Question on BM of 8 month snake.

Hey Everyone!

Just a quick question about my snake, and I'm hoping that its just me being a worry wort. Is it unusual for an 8 month old snake to go 3 weeks without defecating? My snake has up until now been defecating weekly, other than when he sheds. However he last defecated on 3/7/21, but he fed normally on 3/15 and 3/22, and has overall shown no outward signs of constipation or impaction. I also checked him over and I didn't notice any hard spots on his stomach.

What kind of snake? What's his weight? What is he eating? Type of prey (mouse or rat, etc) and size of prey (in weight or general age - weaned, small, adult, etc.).

If he's a Ball Python, they can go a while between BM's especially as they get older and are eating less frequently and smaller proportionally sized meals.

It also depends on food intake and what type of food and size relative to the BP.

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Originally Posted by Eltharion

Hey Everyone!

Just a quick question about my snake, and I'm hoping that its just me being a worry wort. Is it unusual for an 8 month old snake to go 3 weeks without defecating? My snake has up until now been defecating weekly, other than when he sheds. However he last defecated on 3/7/21, but he fed normally on 3/15 and 3/22, and has overall shown no outward signs of constipation or impaction. I also checked him over and I didn't notice any hard spots on his stomach.

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Snakes have evolved to conserve energy (ie. not eat constantly) by relying on the environment for warmth, & to conserve water, by not defecating all the time & by expelling semi-solid urates rather than liquid. I assume this is a BP, since it's posted under "BP husbandry", so in all likelihood, this is normal. Also keep in mind that young snakes are typically consuming younger prey (mice or rats) which are mostly digestible, meaning there's very little left over as waste. So snakes may sometimes take a while before they "go"- it's not at all like once per meal or even once per week- they simply go when enough waste builds up to bother with. So yeah, you're probably being a "worry wart"-:D And you'll fit right in here too.;)

He is a BP, his last weigh (3/13) in he was 493g, and his last feeding (3/22) he ate 2 rat pups that weighed 46g together, the time before that was 3/8 and he ate 2 rat pups then as well with a total weight of 45g.

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ah okay that makes sense. i'd rather be a worry wart than not pay attention and something happens. :)

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Originally Posted by Eltharion

... i'd rather be a worry wart than not pay attention and something happens. :)

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Exactly- :gj:

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Originally Posted by Eltharion

He is a BP, his last weigh (3/13) in he was 493g, and his last feeding (3/22) he ate 2 rat pups that weighed 46g together, the time before that was 3/8 and he ate 2 rat pups then as well with a total weight of 45g.

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ah okay that makes sense. i'd rather be a worry wart than not pay attention and something happens. :)

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You should be feeding one appropriately sized prey item, not two smaller items. They are harder to digest.

See the chart below of what size prey you should be feeding.

At his weight, he should get one weaned rat up to every 7 days (10 is fine). Soon, he can be on small rats (but I would move to every 10-14 days on that schedule). Never feed more than every 7 days.

https://ball-pythons.net/gallery/fil...ding_chart.jpg

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Originally Posted by dakski

You should be feeding one appropriately sized prey item, not two smaller items. They are harder to digest.

See the chart below of what size prey you should be feeding.

At his weight, he should get one weaned rat up to every 7 days (10 is fine). Soon, he can be on small rats (but I would move to every 10-14 days on that schedule). Never feed more than every 7 days.

https://ball-pythons.net/gallery/fil...ding_chart.jpg

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I was going to ask if there's a reason you're doing two rat pups instead of just a weaned. Like Dakski said, I would move him up. My BP is about 417ish grams and has a weaned rat every 7 days except when he's in shed.

That being said, I sometimes see him have a bowel movement once every 1-2 weeks. Now this is different than when he was on fuzzy rats, and even different than when he was on pups. As Bogertophis said younger rats are more digestible so when he was smaller I saw a BM maybe every third or fourth feeding.

I don't think you have anything to worry about, but as suggested I'd up his prey size to one appropriately sized item vs multiples.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by dakski

You should be feeding one appropriately sized prey item, not two smaller items. They are harder to digest.

See the chart below of what size prey you should be feeding.

At his weight, he should get one weaned rat up to every 7 days (10 is fine). Soon, he can be on small rats (but I would move to every 10-14 days on that schedule). Never feed more than every 7 days.

https://ball-pythons.net/gallery/fil...ding_chart.jpg

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Might be trying to use his last few pups before his next order. Also I'm not sure their is proof that one vs two is easier to digest. I had heard one was better because some might not even attempt to eat a second.

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So I just weighed him today and he's sitting at 515g, I'm getting ready to order from rodent pro currently, should I just go with the small rats? They say they ranged from 45 to 89.99g so im just trying to make sure I don't get a bunch of them that are too big.

This is exactly what I was doing ^_^