Ball Python Constipated?

[Dpayton11]

Can anyone help me with my ball python please? So she is like a year old almost. Shes been a problem feeder for the majority of that time. She ate fine the first 2 or 3 months. Then she would only eat every once in a while. And now she hasnt ate in about 2 months. Today I noticed her roaming her cage in the day time which is abnormal for her so I looked at her and she had something sticking out of her cloaca. I wasnt sure what it was but I put her in warm water and I kinda massaged it out. Ill attach a picture of what it was.. Can anyone tell me what it is? It seems like there is still something hard in her stomach but its farther up and I couldnt get it to move down... I was going to soak her in warm water later today and see if that does anything. I'm thinking this is why she hasnt ate in a while? Any advice or help would be appreciated.


https://imgur.com/a/i1M1nc6

[Bogertophis]

I think a "soak" (& swim, but only with your support in shallow water) is a good idea but keep in mind that what feels like mildly warm water to us (humans) will be too
hot for your snake. We're 98.6* so if it feels warm, the water is 100* or so...my point is, read the water temperature if you do this before stressing your snake further.
You want water to be about 86*. The glob in your photo appears to be some hard urates, & yes, they can cause a blockage or even a prolapse. A soak should help your
snake to get better hydrated (what humidity have you been keeping her at???) and the swimming motion can help her expel feces if she is backed up some. About 30
minutes should help, but you might have to repeat this daily, depending on the "outcome". Hoping you won't need a vet...but too soon to tell.

[Dpayton11]

I think a "soak" (& swim, but only with your support in shallow water) is a good idea but keep in mind that what feels like mildly warm water to us (humans) will be too
hot for your snake. We're 98.6* so if it feels warm, the water is 100* or so...my point is, read the water temperature if you do this before stressing your snake further.
You want water to be about 86*. The glob in your photo appears to be some hard urates, & yes, they can cause a blockage or even a prolapse. A soak should help your
snake to get better hydrated (what humidity have you been keeping her at???) and the swimming motion can help her expel feces if she is backed up some. About 30
minutes should help, but you might have to repeat this daily, depending on the "outcome". Hoping you won't need a vet...but too soon to tell.

I try to keep the humidity above 50.. Usually 55-60. I have to spray it down like once or twice a day. Hot side is like 85-86 and cool side is like 82. Ambient temp is like high 70s. But okay sounds good. Yeah i have a temp gun so I can make sure the water is good. This all started in the winter when I was having trouble keeping her humidty up because shes in a glass tank with screen top and I live in indiana. So she had a bad shed and stopped eating after that. But humidity has been fine since spring. But thanks for the advice man. Im hoping she doesn't need a vet either. Ill definitely do it if I have to but theres not very many good ones where im at.

[Stewart_Reptiles]

she hasnt ate in about 2 months.

What comes in must go out so if she does not eat, she won't have a bowel movement.

I looked at her and she had something sticking out of her cloaca.

This looks like urate which is a by product of urine.

While it can cause blockage in some cases when humidity is not where it should be or the animal is not well hydrated, the fact that your snake has not ate in 2 months is still the most likely reason why there has not been any bowel movement not to mention they go when they need to and 8 weeks is not uncommon.

[It seems like there is still something hard in her stomach but its farther up and I couldnt get it to move down

Based on your experience I would have someone experienced doing this, doing it too hard or two fast could create more issues.

I'm thinking this is why she hasnt ate in a while?

Unrelated.

[Dpayton11]

What comes in must go out so if she does not eat, she won't have a bowel movement.

This looks like urate which is a by product of urine.

While it can cause blockage in some cases when humidity is not where it should be or the animal is not well hydrated, the fact that your snake has not ate in 2 months is still the most likely reason why there has not been any bowel movement not to mention they go when they need to and 8 weeks is not uncommon.

Based on your experience I would have someone experienced doing this, doing it too hard or two fast could create more issues.

Unrelated.

Do you have any tips to get a snake to eat? Ive tried like everything. Ive tried frozen thawed which she has ate before...Ive tried live. Ive tried mice, rats, ASFs. Ive tried feeding in morning and night. Ive tried in enclosure and out. I dunno what else to do really. She still only weighs like 150 grams. But she was super small when I got her.. only like 30 something grams. She hasn't lost much weight really I weigh every week. And she doesn't look super skinny.

