Help! New boa vomitted 2 times in a row?

[scdutes88]

I picked up a baby bci at a local pet store a little over 3 weeks ago. It had eaten the day before I purchased it and digested the meal normally. I asked the person in charge of feeding the reptiles and they informed me it had eaten an adult mouse. I waited 10 days to attempt to feed again and the snake took the mouse with no issue and ate it. Approximately 36 hours later it had vomited it meal. It had flipped over its water dish and flooded the tub without me noticing for about 12 hours. I assumed it vomited from the excess humidity that created as it was over 90 percent when I noticed the vomit. I cleaned the cage and replaced the paper towel bedding and left it to recoop for a week. The animal seems active and alert and I have witnessed it drinking on a couple different occasions. My ambient temps are in the uppers 70's with the hot spot bing in upper 80's with a uth on a thermostat. I fed again Saturday night which was 8 days after the last attempt. I wanted to give it enough time to recover from the last time. today again approximately 36 hours after, it has vomited again. Any suggestions? Smaller meal next time is a given but anything else is much appreciated.

[Albert Clark]

What you should do is check back with the pet shop and advise them of this and see how they respond to you or what they offer if anything. It's important to find out if they had any problem with the animal vomiting before. In the meantime don't worry about feeding the boa but raise the enclosure temperature to about 91.0f at the hot spot with a overall ambient of like 84.0f. Cool side in the 80ish range. The vomiting is usually self limiting unless it's repeated vomiting. The boa needs a break from eating at this point. The gastric secretions are very strong and irritate the lining of the esophagus and gastric tube when those secretions are brought up from the stomach by vomiting. The secretions and enzymes burn as they expel the food product. That is why you have to refrain from feeding I'd say for about 2 weeks. Definitely consider a herp vet in case the pet store doesn't take responsibility. Good luck and keep us updated.

[scdutes88]

Thanks for the advice. I will definitely call back the store and follow up with their reptile guy. I will wait 2 weeks to feed again and when I do I will make sure it is a smaller meal. Seeing as how an adult mouse was what I had tried, should I only step down 1 size to hoppers or go smaller? Also, how long should I keep it on the smaller meals before it is safe to increase back to normal size? I normally go by the 10 percent rule and it has been fine in the past. I just really want to avoid this happening again at all cost. She(I believe) is gorgeous and super sweet and I would hate to lose her or hurt her health long term by mishandling this situation. I am fairly familiar with keeping reptiles but this is my first rendezvous with BCI.

[Sauzo]

As mentioned, I would contact the pet store you got it from and let them know for your records and theirs if there is some issue where you need to return the animal. Also raise the temp. I keep all my guys at an ambient of 82F on the cool side set with my Herpstats and they have hot spots around 90F. Also when the snake regurgitates, does the mouse look like its half digested or still pretty much intact? I know all my guys who have eaten HUGE meals look empty within 36 hours so they digest pretty dang fast. If the mouse looks pretty much intact, I would guess the temps are too low. Regardless though, I would for sure raise the ambient to at least 82F on the cool side. I personally have only used a UTH once and that was for my BP. I used it for about a month and then ditched it as I use 2-3" deep aspen and a UTH is worthless then. I only use RHP on my PVC cages and ceramic heaters for temp glass tanks.

[Sauzo]

As for feeding size, a baby BCI can easily eat a hopper with no issues. My big BCI girl was eating hoppers when I got her and she was 22". She quickly upgraded to adult mice. One other thing I forgot to mention, are you feeding f/t? And are you making sure that the mouse is completely thawed? I know, stupid question but best to cover all the bases. I really doubt its the mouse size to be honest as I've fed my girls rats that were too big when one snakes decides its not hungry and the smaller one manages to get the rat down. Looks like it ate a football afterwards and it slowly waddles into her warm hide and I don't see her for a couple days. And I personally just feed all my girls fresh killed as i'm kind of a stickler about f/t as I want to make sure I use the freshest.

