Dexter Regurgitated Rats Twice This Month

[Aedryan Methyus]

As far as breeding goes, it is my understanding that Male Bloods should be 2 - 3 years old and weigh 5 - 7 pounds. Females should be at least 3 years old and weigh no less than 10 pounds. But, right now what I would really like to know is, at what point their feeding schedules should be cut back to 14/21 days...

[zina10]

I don't think there are any "set in stones" answers for that.

There are "guidelines" based on the species, its needs, its "usual" metabolism, etc. But when it comes right down to it, it all depends on the animal individually. ESPECIALLY if there has been a problem/issue.

Bloods metabolism works differently then some other snakes. Slower. They are also kept at lower temperatures. Over time it has been established that they do better with LESS food then originally thought. With bloods, you don't go by "girth" or else you'd have to feed rabbits before long. You also shouldn't feed as often. True, younger animals usually need to be fed more often then adults. But with bloods, I would err on the conservative side. The only reason to "rush" is to bring them up to size for breeding. And as with all snakes, size isn't everything. They have to be mature as well.

I know you do not "power" feed. I know the health of your animals is your priority, and you just want him to recover and thrive.

At this point I would be ultra ULTRA conservative with feeding him. He regurged not only once or twice, but THREE times. That to me is getting close to "scary" territory. Those regurges are very hard on the animals system and they can cause lasting damage resulting in chronic illness.

It will not hurt Dexter in the slightest to be a bit skinny for a few months. Once healthy, snakes recover pretty quickly. At this point, though, all that matters is that his intestinal and digestive tract is stressed as little as possible, while still providing him with some sustenance. You do NOT want another regurge.
I think bcr's feeding plan is actually very appropriate and I would be hesitant to try to speed this process up. Even if this entire issue ends up taking 6 month before things are back to normal 100%, that is still nothing compared to the lifetime of this animal. He will not stay "stunted" if you get him healthy. He will catch up, and it won't take all that long.

Of course, that is just in my opinion, what I would do. You are there, you know your snake and ultimately it is up to you and your gut feeling.

Going back to your question about when to change their feeding schedule.

Well, first of all I would not go UP in feeder size rapidly if fed once the week. Of course you do go up...but not going by the girth of the snake/girth of the rodent. Eventually the snake will let you know by slowing down by itself. Refusing a feed. Not being as "enthusiastic" about the food coming up. That is a good indicator to just stretch it out to 10 days, eventually 14 days.
There are guidelines, of course, but you always have to use them as a tool, while observing your animal and how it is doing on that schedule.

As a example, my large Ball Python male is NOT on a set schedule. It just doesn't work for him. I've had him for 8 years and I've gotten to know him well in that time. He is quite big and while medium rats are usually the largest prey you need for any Ball Python, he does better with large rats. With a medium, he sucks it down and angrily keeps hunting for more. With a large rat, he will eat and happily go rest. HE will tell me when he is ready for more. Sometimes its 2 weeks, sometimes 3 or 4 weeks. He has also taken breaks for months. He usually rests for 4 to 5 days after eating, then he will begin to lazily cruise around his cage. Its not "hunting" yet, more like checking things out, hanging out in different areas. This can go on for a few nights. Eventually the cruising will be more of a "hunting". He is more "tense", he looks around. His eyes will focus on things and get "dark" when he sees movement. That is when he is ready to eat.

Most of my others are on more of a "set" schedule. Although I'm not strictly on a set day. And I do skip feeding them while they are in shed.

Right now with Dexter I wouldn't worry about any guidelines or "what is usually done for that age/size". All that matters is to carefully and slowly bring him back to 100%. Being slow about it is so much better then risking a re-occurrence that would destroy all the progress you have made.

I hope things will continue to go well, I know how worried you are about your babies. Still crossing my fingers and toes !!

[Aedryan Methyus]

Yes... As much as I would love to start getting some weight back on this sweet little boy, I am definitely going to follow you and BCR's advice and take it extra slow. As far as the rest of my Bloods and Short Tails, i'm just going to keep doing what i'm doing. They're all eating, pooping, shedding and looking perfect. So, I must be doing the right things... I just go by body shape with all of my snakes. Especially with my Boas, Womas, Bloods and Short Tails. Just so you can still see their spines they aren't overweight. Ball Pythons, on the other hand, are sooo aggravating and i'm just happy when they will eat AT ALL... lol

[Aedryan Methyus]

Just a quick update on Dexter... As I last mentioned, he kept a fuzzy rat down on 1/29 and he kept it down... I offered a rat pup on 2/12, but he wouldn't eat. He was soaking in his water dish a lot at that point and I thought he was goin to shed, but he didn't. I discontinued the Nutribac water treatment about a week ago... He at a rat pup last night and so far, so good! He defecated (very little) today, but all he had in him was that little fuzzy rat. Hopefully he will continue holding the rat pup down and in two weeks I will give him a weanling size rat and see how that goes...