[Faith.luu]

I’d also up your hot side temps some more to about 88-90. Heat helps with digestion. I know that isn’t the case here, but it could possibly help with bowel movements and such(correct me if I am wrong, this is just a guess). Plus keeping it between 88-90 doesn’t hurt, and is safe.

I’d black out the cage 24/7 and only open it to do daily checks/sprays, and to handle as little as possible. I would also recommend placing her in a plastic tub. The length and width of the tub should be equivalent to the length of your snake. I usually recommend up to length of tub=length of snake, but I would try a smaller tub for now. Anything between that is fine, but try to go smaller.

Another thing with plastic tubs is that it is a lot easier to keep up humidity. For the meantime, while she’s in the tub, keep your humidity up to 65-70%. You don’t need to keep it up this high all the time, but sometimes it works, and 70% humidity is fine and safe. And make sure you have a hot side of 88-90.

While she’s in the tub, leave her alone for a week, completely black it out. Usually you can achieve this by placing a towel over top of the entire bin. She looks really small so I’m sure you’ll be able to cover her entire bin. Do your daily checks as needed. After that week is over attempt to feed her.

I feed frozen thawed because it’s easier, cheaper and safer. There’s a few methods to properly defrosting your rat/mouse and making it more appetizing so I’ll just input mine: I first fill a container with room temp water. After about 30-45 min, if the rat is still cold I’ll do the same thing. Once the rat feels squishy, maybe a little cold but not super, I’ll move into like warm water that’s about 26-27(76-78) degrees and let it sit in there for another 30 min. The rat should feel about room temp, and be squishy. I press my fingers against the skull for a few seconds to detect if it’s cold or not. If not then I place my rat in water temps about 34-35 degrees( not sure what that is in Fahrenheit). Leave it in there for about 5 min, and then offer it to my snake. If she doesn’t strike at it for a few minutes. I leave her alone, reheat the rat, and then about 10-15 minutes later I leave it outside of her hide overnight.

[Dpayton11]

I’d also up your hot side temps some more to about 88-90. Heat helps with digestion. I know that isn’t the case here, but it could possibly help with bowel movements and such(correct me if I am wrong, this is just a guess). Plus keeping it between 88-90 doesn’t hurt, and is safe.

I’d black out the cage 24/7 and only open it to do daily checks/sprays, and to handle as little as possible. I would also recommend placing her in a plastic tub. The length and width of the tub should be equivalent to the length of your snake. I usually recommend up to length of tub=length of snake, but I would try a smaller tub for now. Anything between that is fine, but try to go smaller.

Another thing with plastic tubs is that it is a lot easier to keep up humidity. For the meantime, while she’s in the tub, keep your humidity up to 65-70%. You don’t need to keep it up this high all the time, but sometimes it works, and 70% humidity is fine and safe. And make sure you have a hot side of 88-90.

While she’s in the tub, leave her alone for a week, completely black it out. Usually you can achieve this by placing a towel over top of the entire bin. She looks really small so I’m sure you’ll be able to cover her entire bin. Do your daily checks as needed. After that week is over attempt to feed her.

I feed frozen thawed because it’s easier, cheaper and safer. There’s a few methods to properly defrosting your rat/mouse and making it more appetizing so I’ll just input mine: I first fill a container with room temp water. After about 30-45 min, if the rat is still cold I’ll do the same thing. Once the rat feels squishy, maybe a little cold but not super, I’ll move into like warm water that’s about 26-27(76-78) degrees and let it sit in there for another 30 min. The rat should feel about room temp, and be squishy. I press my fingers against the skull for a few seconds to detect if it’s cold or not. If not then I place my rat in water temps about 34-35 degrees( not sure what that is in Fahrenheit). Leave it in there for about 5 min, and then offer it to my snake. If she doesn’t strike at it for a few minutes. I leave her alone, reheat the rat, and then about 10-15 minutes later I leave it outside of her hide overnight.

