New Ball Python Peeing/diarrhea Help

[Medli]

So I got another ball python a week ago. The last few days she has had a diarrhea/urination mixture. I have been pretty worried about possible parasites and I'm thinking about collecting a fecal sample for my vet. She is still very new to her environment and I'm wondering if it could be caused by stress? She had a normal BM 2 days after I got her, I fed her the day after and then no BM or urination for 2 days, then she has peed with a small BM the last 3 days. Do you think I should wait and see if it is stress related or go straight to the vet.

She is kept in a tub enclosure with a heating pad, 2 hides, and a water dish. Warm side is approx 90-93 degrees and cold side is approx 75-80 degrees. The humidity is approx 60%. I have fed her 1 F/T rat pup since I got her but she was previously on live rat pups with the breeder.

Thanks for any comments/suggestions!

[JodanOrNoDan]

It will not hurt anything other than your wallet to go to the vet, however I have seen this in newly arrived animals before. I would wait a little while more and see if things firm up. Make sure you are keeping it on paper so you can see everything.

[Medli]

She's on blank newsprint so no worries on that! I called my vet and she told me to wait a few days because switching to F/T can sometimes cause some issues at first but if it continues then we'll get the test done.

[Medli]

Agh! I am so worried about this. I might just do the fecal sample sooner than my vet suggested just for the peace of mind. I unfortunately have had to keep my 2 snakes in the same room and I'm very afraid of contamination to my other snake.

[Medli]

Just an update, but she also went again this morning and it was solid! It almost seems as if she didn't digest her rat very well. I saw many clumps of fur in the sample. I know it was fully dethawed (actually warmer than room temp) but she did seem to hide on the cold side more when I first got her. I did get her some new hides and that seemed to fix that problem, but at the beginning of her digestion, she didn't really stay on the warm side. I am beginning to think that she just didn't properly digest her first F/T mice and that may be the cause of the issue. Either way, if any of her stool continues to look abnormal, it's going straight to the vet.

I'll continue to update this post in case anyone has any similar issues or concern.

Also, the culprit of this entire stinky mess (Bad picture of the day I took her home)


https://scontent-dft4-2.xx.fbcdn.net...2e&oe=59991B7B

[JodanOrNoDan]

Having a little hair in the stool is normal. It does not digest well if at all. I have also found teeth in stool.

[Medli]

That's so gross lol. I guess I've never inspected it closely.

[JodanOrNoDan]

That's so gross lol. I guess I've never inspected it closely.

LOL.Yup. But i have worked with animals most of my life and I have learned that you can tell a lot about the animals health by their poop. I can even tell when the smell is off. Really gross but a good skill to acquire if you work with a lot of animals or are a hunter.

[Medli]

She just passed another pile of hair. It barely had a poop smell but it was definitely just a clump of hair. I was starting to feel a little better about this whole ordeal but I'm still worrying about the frequency of how much she's using the bathroom. My snakes are scheduled to eat tonight and I really hope she eats (she's more stressed than I'd like because I've had to clean her cage twice a day).

[ballpythonsrock2]

When I first got my snake the same thing happened. It was stress. I got worried too and called a vet. He said it was more than likely stress. And when my snake started to trust me and realize I wasn't trying to kill him he was fine. I also think a feeder that has been thawed in water can soak up water and cause a more loose stool but that is just a guess because I started thawing mine by just laying it out for 3 to 4 hrs. rather than thawing in water I changed over because the water soaked ones seemed to cause wet stool in my opinion. But that was just my experience that happened a couple times. Might not have been due to the water. A couple times I sealed it up in a bag ( air tight ) and weighed it down. But ended up now just laying em out to thaw then using a heat lamp to finish.