[zina10]

Perhaps he knew it was better to wait a bit longer?

Glad he took it yesterday, though, and now I'm crossing fingers and toes that he keeps it down !!!

Comon Dex, you can do it !!!

[GoingPostal]

I feed my short tails weekly until they are about a year old, then go to every two weeks and most are on every three week schedules eating mediums by the time they are three years old. They have slow metabolisms, don't need food often or huge meals.

[Aedryan Methyus]

I feed my short tails weekly until they are about a year old, then go to every two weeks and most are on every three week schedules eating mediums by the time they are three years old. They have slow metabolisms, don't need food often or huge meals.

I'm aware of how some people will cut them back to medium/large rats every 14 days (21 days for the ones that tend to get overweight) around 3 years of age or just continue to feed smaller prey items weekly. But, wow... Only every 14 days after they reach 1 year old, huh? What size prey are you feeding them at that point, Postal? With the exception of my soon to be 3 year old girl, all of my Bloods and Short Tails will be turning 2 years old and I give them one small rat every 7 days. None of them are overweight and they all still have a lot more growing to do. My 3 year old girl started refusing frozen/thawed for some reason a few months ago and started to get thin, so i've been giving her a live small rat every 7 days and on occasion a live medium. I don't think I would be comfortable risking any of my snake's safety feeding live large rats, so when she is ready for larger prey items I will most likely continue feeding her live mediums if I can't get her back on frozen/thawed at that point. Medium rats are the appropriate size prey for her at this point, so I think weekly small rats should be fine for her, wouldn't you guys think? Then once she is ready for large rats (probably within the next year) maybe I could switch her to a live medium every 10 days or something and just keep a close eye on her to make sure she isn't getting overweight?

Recent photos of this girl here:

https://ball-pythons.net/forums/show...e-Matrix-Het-T

As a general rule of thumb, I base all of my animal's prey sizes and feeding schedules on individual animal size and body shape more so than their ages. I think it basically comes down to personal preference whether we feed larger prey items bi-weekly or smaller prey items weekly, eh? Feeding larger prey bi-weekly would definitely cut down on feeding costs, as well time spent feeding every week, which both sounds good to me! lol But, I guess another consideration is that snakes will digest smaller prey items much faster than larger prey, which would be a little easier on their systems. So, there is sorta a grey area...

[marckitt]

My SSTP boy is 2200 gramm now. I feed him a large rat (200 gramm) every 10 to 12 days. He is in great shape.

[GoingPostal]

My youngest is a 2016 and on smalls every other week but could be moved up easily as he's a piggy. The 2015 borneos, the girl eats like a pig and is on mediums every three weeks, the male is a poor eater so gets offered every 2 weeks a small rat. The 2013 and 2014 boys get mediums every three weeks and sometimes a large once a month, like 2-3 times a year. Once they are over a year old I wouldn't feed weekly at all, at least stretch every 10 days. They simply don't need food that often.

[Aedryan Methyus]

More good news for Dexter! I couldn't get a hold of any weanlings last week, so Dexter ate a rat pup on 2/25 then another on 3/02 (5 days later) and he kept them both down. So, here is a current summary of Dexter's ordeal...

- Regurgitated small rat on 12/05/17
- Ate small rat on 12/11/17 and kept it down
- Regurgitated small rat on 12/20/17
- Food break from 12/20/17 - 1/08/18
- Began treating water with Nutribac on 12/25/17
- Regurgitated small rat on 1/11/18 (about 56 hours after eating)
- Food break from 1/12/18 - 1/29/18
- Fed him a fuzzy on 1/29 and he kept it down
- Discontinued Nutribac treatment early/mid February
- Fed him a rat pup on 2/19 and he kept it down
- Fed rat pup on 2/25/18 and he kept it down
- Fed rat pup on 3/02/18 and he kept it down
- Very little handling throughout...

So, things are looking pretty good for Dexter, but I will feel a lot better once he is (hopefully) back on his regular size prey and normal feeding schedule without any more regurgitation issues and he has some weight back on. Since he ate 2 rat pups within 5 days last week, i'm going to give him another week off from feeding then I will try giving him a weanling every 14 days for a month. If he holds the weanlings down I will try giving him a small rat every 14 days for a month. And, finally, if he holds the small rats down I will try getting him back up to 1 small rat every 7 days...