Here are signs, symptoms, causes, and methods to treat constipation in ball pythons. These are cute pets and you have to maintain their diet schedule for their health.

Can Ball Pythons Get Constipated? Yes, ball pythons get constipated. It can occur due to inner abnormalities such as slow digestion, consuming improper food, and changes in the living temperature. Pooping color and timing indicates their good or bad health.

Can Ball Pythons Get Constipated?

If your snake does not pass stool regularly or break their pooping schedule, there might be external or internal factors that lead to constipation.

This article will thoroughly discuss the exact causes, symptoms, food that cause constipation, and treatment to fix this problem.

How often do ball pythons poop?

Before finding the causes of kinks, you should know about the right time of pooping. They are different and large from other snakes; that’s why their pooping time differs most. Usually, animals poop two or three times a day but snakes poop almost 7 to 10 days after taking food.

Time exceeds 10 days due to its size and environment. Snakes have a healthy digestion system, and they can store waste for a long time after eating.

If your snake does not poop after two weeks of eating, there is an apparent reason behind this. Their pooping color is brown to dark brown, yellowish, or white urates, these colors considering they are constipated. You may notice that your snake is farting.

Signs and symptoms of constipation in snakes

You need to check or notice regularly what sudden changes develop and try to know about the causes and meaning of those symptoms and signs. Some signs and indicators tell you there if something went wrong. 

• Lethargy or loss of appetite or eating less food.
• In some snake blue, a seemingly aching spot occurs in the tummy. You can see this spot if the its skin is clear.
• If it has not passed stool for a long time about 3 or 4 months. They also do not stool after or during shedding.
• Their poop is grayish and darker in color and hard after a long time of pooping. The sudden changes in droppings such as a looser or harder and change color signify illness or a digestion problem.
• You might be notice hardening or swelling near the cloaca; it will disappear after the snake has pooped.
• Abnormal urine or feces.
• Rubbed skin.
• Vomiting. 
• They get irritated and get uncomfortable and painful when holding.
• The active and sharp ball pythons become sluggish and lethargic. 
• Low movement of bowel for various weeks.

Causes

Improper cage temperature: Providing the right temperature is most important for them to digest it. Persistent cold temperatures cause constipation, loss of hunger, regurgitation, and other health problems. Their tank temperature should 30.5-34.4

Celsius on the hot side, but it should reach 24.4-27.7 Celsius at low temperatures. It does not matter what type of snakes you have or what kind of heating expenditure you did. You can use a heat lamp for snakes.

Make sure you should not change cage temperature suddenly. Keep a thermometer on at night and should be allied to the thermostat. 

Due to winter: In the winter season, their digestive system slows down. Sometimes they eat after a long time; that’s why they do not poop.

Mostly caught wild snakes keep in a more relaxed place, and they do not poop even for a few months. Heating is necessary for them to live healthy and safe. Living in hot weather helps them eat regularly, and it also aids them in getting rid of this. You can use coconut fibers for corn snakes.

Holding them after eating: It occurs when you handle them quickly after eating. You should not grasp him at least 3 to 4 days after consumption.

Frequently handling it after eating will distract its assimilation process and cause regurgitation or spewing and cause stress. Most fuchsia hides for a few days after eating for digesting.

Stress and uncomfortable: Like all human beings, snakes get constipated or have digestion problems due to stress. They go through the problem of not stooling.

You should keep them in a perfect tank, proper temperature, and provide them good meal to make them feel comfortable and safe. To save from stress, you should locate the tank in a loud and bright area and grasping too often.

Make two or three hides in his cage; these hides should have one entrance and snug or tight. This will make them happy, contented, and comfortable.

Old age: Their digestion system also depends on their age. Some older snakes not only consume less amount but also have a low metabolic rate.

If your fuchsia is more than 15 to 20 years old, he may poop or eat less than before. Their metabolic rate also decreases with their passing age.

It does not mean that only older snakes experience this, but some baby snakes can also have a sluggish metabolism. There are no vegetarians snakes, so never feed them vegetables and fruits.

Dehydration: The other main reason for contraction is dehydration or low humidity. If they are living in the low humidity area, they may develop the problem of absorbing and stiffness.

The snakes usually require 55 to 70% hydration level and even need 80% when molting. You should place the freshwater in the tank every time. Inadequate humidity cause dry stool, slow digestion, and wrinkly skin. 

How often they eat?

It depends on how much they eat and how often they consume. Prey size decides the pooping schedule; when your python does not eat for a long time, it will not stool regularly. Therefore enlarging the stooling period not only cause by convulsion.

If they are eating large-sized rats or mice, they stool sooner, and their stool might be considerable. Make sure you are not giving them small prey size items or underfeeding them. You should calculate its weight with the prey rodent weight that you are providing.

List of foods that cause constipation in Ball Pythons

The changes in food develop inner changes like not pooping or hard pooping or contraction. 

• Whole kernel corn
• Blueberries 
• Fig seeds
• Whole berries
• Whole grapes
• Whole peas
• Sand and rocks, they eat accidentally while they attack prey.
• Rough fodder.

Treatment

Give them a hot bath: Take a shallow tub, fill it with lukewarm water, should not scalding warm that might burn their skin. Keep the snake in this water.

The water should hot more than 70° degrees Fahrenheit and should below 90° degrees Fahrenheit. Soak for 15 to 20 minutes.

The warm water helps to soften any urates or fecolith, will allow the urates to discharge smoothly. The warm bathing also helps the pet to be relaxed, easy, and comfortable.

Rub the tummy area: When your snake is soaking in the warm water, gently rub or massage the tummy for 5 to 10 minutes.

You should start massaging from its sternum to cloaca. When water gets cold, rewarm it. This simple method helps your pet to the stool in a day.

Stop overfeeding: You should not overfeed your snake because it may cause to increase in digestive problems, contraction, and obesity.

They only need a medium-sized rat once a week. You should provide them smaller prey; it will digest more quickly and easily.

Marinate the food: The other treatment is to marinate the food in warm. Water before providing them.

This method prevents dehydration and provides excess humidity. Keep it in your mind that some pet snakes can be picky about consuming wet prey. So it does not work for all types of snakes.

Give the more freshwater: To keep your pet hydrated, you should place the freshwater pot in his cage, change this water regularly. 

Change the food: Food plays a vital role in internal or external body functioning. You should also change the substrates.

You should offer them cypress mulch and coconut fiber to keep a higher dampness level. These are better than aspen shavings and sand.

Team – Snakeauthority.com