Regurge - HELP

[NYDragon]

Ok, so I upped my hognose to fuzzies in May. He's taken three so far (had a delay in feeding due to me moving across the country). My order finally came in so I fed all the snakes. He wouldn't take it so I left him in his feeding container for a few hours with it while I ran errands. I came back and he had regurged it. And of course smeared it all over the container, thanks bud And he was a little jumpy. Any idea what would have been the problem? The only thing I can think of is food size but he had no trouble before. Also, how long should I let him rest before offering food again? Should I try just a pinkie next time? Gah, I'm quite worried about him and don't want to exacerbate any issues. Never had a regurge before. Thanks for any advice!

Erin

[bsash]

Well, I don't know about hognoses, but I assume it is not much different no matter what snake it is. I know with ball pythons you wait two weeks in order to try feeding again,and you feed a smaller prey item, which in your case would be a pinkie.

[mainbutter]

Sounds like it was just stress. Double check temps and care sheets and all that, I know we're having a hot summer so your hoggie might be a little hot if you don't have AC (I don't either). Of course the move is very stressful too so that might very well be it.

As stated, wait before the next feeding and feed small.

Snakes don't have as well a designed vomit reflex as people. They vomit up just about all their stomach acid, and it takes them quite a while to produce working-levels of stomach acid again.. thus waiting before the next feed.

[Lolo76]

How big/old is your hognose? I'm also guessing it was stress-related (or husbandry?), as my hognose hasn't been on pinkies since she was REALLY young... so it's unlikely a fuzzy was too big, especially when you said he's taken a few before. Just give him some time to recover (two weeks as suggested), and hopefully the next meal won't go so badly. If you're really worried about the prey size, just offer a pinky or two until you're 100% sure he can take a fuzzy. Good luck!

[Gregg Madden]

Hogs can be tricky when it comes to prey size... I have one particular hog who can not take fuzzies or hoppers... She is large enough to take them but she will regurge if she eats them... I have to keep her on pinkies... She takes 5 to 7 of them each feeding... I know of a few other keepers who are dealing with the same situation...

Also, with hogs, I would not wait too long before you try feeding again... Infact I have fed the female I mentioned 2 days after regurge... You do not need to wait for stomach acids to settle... A snakes stomach is not filled with acids and they do not need too much time to produce them... A snakes stomach is not like ours... The acids are not produced until the feeding process starts...