Smelly Poop after Regurgitation

Hi, I hAve a male ball python that I fed a rat about a month and a half ago. I handled him the next day forgetting that I had fed him And he regurgitated. I had recently acquired him so that was the first time feeding him. About a week later he accepted another rat . But ever since then his poops have been kind of mushy pasty all over the place type and very very smelly. He’s a very aggressive eater . Could this be parasites or perhaps still recovering from the regurgitation (which smelled extra bad)

First off, do you have pictures? I am not saying that you are but some people over exaggerate or dont truly fess up to how bad a snakes bowl movements are or the overall health. It could be a variety of factors which may include parasites, stress, and possibly even the food being bad. I recommend assessing everything from enclosure to diet as well as the snake to see if you notice anything unusual. I hope this at least somewhat helps but if not then I know that @stewart_reptiles can give her two cents on the matter since she is a veteran in snake keeping.

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If your snake has diarrhea, find a vet that treats ball pythons and arrange to bring the snake and the next poop in for testing. Keeping him on paper in the meantime will help you with finding and collecting the poop for the vet.

Most likely this is parasites, maybe bacterial infection, but it’s definitely a health issue of some kind if you’re seeing runny puddles of poop. You need a vet to find what specific thing is causing it so you can start the right specific treatment.

Hope he gets better soon!

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The best thing to do in these cases is a taste test. Is there an especially acidic flavor?

You may need multiple attempts to figure out what’s wrong. Good luck!

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Well let’s face it bowel movement do not smell like roses so it’s always hard to define what is normal what is not based on one’s sensitivity.

The mushy aspect can have to do with what you are feeding (smaller the prey with less hair = less binding = more mushy)

Like I always say when in doubt a quick fecal exam never hurts to rule out any possible issue.

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I’ll keep an eye for next bowel. I have more ball pythons in same setup and they’re going great. So this one definitely stands out. I have a feeling it may be due to the regurgitation since I read that it messes with the good bacteria’s etc in their stomach. But if it happens one more time I’ll take to vet to rule out anything bad. Thank you all so much for your help!

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Are they cohabitating? If so, you should definitely house the one that regurgitated separately for the time being in case he’s sick. You wouldn’t want him/her to spread whatever they have to the others

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I opened the tub a few days ago right after one of mine went,. I would say it was softer than firm being so fresh. It was as awkward as it sounds.

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It sounds like they didn’t quarantine them either. Cohabitating them can lead to stress, which then can lead to them getting sick so who knows what that will cause. Cohabitation should only be done by those experienced with a species, and even then it has risks. Best not to do it at all if you want to be safe.

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No they’re in a rack system. Separated . I have a feeling he’s recovering from the regurgitation. I read that it could really mess them up. :pensive:

After a regurgitation it is best to give them 2 weeks at least to recover before feeding again. Did you quarantine your new snake away from all your others for a month?

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