Regurgitation caused by?

Ok, so about a week ago Monty downed two gerbils, it was real cool considering it'd been three weeks since I'd been able to locate gerbils. The store is a massive animal rights fest and refuses to sell them as feeders, so every week I get the pleasure of lying to pet shop employees to send some gerbils to their death. Well last week Monty threw the two up, it was so freaking nasty. I assumed it was due to slight handling earlier, and felt bad for being so stupid. So this time Goldy and Monty got gerbils (Goldy is being stupid also) from the same store. Goldy, after ZERO handling, regurged today.

I bet they keep them on cedar, would this be enough to cause a regurge? Time to find a new gerbils source tho.

What were you giving them while you couldn't find gerbils and for how many weeks? Are gerbils thicker-furred than say mice or rats? I honestly can't even remember what they look like lol though I have heard they are like crack or caviar to BPs and hard to switch off of (no experience trying to do so, so I don't know how much credence to give that). Interesting thought on the cedar - call the store and ask what they are kept on. Do they sell feeders of other animals (guppies/goldfish/crickets etc) or are they just too mammilary for something as "cruel" as carnivore feeding behavior?

Monty had two gerils before I finally got this batch. He was all set. He went onto fasting in August, ate once in between, and finally I had to give him gerbils to get him to eat. Nothing else works. And Goldy was being an idiot and deciding she was far too cool to eat.

The store has high priced crickets. But besides that all they have is supplies and small mammals.

Handling too soon, too high temps, too low temps and illness cause regurg.
It would be interesting to know what the petstore keeps the gerbils on.

Temps, humidity, everything are perfect.

I think it must have been what they were keeping them on, but had no experience with it. I'll call and ask, possibly give all future gerbils a bath prior to death ;)

that would be horrible! I am an all around animal lover, whether they are mice or whatever. I've managed to accept the fact that my snake needs to eat rodents, nature made that call, not me. I do get by with it by leaving the rodent out of sight until the last moment when I offer it to the snake. I'd prolly bond with the gerbil as I cleaned it up, lol....

Gerbils are too vicious for me to like them. They're really cute tho.

Gerbils are vicious? Every one I've ever had (and I've had quite a few over the years) have always been very sweet and enjoyed being handled. I guess they're like many wild animals though, including our snakes...they start out nippy as babies, but tame well with gentle, consistent handling. If you get an adult gerbil that has spent all its life crammed into a petstore cage with too many others, then they're bound to seem mean.

Hey Godfather, did you ever find out what they use with their gerbils??

I would definitely find out what kind of substrate was used for the gerbils...something's rotten in Denmark, especially if you haven't had problems with either snake before. Slight handling shouldn't cause a regurge.

BTW - we keep a fairly good supply of frozen gerbils on hand if your snakes will eat F/T. Just FYI.

K

Not yet, gonna ask next time I'm there.

Put a gerbil in a cage with your bp and you'll see exactly what I mean.

That sucks Godfather Bob normally loves his gerbils but has decided to fast for 3 weeks now the ding dong :evil:

He has never regurged ever though. A gerbil looks like a rat but they have a furry tail too. And yes under normal circumstances a Gerbil is like Steak & Lobster to a Ball Python unless they are just being a goofball.

Gee I'm not bitter about Bob fasting am I :wink:

Kara, Monty is once of those idiot balls who only wants live. I haven't tried switching slowly to f/t because he recently came out of a winter fast. I'm hoping to build him back up to size before trying to transfer him over, hopefully he'll do it for me. And I'm hoping that Goldy doesn't go down that road also, I might just setup a small gerbil breeding operation if need be. I'm sure a few females to one male can provide me enough to feed two bp's.

Man I hate this, why won't they eat the rats like good bp's do.

Just my 2 Cents.........I did a bad thing.......I purchased a WC Adult Female @ the Hamburg show. I am still kickin' myself in the butt. Just lookin for the cheap way out. DAH...
I got her to eat a gerbil a week ago. Then I checked on her a couple days later.........found a bloated gerbil....NASTY. Could imagine the smell right? Sorry, had to share that too. But I think temp and high humidity might play a role.
She has been captive since December, and laid some eggs for some guy. I don't even think he tried to give the poor girl a meal. I know she won't eat right away or even @ all, but I had to try. I just felt sorry for her I guess. She is a nice chocolate,1980 gram, treated,no mites, looks good and huge. You's could knock me about a WC, but when I was a kid thats ALL we had from pet stores. I have kept them with only finding ticks. They all ate for me then, why not now?
Well,anyway, the temp creeped up on me and she was soakin'( cuz she was probly freakin' dehydrated) in her water, got water all over the bottom of the cage(Rubbermaid) which raised the humidity to really rise I'm sure.....I believe thats why she spit it up. Who knows? Sometimes it is easier to hold back the tide than to figure out a Ball.:)

Hi Wendy...welcome to the forum!!

How long have you had this new girl? Since she regurged the gerbil, I would give her at least two weeks before attempting to feed again, to make sure her system has recovered from that trauma. And keep working on tweaking that husbandry until the temps and humidity are just right for her. :) Hopefully a few weeks of isolation and spot-on husbandry will perk up her appetite for ya!

Thanks Judy!
I have her since 4/24/04. I won't try to feed her for a while, the unappreciative beeyotch. I wouldn't call regurgitating traumatizing, Hell I've seen a ball regurgitate a mouse then turn around and eat it. I got a new (human) UTH, waterdish, and Rubbermaid for it today. I use cereal boxes for hideouts, hope she likes to look @ Captain Crunch(peanut butter, of course!). I'll set it up, get the temps good, bathe her & throw her in.Hope for the best. :) Then try to feed her in a week or two. Wish me luck!!

Actually, regurgitation IS traumatizing. Even though snakes can regurge, their bodies aren't really made to do so in the same manner that many other animals' are. Whenever a snake regurgitates there is a high risk of it aspirating (sucking) fluid through the glottis & into the lung, causing pneumonia or even suffocation. On top of that, regurgitation can lead to dehydration, so putting the snake into a shallow (we're talking not more than an inch of water or so, even for an adult snake), lukewarm soak for a few hours can be very beneficial.

If your snake has good body weight, don't even consider feeding her for a month post-regurge - her system needs time to stabilize & reestablish positive gut flora.

Also, while humidity *could* have been the culprit, I'd be willing to bet it was more likely temperature. You mentioned that the temp "creeped up on you" - well...keep in mind that when snakes are digesting food, their metabolism speeds up, effectively increasing their body heat. An overheated snake is a very real, very common cause for regurgitation, even in otherwise established animals. Ensuring that the snake has a large enough enclosure (while still maintaining a comfortable environment for the animal) with ample room to thermoregulate will help to rule out heat-related regurgitation.

Good luck getting her settled & on a solid feeding schedule!

K

i don't know if this is been suggested but you should keep the gerbils a little and let whatever is in them cycle through i myself would breed them because they must be expensive i personally buy a couple feeder mice and keep them for a while because my pet store doesn't keep good enough care of them and i over feed them to make them nice and fat. :)