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  1. #1
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    Immediate regurgitation

    I've had my bp for over a year and he's never done this so I'm a bit concerned. Last night, when I was feeding him, I noticed that the rat felt somewhat stiff in the tongs so my suspicion is that this may have happened as a result of me not thawing it enough. Most of the rats that come when I order them are white, but this one was mostly black, he doesn't have any problems eating different colored rats, the issue that the color created was that, combined with the dark coloration of my snake and the crappy lighting in my room, it was difficult for me to monitor his eating progress.

    He usually takes a while to eat and I usually stay in the room to keep an eye on him in case something like this happens. After he'd taken the rat and I'd washed my hands, I sat on my bed and got on a call with my friends on discord, it's important to mention that I had my earbuds in. While he was eating, I was occasionally hearing a cracking sound, at the time I couldn't tell if it was coming from the call or my room though, I'm currently wondering if it was the cold part of the rat, reacting in the same way that ice cubes do when you put them in water, idk though it could be completely unrelated, I'm just trying to be thorough.

    Around a point at which I was able to determine that he had at least a half of the rat down, my mom came home with groceries and called upstairs for me to help her. I told my friends I had to go, hung up, and saw that the entire rat was now out of my snake's mouth, he held on to its head for a few moments before letting go and staring at me. I'm pretty confused as to if this qualifies as regurgitation or not, the rat didn't look digested at all, though I threw it out to be safe. My snake seems fine, when I opened the tank to put his warm hide back in, he kinda looked like he wanted to eat my hand. My main concern at this point is aftercare, to my knowledge, the reason you're supposed to wait awhile before feeding after regurgitation is because of the damage regurging does to the throat, but I'm unsure if this situation would've caused any damage. I'm sorry again this is so long.

  2. #2
    BPnet Veteran Caitlin's Avatar
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    This is not a regurgitation. I'd wait a week before offering another meal, though, as the whole experience sounds unpleasant for your snake and you don't want to set up negative associations with feeding.

    I am going to gently give you a bit of a hard time, though, because I am struggling to understand how you could be uncertain if a meal you offer your snake is completely thawed or not. If the rat felt 'a bit stiff' you needed to check it before offering. If you are genuinely wondering if the cracking sounds you heard were like an ice cube in warm water, then we really need to review your procedures for thawing and offering food.

    I'm serious. This could kill your snake. Before you feed your snake, you HAVE to be sure the rodent is completely thawed. It needs to feel soft everywhere. You should be able to freely bend it. It should not have any trace of cold anywhere.

    Please, please review your thawing procedures and be absolutely certain that the food you are offering your snake is 100% thawed, because if you end up with a real regurgitation to deal with, the consequences can be serious. Yes, I am pressuring you here but it's because I know you care about your snake - you posted here because you want information and support, and that's a good thing!
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  4. #3
    BPnet Veteran Hugsplox's Avatar
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    Re: Immediate regurgitation

    Agreed with Caitlin. My guess is she realized something was up with the rat, most likely that it was still partially frozen, so she "spat" it back out. In my experience snakes will reject food mid swallow if they're disturbed or if something's wrong with the feeder, which again would be my guess here.

    As Caitlin said, I would take a serious look at your thawing process, wait a week with no handling and no disturbing the enclosure, and try again with a properly thawed rat.
    Last edited by Hugsplox; 05-06-2021 at 01:26 PM. Reason: past-tense verbs are hard

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  6. #4
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    Re: Immediate regurgitation

    Likewise what Caitlin said, the most confusing part about this post is how you're uncertain that the feeder was thoroughly thawed and you've had him for over a year? After that amount of time your thawing process should be pretty solid. So along with reviewing your process for thawing feeders as others have mentioned, I wouldn't become complacent in your methods no matter how long you've had your animal and be as thorough as possible.
    Last edited by RickySRonin; 05-06-2021 at 03:17 PM.

