathe them? They told me at the vivarium to every so often bathe him in luke warm water for about 5 minutes around shedding time to help with humidity levels :/ I have noticed it has helped him have more complete and successful sheds, but if bathing him is not the best way to continue getting this result I'll figure out something else.
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Re: Blaine keeps pooping on me :( help?
Quote:
Originally Posted by alittleFREE
I had one that would pass urates a lot when I held him. I think it just has to do with the handling kind of massaging it out of them, as gross as that sounds. Or maybe something to do with human body heat, too.
As for remedies, the only thing I can think of is to make sure that he has gone to the bathroom before you hold him. Like others have said, they don't go that often and because of that it should be somewhat easy to predict when they are likely to go, so maybe try to work handling time around that accordingly?
How long do you usually have him out for, and does he do it EVERY time? Does he ever poop IN his cage?
Its definitely not every single time, and he does go in his cage. But I guess its just, even if I get pooped on 3 times in a month, its still more than I'd like to have happen. Snake poo is quite smelly and a tough smell to get off of your clothes and couch. And more than I've noticed other snake owners :/
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Re: Blaine keeps pooping on me :( help?
We joke that Blaine's just so chilled out and relaxed that he feels comfortable pooping on me :P (but I know its really not that deep).
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Re: Blaine keeps pooping on me :( help?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Miss Brie
I don't leave him in for very long, and the water is not too warm.
Is this widely agreed among python owners though? not to bathe them? They told me at the vivarium to every so often bathe him in luke warm water for about 5 minutes around shedding time to help with humidity levels :/ I have noticed it has helped him have more complete and successful sheds, but if bathing him is not the best way to continue getting this result I'll figure out something else.
Yes, it's fairly common practice to NOT bathe snakes for no reason. Bathing before a shed actually is counter productive, as it removes all the essential oils under their skin that they are about to shed. Humidity issues in the enclosure should be corrected if humidity is an issue. Mine only get a bath if they smear poo everywhere or get blood on them from a rodent. It's not worth the stress to bathe them for no reason.
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This is kinda scary, with my last ball python I used to take him out, and watch movies with him laying on my stomach.... I never even saw him poop in the 12 years I had him, it would just show up in his cage lol.
It sucks you have such bad luck
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I had my ball poop all over me just the other day. Nothing like digested rat to clear the sinuses!
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Miss Brie
I did notice that the weeks that I gave him a bath, he tended to go in the bath and not on me. Maybe I should start bathing him more? (as it is, I do it maybe once a month, just to get off stray bits of skin and poo and pee)
Please don't bathe your bp. If he has been crawling through his poo, just use a non scented baby wipe to let him crawl through. Bathing strips them of their essential oils.
Sent from my ADR6350 using Tapatalk 2
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Re: Blaine keeps pooping on me :( help?
If i feel 'in danger' of getting pooped on i just keep Perry in a towel. I have only beed a portable toilet once but that was enough for sure! Silver lining to this would definitely be- At least you know he has a healthy digestive tract!!!! :D:D:D
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Thank you everyone for your input! I guess I just have bad luck, I'll try to be more careful :P And thanks for the note about using baby wipes, I'll have to go pick some up.
Just one of the many things they never tell you about snake ownership! Haha. Although I enjoy holding him, It can be quite soothing and almost therapeutic for me! I never would have thought that about holding a snake (when I got Blaine I was actually terrified of snakes! And he was scared of me! So when I was socializing him we'd both sit there frozen staring at each other). Thankfully that passed.... *insert passing/poop joke here*
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