Poop Problem

[rfrenia]

So my blood had not gone number 2 since August and i was giving her the benefit of the doubt that she was just taking her time as most bloods do but after the new year and seeing a bulge form i said enough is enough and helped her work it out (as gently as possible). What came out was a nasty urate (as pictured below) and then the flood gates opened with more brown poo than i thought possible could fit in her. Im bothered that this happened and i want to know what i did wrong?? Her husbandry is right on, temps and humidity are spot on. Her last shed was good with a very large piece that was over half her body length. She eats like a charm and is the sweetest snake ever. Everything seems perfect but her pooping. From what i understand this is caused from lack of hydration?? She always has the freshest water (changed at least every other day) but i hardly see her drink, in fact she hates water all together (she hates bathing as well). Any ideas on how to help this?? Sorry for the page report but it frustrates me that my amazing little girl goes through this.

I used my gf's hand for scale (my gf is freaking awesome)

[hud556]

Maybe you have hard water? Try using filtered water, gallon jugs aren't expensive if you only have a few snakes. Other than that you could "swim'' her in a bathtub every now and again just to get her moving. Or maybe she just didn't want to go yet it's hard to say. Being sedentary ambush predators it's in their best interest not to poop all the time. Mine don't go any more than every four months or so and when I back off their food they take longer, but when they do it's a ton...

[mr.spooky]

i dont think that you did anything wrong. if your husbandry is good, and the temps and humidity is right, theres nothing more you can do except wait.
spooky

[rfrenia]

I didn't even think of the "hard water" but that would make sense! I try to swim her at least once every other week, do you think she needs more swim time? I will diffidently try some filter water for now on. Thanks!

[bwt501]

Welcome to the wonderful world of blood python cloacal discharge what you see is perfectly normal. Even though you may never see her drink, she certainly does and fresh water is key with these guys. It sounds as if your husbandry is on point, so just enjoy a snake that only leaves you a gift once in awhile

[jfmoore]

Hi,

It's not whether your water is hard or soft or neutral. It's not that they lead a sedentary lifestyle, whether in your home or in Sumatra . You've got a humidity problem. Or rather, a lack of humidity problem.

No, it is not normal for these snakes to go for four or more months blocked by large urate masses with ever-increasing fecal matter building up behind the urates. Well, it is all too often normal in captivity, but that is due to our failure to provide conditions that come anywhere close to mimicking what these pythons experience in their native habitats.

According to your earlier posts, you've got this animal in a screen-topped aquarium with overhead lighting/heating. It's darn-near impossible to provide decent humidity for blood pythons in a set up like this, especially during cold weather when the air in our own homes is desert-like in moisture content.

Under ideal conditions, your young blood python would be passing urates and defecating as often as every 2 or 3 weeks if you were feeding it regularly. Want proof of this? Go get an appropriately-sized plastic sweater box with lid to use as a cage; burn or poke just a couple of small holes on two sides of the box; lay down some newspapers inside; put in a large water bowl; heat the cage properly; insert snake; make sure at least part of the substrate is damp; feed snake. Not only will it eliminate every few weeks, its sheds will come off easily and in one piece.

But most of us don't want to maintain our blood pythons like this, so we try to devise compromises which look nice or at least allow us to view the animals more easily than having them shut up in an opaque plastic box. Just understand: it's US, not them, who are responsible for their difficulties in passing waste normally or shedding without assistance.

P.S., I've made every mistake imaginable with blood pythons over the decades, so I know whereof I speak. At present, I've got animals that range in age from 4 months to 19 years old, all of which I bred and hatched. If it's any consolation, the "pooping problem" lessens with the adults, who somehow seem to tolerate less-than-ideal conditions better.

Good Luck!