Ball Python regurgitated 2 days after eating, and is barely responding

[Laughing Fish]

Greetings!

My female ball python, who is about 6 years old, regurgitated for the first time since I got her. She had gone a decent amount of time since her last meal (approximately 4 months), but this seemed rather normal for her as she has done this before. Normally I wait for her to become more active, as she tends to come out of her cave more and start moving around at night when she is hungry. But this time she didn't seem to do that. Since months had passed, I decided to try and feed her anyway, and she immediately coiled around the rat and ate it when offered the chance (so I think I may have gone too long, but she normally is picky and won't eat until she is good and ready). At this point everything seemed mostly normal, she ate a defrosted frozen rat of the same size from the same seller as normal. She has had the same lighting setup for years and has done fine with it, and still has clean scales/eyes/nose/etc. It's a little colder now given that it's winter (80 degree ambient temp), but it's my understanding that her heating is fine (if 80 is too low/high for winter, please correct me). Basically what I am saying is, nothing has changed (that I know of) from what has been keeping her alive and healthy for years now.

Everything seemed normal, but today (2 days after her feeding) she regurgitated the rat. I noticed quickly as I smelled a horrible stench, and looked over to see the half digested rat in front of her with her jaws unhinged. I promptly removed the rat and all shavings from the area, and cleaned her water supply and the hide box she was in front of. While doing so though, she hardly even responded. I touched her to move her away from the shavings, but unlike normal she didn't curl into a ball or even react to my touch. When I touched her closer to her head, she tucked her head under her body, but her main body remained completely stiff. After 15 mins or so, she finally moved again and went into her hide-box. I didn't see her move, but she must be a little more flexible again as she is obviously too long to fit completely into her hide box without curling. So maybe she was just too exhausted from regurgitation to move without a break first? As I said, I checked on her right away so it had just happened.

Is this stiffness and lack of awareness normal after regurgitation? What should I be doing next? When should I feed her again? I have had her for years, but she has always been pretty healthy and hasn't had any health issues at all in like 4 years (and even that was just her getting aggressive due to needing to switch from mice to rats) , so I am completely out of my element here.

Thanks for any help,
-Laughing Fish

[Craiga 01453]

Do you have a hot spot? Or just an 80° ambient temp? 80 is okay for an ambient temp, but without a hot spot it would be tough for the snake to digest a meal.

As for feeding, wait at least two weeks. Regurgitation can be rough on their insides, so it's best to let her fully heal. Since she's an adult I'm sure she'll be fine.

As for the body stiffness, I've never experienced that so can't really offer help there.

[Laughing Fish]

She has a hot spot, but tbh it's not that much hotter. If I put my hand under it it's only slightly warmer. I just figured since she seems to spend about equal amounts of time in the hidebox under the hotspot and the other hidebox on the opposite end of the enclosure that it was probably fine. But perhaps that is the problem, and she has just been lucky to have no vomited before.

What is the best way to make a warmer hotspot without significantly raising the ambient temp?

As for the stiffness, given that she is curled up now I'm thinking her belly likely hurt from the strain, and she just needed to rest. She is curled up normally and sleeping now.

[Craiga 01453]

She has a hot spot, but tbh it's not that much hotter. If I put my hand under it it's only slightly warmer. I just figured since she seems to spend about equal amounts of time in the hidebox under the hotspot and the other hidebox on the opposite end of the enclosure that it was probably fine. But perhaps that is the problem, and she has just been lucky to have no vomited before.

What is the best way to make a warmer hotspot without significantly raising the ambient temp?

As for the stiffness, given that she is curled up now I'm thinking her belly likely hurt from the strain, and she just needed to rest. She is curled up normally and sleeping now.

How are you heating the enclosure now?
How are you heating the hot spot?

What are the actual temps?

[Bogertophis]

It sounds to me that she was not warm enough to digest the rat, & also, after a snake has not eaten for so long a time, it would be best to feed on the small side.

Please don't rely on "feeling by hand" for temperatures...you need accurate measurements. We are roughly 98.6* which is way TOO hot for a BP, & their optimal temps. typically feel "cool" for that reason, but check!

BPs need about 88-90* in part of their cage to digest & properly regulate their body for optimal health. Even though you may have gotten away with 80* for some years, your BP isn't thriving this way, & this puts her
at risk of various illnesses.

Regurgitation can be very hard on a snake's insides: think about those rat teeth & claws that could cause internal lacerations...snakes have occasionally died just from regurgitating a meal, so it's best avoided by making
sure your snake is warm enough to digest & not fed something that is too challenging if they haven't eaten for a while and/or if their cage is too cool. I suspect that pain may have caused her to stiffen up. (it would me!)