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    Re: Immediate regurgitation

    Thank you for the replies and for not dancing around the issue. Someone pointed out how weird it is that this happened when I've had him for a year, I'm pretty sure the reason this happened now is because I changed the type of container that I thaw the food in. The shapes of the containers effected the position and level of submersion of the rat. The fix is pretty simple, I either need to go back to using the old type of containers, or mess around with the new ones until I find the amount of time it takes to thaw. However, that isn't an excuse and my actions were lazy and irresponsible, I'm very grateful that he knew to spit it out. Again, thank you for the responses, this experience was a big wake up call and I plan on reviewing my husbandry in general to make sure nothing like this happens again.

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    Re: Immediate regurgitation

    Quote Originally Posted by m00noodle View Post
    Thank you for the replies and for not dancing around the issue. Someone pointed out how weird it is that this happened when I've had him for a year, I'm pretty sure the reason this happened now is because I changed the type of container that I thaw the food in. The shapes of the containers effected the position and level of submersion of the rat. The fix is pretty simple, I either need to go back to using the old type of containers, or mess around with the new ones until I find the amount of time it takes to thaw. However, that isn't an excuse and my actions were lazy and irresponsible, I'm very grateful that he knew to spit it out. Again, thank you for the responses, this experience was a big wake up call and I plan on reviewing my husbandry in general to make sure nothing like this happens again.
    Taking responsibility for our mistakes is always the first step in the right direction. Thankfully for your snake and you, live and learn.

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  12. #7
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    Re: Immediate regurgitation

    Quote Originally Posted by m00noodle View Post
    Thank you for the replies and for not dancing around the issue. Someone pointed out how weird it is that this happened when I've had him for a year, I'm pretty sure the reason this happened now is because I changed the type of container that I thaw the food in. The shapes of the containers effected the position and level of submersion of the rat. The fix is pretty simple, I either need to go back to using the old type of containers, or mess around with the new ones until I find the amount of time it takes to thaw. However, that isn't an excuse and my actions were lazy and irresponsible, I'm very grateful that he knew to spit it out. Again, thank you for the responses, this experience was a big wake up call and I plan on reviewing my husbandry in general to make sure nothing like this happens again.
    It's easy to get complacent with something you've probably done a hundred times. While I agree that's no excuse, the important things are your snake is okay, you learned a hard lesson, and identified an issue and a solution. It sucks making a mistake that could or does hurt an animal under your care I know, but personally I think you have a pretty good attitude getting some hard to hear, but honest feedback.

    Good reminder for all of us that it only takes a few seconds of losing focus to make a mistake.

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  14. #8
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    Re: Immediate regurgitation

    Quote Originally Posted by m00noodle View Post
    Thank you for the replies and for not dancing around the issue. Someone pointed out how weird it is that this happened when I've had him for a year, I'm pretty sure the reason this happened now is because I changed the type of container that I thaw the food in. The shapes of the containers effected the position and level of submersion of the rat. The fix is pretty simple, I either need to go back to using the old type of containers, or mess around with the new ones until I find the amount of time it takes to thaw. However, that isn't an excuse and my actions were lazy and irresponsible, I'm very grateful that he knew to spit it out. Again, thank you for the responses, this experience was a big wake up call and I plan on reviewing my husbandry in general to make sure nothing like this happens again.
    Rats can take quite a while to thaw, & especially to do so without causing spoilage that can make a snake refuse to accept it. When I've fed f/t rats, I always thawed directly in cool water, changing the water about every 20 minutes or so, until the rat was soft throughout, as felt by hand. Only then do I warm up a rodent using brief immersion in very warm water for a couple minutes, & for feeding a BP (or any snake with heat-sensing pits) you might also want to use a blow-dryer, especially on the head, to get the rat to a convincing "life-like" temperature that your snake will accept. I'm just glad your snake wasn't apparently harmed & the mistake was learned.
    Rudeness is the weak man's imitation of strength.
    Eric Hoffer (1902 - 1983)

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