Regurgitation

[ReptileRant]

I was given a ball Python by a pet store. I know it had been eating a small mouse every week, but it is somehow dehydrated and severely underweight. I took it assuming it would be easy to get healthy like all the other rescues I’ve take in. It took a live mouse two weeks after it got home, but then it regurgitated?! I have not held it one since it got home and it’s in a snake rack. Nothing in particular should have stressed it out. What do I do? It is very skinny and apparently it can’t keep food down.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Homebody]

What do I do?

How old is the bp? What does it weigh? What are the ambient, hot and cool side temps in its enclosure? How's the humidity? Pics of the bp and its enclosure would help too. My knee jerk reaction: take it to the vet.

[Bogertophis]

I HOPE I'm wrong here, but my hunch is that it also regurgitated in the store & they didn't want to deal with it- beware of "free snakes". I HOPE there's nothing else living in your snake rack? And that this snake has been well-quarantined by you, as it's most likely sick & this site might come in handy, if you don't already have a nearby trusted herp-vet:

https://arav.site-ym.com/search/custom.asp?id=3661

As I said, I HOPE I'm wrong but an underweight snake that's not regurgitating because of handling & husbandry errors (temps. warm enough, privacy, etc) may be a seriously ill (& contagiously so) snake. Pay close attention to this snake- is there any mid-body swelling? Any neurological issues? (does the snake's balance seem off?) Crypto & other bad things come to my mind-

[paulh]

For this sort of post, it helps to tell us the size of the snake and something about the snake's cage, particularly the temperature. You stated that you have rescued snakes before, but how much experience have you had with ball pythons? I'm guessing that you are relatively inexperienced with ball pythons and the snake is a baby. If this is wrong, please make allowances for my ignorance.

For dehydration, put about half an inch of water in a glass or plastic container. Water should be around 85 degrees Fahrenheit or a bit higher (cool to your finger). Leave snake in the container for 15-30 minutes. Repeat every couple of days for a week or two.

Don't try to feed the snake for a couple of weeks from the time he upchucked. That will let his esophagus heal from the stomach acids on the mouse.

The most common reason a snake gives food back to you is he is too cold. Try for 85 to 90 at the hot end of the cage and high 70s to low 80s in the cool end.

Security is a major issue for ball pythons. They are agoraphobes. Give the little guy a nice, tight hiding box or two in different parts of the cage. You want the snake to feel something contacting belly, sides and back. Dampened sphagnum moss (from a garden center) is good. If that is unavailable, a few nylon pot scrubbers may do the trick. Wetting the hiding box's contents raises the humidity and may increase the probability of eating by giving the snake the idea that it is wet season, when food is plentiful.

These are the high spots. Personally I am optimistic, because the little guy ate once for you. Good luck, and keep us posted.

[ReptileRant]

I HOPE I'm wrong here, but my hunch is that it also regurgitated in the store & they didn't want to deal with it- beware of "free snakes". I HOPE there's nothing else living in your snake rack? And that this snake has been well-quarantined by you, as it's most likely sick & this site might come in handy, if you don't already have a nearby trusted herp-vet:

https://arav.site-ym.com/search/custom.asp?id=3661

As I said, I HOPE I'm wrong but an underweight snake that's not regurgitating because of handling & husbandry errors (temps. warm enough, privacy, etc) may be a seriously ill (& contagiously so) snake. Pay close attention to this snake- is there any mid-body swelling? Any neurological issues? (does the snake's balance seem off?) Crypto & other bad things come to my mind-

Hey there. So I actually worked at the store previously. I know that this snake had not regurgitated in the past. However it did come in already somewhat malnourished. It ended up having a anal prolapse which was quickly fixed. The snake had been at the store for 3 months not getting any worse or better. She does not have any neurological or symptoms other than being underweight. I breed ball pythons and have done so for several years. I’ve never had a snake regurgitate before, but I’ve also never had a snake this malnourished.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[ReptileRant]

For this sort of post, it helps to tell us the size of the snake and something about the snake's cage, particularly the temperature. You stated that you have rescued snakes before, but how much experience have you had with ball pythons? I'm guessing that you are relatively inexperienced with ball pythons and the snake is a baby. If this is wrong, please make allowances for my ignorance.

