jungle python wont poo....

[1jungle-sash]

have had her for couple of years, she always poops 10-14 days after eating. she not due for shed. i start to cool her around this time every year but have held off due to no poop. nothing has changed, heat and humidity the same, the only change is much cooler nights recently... can i feed her again? should i still start the cooling anyway? she is fine with handling so have given her a little massage that she loves anyway... also, how can i tell her age? she 2.5 metres.

 

[bdav70]

how long has it been between poops? noting an earlier thread centred around a juvenile a while back the general consensus was that if nothing has changed then it perhaps wasn't anything to be alarmed by and will poop when it's ready, probably not bad advice for the timebeing... What are you feeding her?

 

[1jungle-sash]

Been 4 weeks!!! Felt some serious gurgling today during massage. She is completely normal behaviour otherwise. Concerned as it's the very first time she has done anything out of character. She is so predictable. I feed her extra large rat approx every 3 weeks when she tells me and starts hunting. Got her as a rescue and have followed the specific guidelines from a breeder consistently. Had her two years now and was told she maybe around 7 when I got her.

 

[cagey]

Some snakes do not defecate when going into shed and then do it as part of the shedding process. Is she showing signs of shedding?

 

[Chris1]

Unless your snake is trying to poo and unable to pass anything theres probably no point in bothering her.

My female diamond has been constipated twice in the 7 years ive had her, (shes about 12) and both times she had a hard almost golf ball sized lump 8-10cms before her vent, she hissed when i touched her and seemed generally uncomfortable. While trying to gently break up her clump and administering fluids she tried several times to go in the first hour and managed to pass a small amount of urates each time, but couldnt budge the lump.

You will know if your snake is seriously constipated.

(there was a happy ending, after 2 hours of fluids, exercise and moving one side of the golf ball forwards and the other half backwards to break up the bottleneck effect she passed 3 HUGE rock hard logs over 3 attempts, followed by normal soft poo)

If there doesnt seem to be an obstruction, id follow the normal feeding schedule.

 

[1jungle-sash]

Thanks for your replies and wisdom. She still no poop but is fine.

 

[Ramy]

Don't cool her if you think she's due to poop - that can lead to constipation. Feel her body near the cloaca for any hard lumps - as Chris1 said, if she's straining and can't pass anything that's cause for concern. If you can feel any hard lumps, it could be the beginning of a problem. If you're really concerned give her a luke warm bath - around normal enclosure temperatures I aim for 32 degrees- for 10 minutes.

That said, I've had snakes wait up to 6 weeks to poop, especially once the weather cools or if they shed in that time. I've only had 1 instance of constipation, and you can tell by feeling them if there's a problem.