Questions to Digest

[KingWheatley]

Wheatley is doing absolutely great now! He's getting big quickly, had a successful shed, eats very well.

I have him on a current routine of every 5 days he gets a large mouse. He always has fresh water.

about a day after eating, once a day for three days he will pass urates, and the third day usually follows a poop. His urates are a healthy white, and his poop a healthy brown. This was routine, basically.

He refuses to use his tank as a bathroom. I had to work a lot one day and he made a small mess in his cage. He did not want anything to do with me for all of the next day, even after I cleaned his tank. He'd slink back to his strike position as if I startled him and smack me with his body. He did this only for a day, until after he passed another, this time out of his tank.

He and I are still getting used to each other. I'm beginning to be able to read him rather well now, although he catches me by surprise sometimes.

So today, was his usual day to poop. I wait for him to do this before feeding him, so typically this happens the day before he feeds. I had a 16 hour shift, and when I got home finally, he was in one of his hides. He came out a bit to see who was out there, but after figuring out it was me, he pulled back into his hide faster than a turtle does its shell.

I started checking his tank, looking for fecal matter, and couldn't find any. In the meantime, Wheatley is wound up, taking a semi-aggressive stance, which is abnormal for him. He's normally very calm. Hardly ever freaks out unless I manage to startle him, and that usually doesn't take long for him to recover from. He's usually a sweety. So I figure he REALLY needs to go. I pick him up gently, being careful not to startle him, and put him on a paper towel. After he calmed down, he pooped, I cleaned him up, and is currently cruising around in hunting mode.

Is it normal for a Ball Python to refuse to relieve him/herself in their tank? Not that I'm complaining, but I feel I might be spoiling him a bit. I'm a bit worried that he will retain it for too long and force himself into constipation.
Additionally, I want to know when to start spacing his food out from 5 days to 7 days.

if he is going into food mode right after a poop on the fifth day, I see no issue with feeding him. However, I don't know if this is just a routine he's used to which means I could still be overfeeding him, or if he's actually hungry.

[xenasculee]

When it comes to spoiling, I feel like I might be the worst. So I don't think that's the problem. If she's going while you hold her, maybe it's a temperature thing...? I'm not sure. I've not had this problem with mine. Sometimes mine will go in the water dish/pond. Is the poop normal?

[voodoolamb]

I'd imagine that pooping outside the enclosure is more a direct result of the handling to take him out of the enclosure than anything else.

Snakes aren't going to hold it so long they become uncomfortable.

[Seven-Thirty]

Your ball python will poop when it wants to poop. If it's pooping only when you handle/taking him out of his tank, that's a sign to stop handling. One of my snakes poops, on average, once a month and still eats consistently. A large mouse is probably too small for him as well. Ball pythons can eat live hopper mice straight out of the egg on average and mice aren't that nutritious compared to rats. They're sort of like candy for a ball python. Your ball python is, if I recall, way past being a hatchling and could probably handle eating rat pups or weans at this point.

[Eric Alan]

Is it normal for a Ball Python to refuse to relieve him/herself in their tank? Not that I'm complaining, but I feel I might be spoiling him a bit. I'm a bit worried that he will retain it for too long and force himself into constipation.
Additionally, I want to know when to start spacing his food out from 5 days to 7 days.

if he is going into food mode right after a poop on the fifth day, I see no issue with feeding him. However, I don't know if this is just a routine he's used to which means I could still be overfeeding him, or if he's actually hungry.

To answer your question, no - not normal. It is normal, though, for new keepers to think they should relieve themselves on a schedule. Animals will relieve themselves in stressful situations. All of the signs you're pointing out could be his way of saying "that's too much for me right now".

If I were you, I'd basically ignore his bathroom habits and how they relate to his feeding schedule. BP metabolism is completely different than our own and if you try to anthropomorphize him, you'll end up getting frustrated. In short, he'll go when he needs to.

Feed him an appropriately sized meal every 4-5 days until he's big enough for small rats. Then you can back down to every 7 days. When he's being fed the right amount of food at the right time, he'll go the right amount. Simple as that.

[KingWheatley]

To answer your question, no - not normal. It is normal, though, for new keepers to think they should relieve themselves on a schedule. Animals will relieve themselves in stressful situations. All of the signs you're pointing out could be his way of saying "that's too much for me right now".

If I were you, I'd basically ignore his bathroom habits and how they relate to his feeding schedule. BP metabolism is completely different than our own and if you try to anthropomorphize him, you'll end up getting frustrated. In short, he'll go when he needs to.

Feed him an appropriately sized meal every 4-5 days until he's big enough for small rats. Then you can back down to every 7 days. When he's being fed the right amount of food at the right time, he'll go the right amount. Simple as that.

i was watching a YT called 1softkiss and some of the stuff she was saying made sense. She takes her snakes outside to go to the bathroom and she seems to read them very well. One of the things she does is wait until they poop to feed them, because getting backed up will kill them.

hes not quite big enough for the "small" rats they have at PetsMart. The large mice were Ok'd by the vet I took him to. Said for his weight it's perfect for now. (He's in good health) I'm nervous though about the rats because they smell different. If he doesn't take well to rats, is ok to feed mice? Or is it one of those things I might have to consider assist feeding rats at a certain stage?

[KingWheatley]

Your ball python will poop when it wants to poop. If it's pooping only when you handle/taking him out of his tank, that's a sign to stop handling. One of my snakes poops, on average, once a month and still eats consistently. A large mouse is probably too small for him as well. Ball pythons can eat live hopper mice straight out of the egg on average and mice aren't that nutritious compared to rats. They're sort of like candy for a ball python. Your ball python is, if I recall, way past being a hatchling and could probably handle eating rat pups or weans at this point.

He is not showing any signs of stress. As a matter of fact, after he poops he wants to explore for a bit and after he's done doing that he comes up to me, finds a warm spot and falls asleep. He does not show any signs of fear, and there are ample places for him to hide if he was searching for a place to hide.

I appreciate that you are looking out for my snake for me but I promise I spend a lot of quality time with my pet and it's actually quite fine. He is doing very VERY well, is in good health, and is not stressed at all.

[Seven-Thirty]

He is not showing any signs of stress. As a matter of fact, after he poops he wants to explore for a bit and after he's done doing that he comes up to me, finds a warm spot and falls asleep. He does not show any signs of fear, and there are ample places for him to hide if he was searching for a place to hide.

I appreciate that you are looking out for my snake for me but I promise I spend a lot of quality time with my pet and it's actually quite fine. He is doing very VERY well, is in good health, and is not stressed at all.

What you are describing in the first post is a sign of stress. Please listen to the people who are telling you so.

[Stewart_Reptiles]

First a lot of antropomorphism here in this thread.

BP do not go on schedule they go when they need too, it can be once a week, or once a month or every other month it varies on the individual and has no incidence on whether the animal can eat or not.

BP are VERY efficient whatever is not used as fuel or for growth is eliminated it's that simple, there is no avoiding doing it in it's tank just like there is no "not wanting anything to do with you".

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[KingWheatley]

What you are describing in the first post is a sign of stress. Please listen to the people who are telling you so.

So, because he doesn't show any other sign of stress, the fact he is pooping in one certain location at one certain time and refuses to mess his tank is a sign of stress?