Im looking for some advice about my ball python

[Kiley]

My ball python opens his cloaca a lot resulting in him getting Eco Earth in there, so I switched him to paper towel. I have a vet appointment scheduled for tomorrow. I think he's not eating and opening his cloaca because he wants to breed. He was born in 2017 and I've never bred him and don't plan to. However, isn't the breeding season over? If so why is he wanting to breed so bad? He is also getting thinner as he grows so it bothers me that he's off feed. He's very active at night, doesn't seem lethargic or anything. The last time he ate was four weeks ago and he normally only eats about once a month if I'm lucky. His poop and pee look normal to me. 90 hot spot via heat mat, cool at 79-80 and 77 at night. Humidity around 60-65%. He sheds perfectly. Anyone know what I could possibly do? I hope this vet can help me out but I wanted to talk to experienced people also. I'm just worried about him as he's pretty thin. 😔

[Jellybeans]

I really don't have any idea but please keep us posted with the vet says. I would love to know why he does that

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[PandaBurrr]

I would like to know why as well. This is something new to me.

[Bogertophis]

We're not even seeing the snake (like how "thin" he really is?) so this is best left to the vet...do let us know what he/she thinks the issue is. I can think of several
possibilities but don't want to speculate, especially since you're seeing the vet tomorrow anyway.

Though you think he should be eating more than once a month, if he's being fed med-to-large rats, that may be all he really needs to eat. I think most males
that eat more often than that are being fed small rats, & I believe that's the recommended prey size for male BPs. (the females eat more & get larger for breeding)

[Bogertophis]

The more I think about this, I have to wonder if he has either an infection or some bit of debris stuck* to his hemipenes or in his cloaca. *Assuming he was sexed
correctly too, this can (rarely) happen if they happen to evert their hemipenes & something sticks. Hope your vet visit goes well...

[Kiley]

Update: I went to the vet and the vet said he's a little thin but nothing to worry about. He said he looks healthy and to basically just keep doing the stuff I'm doing (husbandry wise). The thing that bothers me is that he felt for any obstructions but when I asked him if we can try to get the debris out of his cloaca region he said that that's not necessary. I asked what about infection and he said if there was infection it would be red and swollen around the cloaca region. But why not look? This guy really didn't want to. I was told he was experience with snakes but I doubt it. I'd like to try to get it out myself but I'm not sure how to and I don't want to hurt my boy!

[JodanOrNoDan]

Update: I went to the vet and the vet said he's a little thin but nothing to worry about. He said he looks healthy and to basically just keep doing the stuff I'm doing (husbandry wise). The thing that bothers me is that he felt for any obstructions but when I asked him if we can try to get the debris out of his cloaca region he said that that's not necessary. I asked what about infection and he said if there was infection it would be red and swollen around the cloaca region. But why not look? This guy really didn't want to. I was told he was experience with snakes but I doubt it. I'd like to try to get it out myself but I'm not sure how to and I don't want to hurt my boy!

Did he confirm that "he" is a "he"?

[Kiley]

Yeah I should've added pics. I'll try to upload photos when I get a chance to.

[Kiley]

No he didn't

[JodanOrNoDan]

No he didn't

Crappy vet most likely. That said there are not many good ones when it comes to snakes.