For dehydration, put about half an inch of water in a glass or plastic container. Water should be around 85 degrees Fahrenheit or a bit higher (cool to your finger). Leave snake in the container for 15-30 minutes. Repeat every couple of days for a week or two.

Don't try to feed the snake for a couple of weeks from the time he upchucked. That will let his esophagus heal from the stomach acids on the mouse.

The most common reason a snake gives food back to you is he is too cold. Try for 85 to 90 at the hot end of the cage and high 70s to low 80s in the cool end.

Security is a major issue for ball pythons. They are agoraphobes. Give the little guy a nice, tight hiding box or two in different parts of the cage. You want the snake to feel something contacting belly, sides and back. Dampened sphagnum moss (from a garden center) is good. If that is unavailable, a few nylon pot scrubbers may do the trick. Wetting the hiding box's contents raises the humidity and may increase the probability of eating by giving the snake the idea that it is wet season, when food is plentiful.

These are the high spots. Personally I am optimistic, because the little guy ate once for you. Good luck, and keep us posted.

So Ive bred ball pythons for several years now and rescued a few snakes in bad condition. However, I’ve never had one this malnourished. Yes it is a baby and it came to the store underweight. It was at the store for 3 months, but because the people caring for it were not all knowledgeable it did not get better or worse. It did eat a small mouse almost every week, and never regurgitated there. She did have a minor prolapse which was fixed with soaking, but it is strange that it happened at all. She is now in a snake rack at proper temp and is no longer dehydrated. She is still very malnourished though.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Bogertophis]

Hey there. So I actually worked at the store previously. I know that this snake had not regurgitated in the past. However it did come in already somewhat malnourished. It ended up having a anal prolapse which was quickly fixed. The snake had been at the store for 3 months not getting any worse or better. She does not have any neurological or symptoms other than being underweight. I breed ball pythons and have done so for several years. I’ve never had a snake regurgitate before, but I’ve also never had a snake this malnourished.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I know you've been breeding snakes (from your previous posts) which is why I didn't jump into husbandry issues- I assumed you know that stuff.

Was the mouse you fed her larger than she was previously fed? When we see a malnourished snake, it's only natural to want to feed more food, but remember that dehydration must be considered before the issue of being underweight. When a snake is underweight & dehydrated, they just cannot handle a normal sized meal- but instead need to eat smaller stuff while their GI tract catches up. If that was my snake, I'd feed mouse or small rat fuzzies for a while (weekly intervals) because they're easy to digest. It can take a while to bring a snake back from the edge.

Good luck- I hope that's all it is. You'll need to be patient- & since she threw up the last meal, sadly you'll need to wait longer to feed again to give her digestive enzymes a chance to be replenished now before any more food is given, as paulh pointed out. Repeat regurgitations can kill a snake (due to the dehydration it causes, or also from aspiration into the lung). Be very patient.

[ReptileRant]

I know you've been breeding snakes (from your previous posts) which is why I didn't jump into husbandry issues- I assumed you know that stuff.

Was the mouse you fed her larger than she was previously fed? When we see a malnourished snake, it's only natural to want to feed more food, but remember that dehydration must be considered before the issue of being underweight. When a snake is underweight & dehydrated, they just cannot handle a normal sized meal- but instead need to eat smaller stuff while their GI tract catches up. If that was my snake, I'd feed mouse or small rat fuzzies for a while (weekly intervals) because they're easy to digest. It can take a while to bring a snake back from the edge.

Good luck- I hope that's all it is. You'll need to be patient- & since she threw up the last meal, sadly you'll need to wait longer to feed again to give her digestive enzymes a chance to be replenished now before any more food is given, as paulh pointed out. Repeat regurgitations can kill a snake (due to the dehydration it causes, or also from aspiration into the lung). Be very patient.

Ok, thank you. Yeah, I offered a hopper mouse. So it was smaller than her usual meal, but maybe it was still too much for her. I’ll definitely try a smaller prey item when shes all healed up.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Bogertophis]

Don't forget to let us know how it goes- we're all pulling for her (& you, to get her healthy again).

[ReptileRant]

Don't forget to let us know how it goes- we're all pulling for her (& you, to get her healthy again).

She’s doing sooo well! She has eaten a handful of times without regurgitating now. She’s also gaining weight and looking a lot better than before.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk