explosive direrea ( sp. )

[Akureyri]

ok well i was sitting here at the come and i heard keisho my male normal ball python deficate. what could cause this and is it something i should be worried about???

[SoundUnsleep]

How old is your BP and what are you feeding?

	Ball Python The Ball Python (Python regius), also known as the Royal Python, is a ground dwelling snake native to the savannahs and rain forests in western Africa, predominatly the countries of Ghana, Togo, and Benin.

[Akureyri]

he is approximately 10months - 1 year. i bought him 07/09/06
i feed him 1 live md. rat once every 2 weeks. he seems to eat them just fine. has never turned down a meal until this last feed attempt 02/23/07. also to add to this i am fighting a small mite problem and they seem to be almost all gone.

	Mites Mites, close relatives of fleas and ticks

[MAG_Pythons]

feeding live has probably caused internal parasites - you'll have to take him to the vet and get him dewormed

[SoundUnsleep]

First of all, I would try to get him on frozen/thawed (f/t) as soon as possible. You are seriously risking to loose your BP, if you keep it on live.
I do not agree with many that name as the most important reason for feeding f/t possible injury to the animal. To me it is the parasites that you are feeding with live animals that pose the greater risk. One of the first visible signs for internal parasites is diarrhea.
Think of it like this: Would you feed your cat live mice, just because it would feed on them in the wild? No, you certainly wouldn't. You would feed it bagged or canned food. And the first thing you would do with any stray cat you take in would be to de-worm it. It's the same with snakes.
If you used any kind pesticide to rid yourself of the mites, while the snake was around (or introduced the snake to early into the room, where you used the pesticides) it may also cause diarrhea.
When my BP's defeceate I'm usually not able to hear it. Every once in a while one will pass gas at the same time (yeah, I get that worried look to at those times), but loose stool is not a good sign. Causes are - but not limited to - stress, illness (such as RI), internal parasites, highly chlorinated tab water (city water), poisoning, etc.
You need to track down the cause and eliminate it in order to prevent further damage. If you put a check mark behind all aforementioned causes and your BP still has loose stools, please collect a stool sample, bring it to your vet and have a fecal exam done. In case this does turn out to be internal parasites (worms) here's something to keep in mind: Take a syringe loaded with the meds prescribed by your vet and shove it down a medium sized f/t pinky (that's gut-loading). Feed the pinky to your BP (this is a lot less stressful to your snake than catheder feeding the meds down its throat).

	Mites Mites, close relatives of fleas and ticks

[Akureyri]

thank you both

[deadliestformula]

I have never heard our BP poop. Our largest burm however sounds nasty when he poops. And he always seems to do it when it is dead quiet in the house. But we never have runny stool.

	Ball Python The Ball Python (Python regius), also known as the Royal Python, is a ground dwelling snake native to the savannahs and rain forests in western Africa, predominatly the countries of Ghana, Togo, and Benin.

[X-Factor]

LOL.... at deadliestforumula...

I have nothing to ad to the advice already given, follow it.

[Akureyri]

ok well finally got the fecal results back. keisho has cocsidia (sp.) so now he, sage and ryoku are on SMZ-TMP. doc said that should fix them right up. sage and ryoku are on the meds as a preventative since they were in the same enclosure.