another ball poop thread

[J.P.]

Hi guys. I hope it's ok starting a new thread on ball python poop.

After a lot of reading, i've come to the conclusion that my 460gram albino ball python has digestion issues. The three months i've had it, it pooped only once. Not a nice moist log like the rest of my collection, but a small dry and powdery piece. I see urates every week or so, and every single one is rock hard. I also remember it passing a lump of rat hair, also very dry as in zero moisture. I check twice daily, morning and night, so i'm sure all the excrement i'm seeing is fresh out of the albino.

The thing that i find weird is the other snakes are normal poopers, with every snake having the same diet and environment. All my snakes on the 300~500 gram range is on the same diet of 1 rat pup weekly or twice if the availabe rats are smaller, all but the albino poop once a week after eating. Also same temps, humidity, and substrate. Literally everything is the same, even the tubs and cage furniture.

It has shed twice since i had it, the first time there was that dried turd, the second there was not even a spec of urates.

I've tried the soaking technique, was not succesful so far.

Visually, i don't see any obvious bloating. I have palpated the belly several times and i cannot feel any hard lumps or signs of build up, but i'm not ruling out constipation or impaction simply because i have no experience on that.(i hope it stays that way).

i am inclined to suspect dehydration because of the dry excrement and lack of pee, though i've seen it drink on a couple.of occasions. Also the sheds are perfect and moist, which contradicts my theory on dehydration.

It appears i'm doing things right based on overall health of the rest of my collection. I only had the albino for three months so it could be the result of previous owner's husbandry. So i want to know what i have to change in order to make the albino digest normally. Should i continue what i know is right husbandry and wait with hope it pays off in the nenar future? Or be more agressive in trying to solve this as soon as possible? assuming it's just the way my albino is despite the ideal environment and feeding i provide, will that kind of digestion pose a serious risk? I've read a couple of threads on this topic but did not find any updated info on the snakes' condition getting better or worse.

I would appreciate your inputs. Especially those who have previously dealt with this issue. I would like to hear both success and failure as a reference.

TIA!

[J.P.]

I realize it's a long read. I just wanted to make sure evry info was available. Temps are lowest 75, highest 90. I don't use any heating devices because i'm in the tropics. Humidity is always above 50%, and i spray the enclosure to bump it up to around 70% when i see first signs of shedding. I feel temp and humidity isn't the issue because the rest of my snakes are fine and have been for years.

[J.P.]

Turns out i did not have to worry. This is what a 3 month's worth of snake poop looks like........my albino is down to 390grams after dropping the mother load.

[J.P.]

[Reptile Frenzy]

Good thing he passed it! If you ever have troubles with a constipated snake, soak it in warm water and that will help. You can tell a snake is constipated by looking by his poop chute and if that part of his body is swelled up and he looks like he has an itty bitty tail compared to his body then he is constipated.

- - - Updated - - -

Go od thing he passed it! If you ever have troubles with a constipated snake, soak it in warm water and that will help. You can tell a snake is constipated by looking by his poop chute and if that part of his body is swelled up and he looks like he has an itty bitty tail compared to his body then he is constipated

[Reptile Frenzy]

Good thing he passed it! If you ever have troubles with a constipated snake, soak it in warm water and that will help. You can tell a snake is constipated by looking by his poop chute and if that part of his body is swelled up and he looks like he has an itty bitty tail compared to his body then he is constipated.

- - - Updated - - -

Good thing he passed it! If you ever have troubles with a constipated snake, soak it in warm water and that will help. You can tell a snake is constipated by looking by his poop chute and if that part of his body is swelled up and he looks like he has an itty bitty tail compared to his body then he is constipated.