Uhh, I think I need help.

So these past couple weeks I've noticed something really wierd. I fed my snakes like any normal day, except for my boa, she had been off feed for a couple months. Last week I checked on my IJs and BP that fed, all three had regurged and in a couple days they died. That really freaked me out, I don't know why it happened. My temps are all good and they have paper towels for sub.
My wife gave me the idea that it might be the rats that I had fed them. I honestly didn't think anything of it since it had never happened before, but now last thursday, my boa just started feeding and today I see that she had regurged as well.
What could be happening? Could this really be the food, or is it something else unseen by the naked eye?
Please, Please, Please help if any of you know anything.

Where are these feeders from? And what type of heat source do you use?

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Originally Posted by The Serpent Merchant

Where are these feeders from? And what type of heat source do you use?

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The feeders are from the local pet store. Unfortunately it's the only store for about 80-100 miles. The feeders are frozen and I leave them to defrost for a few hours under warm/hot-ish water.
My heat source is off of individual heat pads hooked to a power source, hooked to a rheostat. I also have my in house temp at about 75-78. When I check the temp in their tubs its at around 88-91 (bottom tub is the coldest) the cool side is at 76 for the majority of the time.
Do you think I've done something wrong? Does anything seem wierd?

so here is a thought...if you are de-thawing the mice/rats under hot water for a few hours you could actually be cooking the mice/rats...if that is what happened it would explain both the re-gurge and the deaths...just a thought

Has anything changed in the room where these snakes are kept? (has something been sprayed around the snakes, have you used something new or different to clean/sanitize their enclosures, etc)?

BigJ- do you mean that however hot the water is or however long I have it under that water, it's cooking them? or do you mean to try "cooking"/microwaving it? Just trying to make sense, your post kinda confused me for a moment.

Daybreaker- no, nothing has changed as far as cleaning and maintenance goes.

If I were you I would start to buy my feeders frozen online from a place like rodent-pro. It will probably be cheaper and you will know that they are safe. Your temps seem fine and while a proportional thermostat would work better a reostat will work as well. I'm sorry I can't give you any more insight but I think that you should defiantly find a new source for your feeders.

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Originally Posted by d-monster

BigJ- do you mean that however hot the water is or however long I have it under that water, it's cooking them? or do you mean to try "cooking"/microwaving it? Just trying to make sense, your post kinda confused me for a moment.

Daybreaker- no, nothing has changed as far as cleaning and maintenance goes.

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Cooking them = bad he was saying that the hot water might be cooking them. I defrost mine in room temperature water, then heat them up with a blow dryer. This has worked great for me.

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Originally Posted by d-monster

So these past couple weeks I've noticed something really wierd. I fed my snakes like any normal day, except for my boa, she had been off feed for a couple months. Last week I checked on my IJs and BP that fed, all three had regurged and in a couple days they died. That really freaked me out, I don't know why it happened. My temps are all good and they have paper towels for sub.
My wife gave me the idea that it might be the rats that I had fed them. I honestly didn't think anything of it since it had never happened before, but now last thursday, my boa just started feeding and today I see that she had regurged as well.
What could be happening? Could this really be the food, or is it something else unseen by the naked eye?
Please, Please, Please help if any of you know anything.

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Get a necropsy done. If the last snake hasn't died, get her to a vet.

Your snakes are not going to regurge and die from a partially parboiled rodent. You already stated that your boa had been off feed for a time preceding this rash of deaths.

You can listen to people take stabs in the dark here and never know what happened, or you can spend a few bucks and either get some tests run on the remaining snake or - if it dies - get it necropsied.

I doubt it is the food. In 30 years of keeping snakes I've never had a snake die because of a "bad" rodent. Now all of a sudden, I see more and more posts where people ASSume it's a rodent because they (1) won't take their animals to the vet for a proper diagnosis or (2) won't pay for a necropsy to figure out what killed their animals.

There are a fair number of diseases, both bacterial and viral, that could be causing what you are experiencing. While I can't diagnose any of them for you with any accuracy, I can point you in the direction of someone who will - a qualified herp vet in your area.

There are nasty rats that have been coming out of one of the online supplies. A boa breeder wrote a blog on them. These snakes would regurgitate and then die. Some would regurg and then later go into a deep shed and lose all of their color. I'll try to find the link.