Don't offer any food for 2-3 weeks after a regurgitation, & when you do, make SURE it's something small (!) & it would also be best to add some probiotic* powder (for snakes) to it also. (*BeneBac for reptiles, etc)

[Laughing Fish]

I have a dome light attached to the screening over the enclosure, with a halogen bulb inside of it. It is on the far right side directly over one of her hide boxes, while there is a second hide box on the opposite end (so one box is being heated by the light and the other is not). The hot spot is a bit warmer than I thought, as the hottest spot is 90 degrees, while the ambient is a bit over 80 (I may need better thermometers, it is hard to get exact unless it is at a round value like 90, as the dials are small and it doesn't list every number. it's about halfway between 70 and 90, so it's approx. 80 give or take a couple degrees).

Since I live in Florida and it doesn't get particularly cold here, that single light has been enough (or so I thought, but since she is vomiting maybe I was wrong).

[Laughing Fish]

It sounds to me that she was not warm enough to digest the rat, & also, after a snake has not eaten for so long a time, it would be best to feed on the small side.

Please don't rely on "feeling by hand" for temperatures...you need accurate measurements. We are roughly 98.6* which is way TOO hot for a BP, & their optimal temps. typically feel "cool" for that reason, but check!

BPs need about 88-90* in part of their cage to digest & properly regulate their body for optimal health. Even though you may have gotten away with 80* for some years, your BP isn't thriving this way, & this puts her
at risk of various illnesses.

Regurgitation can be very hard on a snake's insides: think about those rat teeth & claws that could cause internal lacerations...snakes have occasionally died just from regurgitating a meal, so it's best avoided by making
sure your snake is warm enough to digest & not fed something that is too challenging if they haven't eaten for a while and/or if their cage is too cool. I suspect that pain may have caused her to stiffen up. (it would me!)

Don't offer any food for 2-3 weeks after a regurgitation, & when you do, make SURE it's something small (!) & it would also be best to add some probiotic* powder (for snakes) to it also. (*BeneBac for reptiles, etc)

Alright, I ordered an infrared thermometer so I can get an exact temperature for her hot spot, as well as a higher wattage bulb to increase the temperature. I've been cautious about giving small meals ever since she ran into problems when she was younger from her meals being too small. But maybe these rats are too big. I'll try something smaller next time. Hopefully between that and the higher temperature she will be able to eat with less trouble. Thanks for the help!

[Bogertophis]

What about overnight...are you running lights to maintain the heat? (not a good idea, messes with day/night cycles) Or turning it off at night, so the temperatures fall??? If using a light for heat, it's better to use
a CHE, or red or black incandescent bulb (so there's minimal illumination). But for safety reasons (BPs are probably the most commonly burned snakes in the pet realm, because they need warmth & owners fail to
properly regulate it) anything used to heat the enclosure (including your light) should be regulated with a thermostat, & checked with an accurate heat gun.

[Laughing Fish]

What about overnight...are you running lights to maintain the heat? (not a good idea, messes with day/night cycles) Or turning it off at night, so the temperatures fall??? If using a light for heat, it's better to use
a CHE, or red or black incandescent bulb (so there's minimal illumination). But for safety reasons (BPs are probably the most commonly burned snakes in the pet realm, because they need warmth & owners fail to
properly regulate it) anything used to heat the enclosure (including your light) should be regulated with a thermostat, & checked with an accurate heat gun.

At night I turn the light off, so it is cooler at night. And I ordered a much better thermostat that's infrared and is supposed to be able to accurately measure exact spots in the enclosure. As for the color, it's white but it is not very bright. It's a very dull white light that doesn't light up the enclosure nearly as much as one would expect from a white bulb. It is mostly made just for heating.

[Bogertophis]

Alright, I ordered an infrared thermometer so I can get an exact temperature for her hot spot, as well as a higher wattage bulb to increase the temperature. I've been cautious about giving small meals ever since she ran into problems when she was younger from her meals being too small. But maybe these rats are too big. I'll try something smaller next time. Hopefully between that and the higher temperature she will be able to eat with less trouble. Thanks for the help!

That's a start... Just remember snakes cannot make their own body heat needed to digest their food...they rely on the available heat in their environment (in the case of pets, they're stuck with whatever we provide).
Their metabolism will be slow if they're kept too cool, and that affects how well they can digest their prey. If kept warmer (good metabolism) your snake may have had no trouble digesting that rat...it's all relative to
their environmental warmth. (also stress can be a factor- obviously snakes may regurgitate if handled or frightened after eating too)