How often should they 'go'?

[Ivyna J Spyder]

Okay, I got my BP on around 6/15.

Since then he has eaten 6 adult mice and 1 jumbo mouse and gained over 100 grams. He has passed urates twice- once on 6/27 and again on 6/30. He shed on 7/10.

But he has not pooped ONCE. Could most of the weight he's gained just be a bunch of crap? I also really need him to go so I can get a sample to the vet to check for parasites.

Is this normal? I'm used to my lizards who go every few days or every day. The vet said to soak him in warm water every once in a while to get him to go, but he doesn't seem to like it. Should I just keep trying? Can I push a bit on his tummy near his tail to make him more likely to go? The vet tried that when I took him in to the vet on 6/23- the vet said he could tell he was close to going but couldn't get him to.

Also, he doesn't stay on the warm side as much as I'd expect. It's controlled with a Herpstat to be around 90-93 degrees and I triple-check the temps with a temp gun AND digital probe. It never gets over 92-93. The cool side is around 80. He only stays in the warm side hide like a day after eating, then goes to the cool side. (Each side has an identical hide.) One day of basking doesn't seem like enough time to digest a whole mouse. :\

[Samuel]

I don't know if this is a general rule .. or if I am just a little over protective, but I have heard that you should not feed your snake anything until it passes something from the last one. Mine I have had good luck with as by the time feeding day rolls around, he has already done his business.

If I were you I would be worried too. If the warm water soaks don't help, I would say make another appointment and see if the vet can do something this time.

[sho220]

What I do is clean their tubs. They always seem to go right after that.

[Samuel]

What I do is clean their tubs. They always seem to go right after that.

nice.

[dr del]

O.k,

First things first - breathe.

It's only been just over a month - how often are you feeding him to have gotten 7 meals into him incidently?

They can take a while between... er... "movements" and, while they normally go after a shed, it's not a golden rule.

I certainly wouldn't go as far as manually trying to make him poop yet. Keep trying the warm baths every now and again but also don't go overboard with those either - I would stick with once a week for about 30 minutes tops.

A good judge of how close they are to going is the shape of the body just before the vent - when I see that fill out so much their tail is almost sticking out off the ground it's time to get the new substrate ready.


dr del

[Ivyna J Spyder]

O.k,

First things first - breathe.

It's only been just over a month - how often are you feeding him to have gotten 7 meals into him incidently?

He was very underfed when I got him (2 years old and only 140 grams, yikes), so I've been feeding him every five to six days with the vet's approval.

You can see everything in detail at his page here: http://iherp.com/Public/Animals/View...?AnimalID=6232 (Yeah, one time he took two at a time he was so hungry, so it's really six meals and not seven- just seven mice total)


Thank you all for the reassurances! I'll try soaking a bit longer next time, but I think with my luck he's going to end up pooping on me in the rare times I handle him! (Also is he passing urates often enough though?)

[chetman7]

Mine bp just did that as well...he hasn't pooped in ~6 weeks. I feed hime one small adult rat a week.

He finally pooped yesterday and I have to say that it was massive. I actually took a picture of it cause I've never seen anything like this before since I've purchased him.

and it was real real stinky, I cleaned out the cage and it still stinks...I'm gonna have to break out the bleach

[Tosha_Mc]

If he was underfed prior to your getting him then it's likely his metabolisim has slowed down to use and store as much nutrients he can from his meals. Unless you see that he's got an obvious impaction (hung lump or bloating that wont go away) - I wouldn't worry about it just yet -- his body is adapting to the change in his routine. I'm also not a big advocate of the soak -- right now it's not really necessary and most balls don't care much for water and can become stressed if soaked. Clean and disinfect his cage and he's libel to crap all over it.

Good luck!