[scdutes88]

I am using frozen thawed but make sure they are appropriate temps before feeding as i check with an infared thermometer. I will raise temps and since i use only paper towels the uth seems to throw plenty of heat on the warm side. Ill try those temps you suggested and wait a couple weeks. Thanks for the advice

[bcr229]

After two back to back regurgitations don't feed for three weeks and then offer a feeder a size smaller than he was taking. So, if he was eating adult mice then offer a mouse hopper. Don't feed again for two weeks, then offer another half-sized meal if the first one stayed down. If that one stayed down then offer a regular-sized feeder two weeks later.

Since he's regurgitated I wouldn't ever feed him more than every 10 days once he's back onto normal-sized feeders. Boas have a slower metabolism than pythons, so putting them on a 5-7 day feeding schedule can cause problems.

While you're waiting the three weeks before feeding again, go to thebeanfarm.com and get some NutriBAC, it's a reptile probiotic powder. Dust his damp frozen/thaw feeder with a pinch of the powder for the next few months to help re-establish his gut flora. Also ensure that the enclosure temperatures are correct, the UTH isn't creating a hot spot higher than 92*F on the surface of the glass (my boas won't use the basking spot if it's higher than that), and get an undumpable water dish so your baby can't chill himself again. The melamine cat and dog bowls from the dollar stores that are wider at the bottom than the top work well.

Since this is a new addition from a retail store I hope he's quarantined well away from any other reptiles you have, as regurgitation is a symptom of some rather nasty and highly infectious diseases, including parasites and cryptosporidium. If he regurgitates again take him and the regurgitated feeder straight to an exotics specialist vet and have a fecal done and the regurgitated feeder checked.

[Sauzo]

Np and good luck. Yeah for sure raise those temps and give the snake at least 2 weeks before you try again as regurgitating 2 times in this short of time is going to really deplete its stomach acids so I would give it plenty of time to rebuild it and also let him settle in and relax. I would for sure though talk to the pet shop and let them know the problem and what you are planning to do so if this doesn't fix the issue, then you can still have to option to return the animal as most pet shops have a 2 week return policy if there are problems. And for sure also make sure the snake doesn't get the mouse wrapped in the paper towels and eat it all. I've seen a picture of a boa that ate a paper towel, it killed the snake and it was a huge paper towel too. Anyways good luck and hope the little guy ends up ok.

[Reinz]

After two back to back regurgitations don't feed for three weeks and then offer a feeder a size smaller than he was taking. So, if he was eating adult mice then offer a mouse hopper. Don't feed again for two weeks, then offer another half-sized meal if the first one stayed down. If that one stayed down then offer a regular-sized feeder two weeks later.

Since he's regurgitated I wouldn't ever feed him more than every 10 days once he's back onto normal-sized feeders. Boas have a slower metabolism than pythons, so putting them on a 5-7 day feeding schedule can cause problems.

While you're waiting the three weeks before feeding again, go to thebeanfarm.com and get some NutriBAC, it's a reptile probiotic powder. Dust his damp frozen/thaw feeder with a pinch of the powder for the next few months to help re-establish his gut flora. Also ensure that the enclosure temperatures are correct, the UTH isn't creating a hot spot higher than 92*F on the surface of the glass (my boas won't use the basking spot if it's higher than that), and get an undumpable water dish so your baby can't chill himself again. The melamine cat and dog bowls from the dollar stores that are wider at the bottom than the top work well.

Since this is a new addition from a retail store I hope he's quarantined well away from any other reptiles you have, as regurgitation is a symptom of some rather nasty and highly infectious diseases, including parasites and cryptosporidium. If he regurgitates again take him and the regurgitated feeder straight to an exotics specialist vet and have a fecal done and the regurgitated feeder checked.

Follow all of bcr's steps for a good recovery ^^^^^^^


BTW- to prevent confusion in the future; vomit is digested food, Regurgitated is non or partially digested food.

[Albert Clark]

Follow all of bcr's steps for a good recovery ^^^^^^^


BTW- to prevent confusion in the future; vomit is digested food, Regurgitated is non or partially digested food.

Thanks for the clarification Reinz!! Lol.