My First Regurge!

[dsmalex97]

Well it had to happen sooner or later I guess!

But to be honest I don't know why. After returning to from the rat breeder with all my nice cheap rats I fed all my snakes, everything went fine. After I cleaned up I decide to go get an ice coffee at dunkin donuts and actually ended up running into an old friend, so a few hour ended up going by. I come home and my pastel male is out and about doing his thing as if he DIDN'T eat. He is a very active snake when he doesn't have a meal in his belly, but when he eats he's usually grumpy and hides for days this time was the opposite though. He was trying to get out of the tub, moving around a lot and then all of sudden he opens his mouth for like a min, and then out comes the rat. He was fine afterwards, I took him out and handled him being that he seemed like he wanted out. But, should I wait another week before feeding?

[Spaniard]

I would wait 2 weeks before feeding again, the snakes stomach fauna needs time to build up.

You also might want to double check your temps. Usually regurges happen because of low temps or a meal that is too large.

You could have also spooked him if you were near the cage when he was out and about after the meal. Snakes will regurge when they feel threatened by a predator so that they can escape quickly.

[Elise.m]

Wow, that's weird! My guess would be wait another week. If it were me I'd probly hold out on handling him until he eats that next rat just to be safe. Sorry that happened to ya

[psycho]

Well it had to happen sooner or later I guess!

But to be honest I don't know why. After returning to from the rat breeder with all my nice cheap rats I fed all my snakes, everything went fine. After I cleaned up I decide to go get an ice coffee at dunkin donuts and actually ended up running into an old friend, so a few hour ended up going by. I come home and my pastel male is out and about doing his thing as if he DIDN'T eat. He is a very active snake when he doesn't have a meal in his belly, but when he eats he's usually grumpy and hides for days this time was the opposite though. He was trying to get out of the tub, moving around a lot and then all of sudden he opens his mouth for like a min, and then out comes the rat. He was fine afterwards, I took him out and handled him being that he seemed like he wanted out. But, should I wait another week before feeding?

Like Spaniard said u should wait 2 weeks or so...but next time try feeding a smaller meal then usual...double check your temps & also some bps regurgitate when they accidently eat bedding so don't let it concern you much...

[Patricia]

Usually regurges happen because of low temps or a meal that is too large.

Wow, if a meal was too large, wouldn't it cause more damage coming back up?

Good to know about spooking a snake causing it to regurgitate.

[frankykeno]

The stomach acids that come back up with the meal are the greater issue in most cases, Patricia. Anything strong enough to dissolve bones, flesh, hair, nails and teeth is pretty acidic. When that comes back up with the expelled prey it burns. It can also burn the outside of the snake if it ends up on the bedding and the snake slithers through it or lays in it. Nasty stuff all in all.

I'd agree with Rich here. I'd wait a good couple of weeks, then offer a prey item smaller than normal and see how that goes. In the meantime double and triple check your temps and assess your feeding routine to see if anything there might have triggered the regurge.

I have one female snake here that is the worst for backing her prey out. It's not really a regurge because she's still swallowing the prey down but if you disturb her at all during that process she'll spit her dinner out and go off in a snit.

[dsmalex97]

ahhhh thanks everyone!!

I personally believe it was his fault haha!

He's got a lot of spunk and personality, so I think he wanted to be social and interact. And once he realized that running around his cage to get some attention after a meal isn't a great idea lol. My temps are usually dead on, I use a dimmer but I'm home to check it quite often and its never low, or too high, I just adjust it in small incriments. Soon my room will be done, and my heat tape will arrive and I can make a rack and throw them all on one thermostat. All and all weird expierence though, but thanks again everyone