ball python not pooping

[akma]

I have 2 ball pythons. My female poops pretty much next day after she eats. i bought her at 40 grams so i've been feeding every 3 or 4 days to fatten her up.

My male is the problem. I'm not sure if it's a problem or normal. I purchased him beginning of january, and he eat's whenever I feed my female, but he hasn't pooped once. Is this something I should be concerned about?

Thanks

[RobNJ]

I have 2 ball pythons. My female poops pretty much next day after she eats. i bought her at 40 grams so i've been feeding every 3 or 4 days to fatten her up.

My male is the problem. I'm not sure if it's a problem or normal. I purchased him beginning of january, and he eat's whenever I feed my female, but he hasn't pooped once. Is this something I should be concerned about?

Thanks

Can you see his tail end swelling up with what should be waste?

Could possibly be hard urates blocking his anus. You can try soaking him in warm water for a bit to try to loosen him up. Also possible to try to massage it out of him depending on your level of comfort doing that....I'd definitely try soaking him first.

[NH93]

I wouldn't worry about it too much. It's fairly common, I've heard, for ball python's to go irregularly and not on a schedule. I've had mine since September 2013 and I've only found solid poop about 3 times, but he passes urates weekly.

As long as urates are passing and you can see/find them, probably nothing to stress over. Some balls poop like clockwork, others once a season, and so on. Will also depend on their eating habits.
But, as RobNJ pointed out, soaking usually helps things along if you are super stressed.

Best of luck!

[satomi325]

No. Some snakes poop less. And a lot of ball pythons wait until they shed to poop. So I would wait for a shed, before taking any action.

[J.P.]

What satomi said. When you see signs of shed, you can soak him, this will help with the shedding and may encourage pooping.

[sho220]

others once a season

That would be one massive dump

[RobNJ]

Maybe I've just lucked out...I can't recall ever having an adult, let alone babies, that haven't pooped like clockwork when eating regulary.

Having dealt with a moderate sized sample of babies, I don't think I've ever had one go a month without defecating, so long as they were eating regularly. Eat, wait 4-6 days, poop, clean, eat has always been the routine, save for sheds, which really only addedban extra week between poops. The very few, maybe 4-5, that went for any prolonged period without going ended up with large, hard urates blocking them from doing so. A warm soak fixed a couple, and I distinctly remember two that I gently massaged the urates out of to clear the way for the massive build up that followed closely behind. I can't recall exactly how long these babies went without going, but I'd say in the 5-6 week range.

[akma]

Thanks for the heads up. I'll wait a bit more before I get worried. My female craps nonstop. Eats and 2 days later poop.

[ViperSRT3g]

He's probably saving up to leave you a great big present.

[DooLittle]

You just got him in January? So it hasn't been that long. I wouldn't worry. Some only go when they shed. So long as husbandry is correct, he'll go when he needs too. He could just be more thoroughly processing his meal than your female.