4 month old BP regurgitation

[EMJAY]

Question: My 4 month old BP regurgitated a mostly digested rat 4 days later. I see alot of conflicting information online so my question is, how long do I wait to feed again? Do I fed smaller prey? I've already skipped one feeding

[Bogertophis]

First, double check your temperatures? Make sure you use an accurate method. Many up-chucks caused by temperatures too low to digest.

How often are you feeding snake? Many try to rush meals ("power feed") so their snake grows "faster"...don't do this.

Or, was the meal too big? Handled too soon after? Know that regurges can actually (sometimes) even be fatal- snakes can aspirate into lung & they cannot effectively cough. So make sure (!) this doesn't recur.

Wait 2, or preferably 3 weeks, before you feed again, & when you do, feed something MUCH smaller than usual & wait to see if it's tolerated. If not, consider your snake might be sick- call vet.

If he keeps it down (I hope), then gradually get back to feeding schedule. Don't try to make up for a missed meal or two...it's way more important that your snake has no more regurges, & snakes are designed for far longer fasts in nature. You mention that you already skipped one meal- no big deal. It also helps to wait until your snake acts hungry. I suspect you might be over-feeding him, but not seeing the snake here so ???

[EMJAY]

I feed every 7 days. 1 rat pup. Temps and humidity are fine. 88- 90 on warm side. 76 on cool side. Humidity is 70-80. She is acting very hungry now which was why I posted this to see if it's too soon.

I don't handle after feeding so it wasn't that. She's never regurged before with same size meals.

I'm just wondering if it was potentially a bad rat. I feed F/T

[Bogertophis]

I feed every 7 days. 1 rat pup. Temps and humidity are fine. 88- 90 on warm side. 76 on cool side. Humidity is 70-80. She is acting very hungry now which was why I posted this to see if it's too soon.

I don't handle after feeding so it wasn't that. She's never regurged before with same size meals.

I'm just wondering if it was potentially a bad rat. I feed F/T

Was this a new source of feeder rat? It's always "possible" though not too likely, at least not if you buy from reputable sources.

But how do you thaw them (assuming f/t?)? Because thawing the wrong way can cause spoilage- Best to thaw in fridge, or in cold water until soft throughout- not warm water, because warm water can allow the outer parts of prey to spoil before the insides are fully thawed. And never thaw by leaving out on the counter- bacteria love room temperature or mild warmth so they can proliferate & cause spoilage.

It's not like with our own meats for dinner, which many do thaw by just sitting out- the differences are that we cook our meats (killing germs) whereas snakes eat raw, & also, snakes are eating whole animals, of which the G.I. tract is loaded with bacteria just waiting for a "spa day".

[EMJAY]

In regards to my prey, yes I thaw them in could water and warm them up once thawed in hot water. I'm not an amateur lol. I've had plenty of snakes and currently have 3 by no means an expert either. But I keep colubrids and my BP is the first in many years. But to expand on this, yes different feeders from a different source. That could be the cause. Same feeders tho for all of my snakes and she was the only one that had an issue with them. My other snakes have been fine. She was in love and recently switched her to F/T 3 feedings ago and was fine until the last one? She is in a rack with heat tape, humidity and plenty of clutter. I'm not sure how to post pics here but definitely will.

[Bogertophis]

"I'm not an amateur lol." Please don't take offense at suggestions offered, especially since you gave very little information to start with. I have no idea how much experience you have or exactly how you do things- I just try to cover all the bases when giving an answer- not only for you but for any others reading- they may have a similar issue. It's a challenge trying to diagnose things online, not seeing the snake or their housing. You might try bumping up the cool end to 78*, & your humidity is too high, unless briefly when the snake is shedding.

"She was in love..." Huh? Care to elaborate? Various types of stress might cause a regurge, & also occasionally when a snake is coming into shed (due to insufficient hydration to do both digestion & shedding) but that doesn't seem to be the case with your snake- I think you'd have noticed her being cloudy & in a shed cycle by now.

https://ball-pythons.net/forums/show...-Post-Pictures

[Malum Argenteum]

Over time I've come to learn that getting feeders from one source and sticking to it helps both with snake feeding regularity and with my ability to narrow down possible reasons for feeding issues. Some sellers of frozen rodents don't raise all their own product, so they'll be selling problematically variable rodents too.