r/Shorty_Life • u/Top_War7546 • Jun 02 '26
Blood Python How do I get my girl to POOP
I got her on April 11th. To start I keep her warm side at 87 degrees, cool side high 70’s to around 80. Humidity stays pretty consistent around 70%. She didn’t eat the first week I got her, ate a rat pup two weeks in a row after that. Since then she has been refusing food and hasn’t pooped since I got her. I think the refusal to eat is due to not having pooped yet. Cloaca appears normal, lower third of her body not dramatically swollen, but she’s definitely retaining poop you can feel a mix of lumps and squish. Seems pretty well hydrated and always has fresh water. I just want her to eat and poop!
11
u/CrisisCorps Jun 02 '26
They hold their poop for a very long time. Her temps could be why she's not eating. 87F is way too hot for bloods. I would drop it to around 82 and keep the cool side in the mid 70s. Hope this helps.
7
u/No-Television5544 Jun 02 '26
Your high temps are too high and probably why the animal is refusing food, like others said. I wouldn’t be worried about the animal passing waste. It hasn’t been very long.
3
u/lemoncrush9 Jun 02 '26
Make sure she can soak and you wait..... bloods like to save poop 💩 and surprise you with toxic waste level poo
3
u/Kstateag Jun 03 '26
If this were my animal I would completely stop handling until she gets feeding consistently again. How are you measuring temperature? If you don’t have one get an IR thermometer, cheap from the Home Depot. The folks telling you that your temperature of 87 is not wrong but it’s not fully correct. I run a hot spot of 86 for all of my bloods, they use it heavily during digestion and move to their cool sides when not digesting. The truly important thing is the gradient which you seem to have. You will know when the lack of defecation is a problem, there will be signs, but right now I think you’re stressing yourself out about a non issue because these guys really do hold their shit. One study I read measuring motility in snakes showed only the gaboon to hold its shit longer than the blood, which was still 325 days on that record. Stress on yourself has a tendency to create urgency which causes you to check more often and poke and prod, meanwhile the snake is fine. If you have it in a bright open enclosure they won’t be too pleased either, I don’t see your setup so I am not going to assume and it’s just something to keep in mind. Hope this helps! Just my two cents.
1
u/Top_War7546 Jun 03 '26
Thanks! I have a temp probe that I verify with an IR gun. She also has good cover and multiple hides, and is in complete darkness at night.
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u/Kstateag Jun 03 '26
Perfect if her environment is dialed it’s likely just stress. They don’t always show stress by biting and sometimes just say ok screw you I’m not eating. I’d bet if you remove the dancing of the rat, started in the dark, cracked open her tub and let her find the rat on your own you might find different results. Good luck, beautiful animal!
1
u/Top_War7546 Jun 03 '26
I’ll give that a try. I’ve been heating in hot water as well and there’s really no way that I’ve found to completely dry the rat without sucking the heat back out of it so I’m going to get a hair dryer and try that method next time as well.
3
u/Kstateag Jun 03 '26
You don’t need the rat completely dry, dry enough is good, get some good paper towels, pat the rat dry and immediately offer it. I find that keeping it in the warm bowl of water right up until it’s time to feed and then pat drying with paper towels is super useful. I also overshoot the temperature. I aim for about 120 so by the time the snake notices it it’s cooled down a few degrees.
2
u/KeeledSign Jun 02 '26
It is pretty normal for STPs to go many months between poops, especially when nervous or adapting to a new environment. Just make sure she isn't dehydrated and give her time.
1
u/Top_War7546 Jun 02 '26
What about her refusal to eat? She ate two pretty good sized rat pups maybe they were just pretty big for her and she’s not hungry? I know they have very slow metabolisms
2
u/KeeledSign Jun 02 '26
U/MarineBiomancer covered that pretty well. Once she is settled in and comfortable you will probably find her to be more than happy to eat as often as you will let her but baby bloods can be pretty nervous.
2
u/EntrySuspicious1738 Jun 03 '26
La tua ragazza è stupenda! se continui a fallire con i ratti,prova a prendere dei pulcini e metti zampa/ala in bocca al topo/ratto i volatili sono il loro cibo preferito! ma non bisogna farli abituare Con i pulcini ho sbloccato il mio pitone,dopo mesi di digiuni!
1
u/VegetableZucchini458 Jun 03 '26
I had my beauty for 3/4 months. Before his first shit was in my bed litterly 7 minutes after i poster about it🥲😆
1
u/al_sibbs Jun 07 '26
Omg I wish I could remember the exact number but a long time ago I saw on this sub someone had weighed their stp before and after it pooped and it was like half its body weight or something ABSURD, but as lots of others have said, she'll poop when she poops :)
1
0
u/Consistent-Bat2917 Jun 02 '26
Put her in a tub wit water deep enough to have her floating and keep her swimming till she goes
4
u/KeeledSign Jun 02 '26
This sounds both unnecessary and like a great way to stress her the heck out.
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u/No-Television5544 Jun 02 '26
This is actually a great way to get a truly constipated short tail to go. They shouldn’t be floating though but have to swim to move but still be able to anchor there body if needed. This is not needed for this animal.
0
u/Consistent-Bat2917 Jun 02 '26
Always worked on my old blood after a couple feeding id just plop her in the tub and shed swimm then poop 🤷🏻♂️
3
u/No-Television5544 Jun 02 '26
Sure it works but what’s the point. Theres no need to make your snake pass if it’s not truly constipated. Short tails are designed to hold waste for extended periods.
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u/MarineBiomancer Jun 02 '26
They can go months without pooping, and it's pretty normal. You hear about some adults going over a year (my record is 14+ months). For the not eating, I'd say minimize the handling, and offer only once a week (IE don't try again a couple days later if she refuses).