Ok, thanks for the advice. So could I take the plastic bin and drill holes in it and then put that inside of her tank? Cuz I would have to do that to be able to use my heat lamp. And then I could put a small towel over it inside of her tank. Then do I put anything inside of the small plastic bin? Like a water dish or substrate or anything? Sorry if that's a dumb question. And yeah I would have to mist like 3-4 times a day to get the humidity that high.

As for feeding yeah that is basically what I do as well. She doesn't ever strike at the rodent...So I always have to leave it in there with her. She used to eat it within like 15-20 mins. But now she wont touch it. Hopefully this will work. Im willing to try anything to get her to eat.

oh and yeah I agree about raising the temp. I already thought to do that earlier today to see if it would help her pass whatever is in there. so I raised it up like 4-5 degrees.

[christineho]

Ok, thanks for the advice. So could I take the plastic bin and drill holes in it and then put that inside of her tank? Cuz I would have to do that to be able to use my heat lamp. And then I could put a small towel over it inside of her tank. Then do I put anything inside of the small plastic bin? Like a water dish or substrate or anything? Sorry if that's a dumb question. And yeah I would have to mist like 3-4 times a day to get the humidity that high.

As for feeding yeah that is basically what I do as well. She doesn't ever strike at the rodent...So I always have to leave it in there with her. She used to eat it within like 15-20 mins. But now she wont touch it. Hopefully this will work. Im willing to try anything to get her to eat.

oh and yeah I agree about raising the temp. I already thought to do that earlier today to see if it would help her pass whatever is in there. so I raised it up like 4-5 degrees.

You could also just cover cardboard/vinyl in foil, cut out a hole for your CHE and use that to cover the screen to help with humidity.

[Faith.luu]

Ok, thanks for the advice. So could I take the plastic bin and drill holes in it and then put that inside of her tank? Cuz I would have to do that to be able to use my heat lamp. And then I could put a small towel over it inside of her tank. Then do I put anything inside of the small plastic bin? Like a water dish or substrate or anything? Sorry if that's a dumb question. And yeah I would have to mist like 3-4 times a day to get the humidity that high.

Drill about 10-20 holes on each side of the bin, they should be about 3-5mm. Make sure you have 2 hides, water bowl, and some enrichment inside of the bin. The same way you would set up her cage.

Because you have a CHE, you’ll have to cut off a portion of the lid for your lamp and use some kind of, heat resistant mesh material to cover up the hole. Attach the meth to the lid on the external side of the lid with either foil tape, electrical tape, or some kind of non toxic, heat resistant glue. When you set this up, the lamp should not be on top of the enclosure, but about 12 inches away from the bottom of the enclosure.

I would definitively recommend that you invest in a heat mat. Heat mats hardly affects your humidity and will provide proper heat for your bp. You will notice a HUGE difference with your humidity if you switch over. When I used a plastic bin and a heat mat, I misted about 1 or 2 times a week. I moved my snake over to a front opening tank, while using a heat mat and had to switch to forest floor and covered 3/4 of the screen lid and maintained 65% humidity. I added a CHE to my glass tank and now I have to use coco husk, sphagnum moss, and mist at least 4 times a day just to keep humidity to about 55-60%.

In terms of humidity inside the bin, you’ll probably only have to spray it once a day. If you need it to be higher you can easily place a damp towel inside the bin on the hot side. Just make sure to replace the towel every 5 or so days to reduce bacteria buildup. You could also change your substrate to coco husk or forest floor unless you are using that already.

[Stewart_Reptiles]

Do you have any tips to get a snake to eat? Ive tried like everything. Ive tried frozen thawed which she has ate before...Ive tried live. Ive tried mice, rats, ASFs. Ive tried feeding in morning and night. Ive tried in enclosure and out. I dunno what else to do really. She still only weighs like 150 grams. But she was super small when I got her.. only like 30 something grams. She hasn't lost much weight really I weigh every week. And she doesn't look super skinny.

At 150 grams those snakes are voracious if I had to guess husbandry is your issue,I wish you would have address the issue a bit sooner, 8 weeks with no food for an animal that size is not ideal it easily becomes a vicious circle of the less food they eat the less they want to eat.

Do this to a T https://ball-pythons.net/forums/show...-hatchling-101 and adjust the prey size to adult mouse.