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  1. #13
    BPnet Senior Member WingedWolfPsion's Avatar
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    Re: Too big meal help.

    The food is currently being subjected to large amounts of acid. The snake's body will work on producing more acids and absorbing the nutrients. The food is not rotting, anymore than the food in YOUR stomach rots. There are beneficial bacteria at work helping to break it down, but that isn't quite the same thing.

    A hot spot of 90 to 95 will allow him to digest his food without issue. It is unecessary to go higher than that, and you definitely don't want to go lower. The snake's metabolic rate will increase when the temperature is higher--this speeds digestion. But it will be forced to move if the temperature is too high for its comfort. My guess is, if you put it at 95, he will sit smack dab on the heat and not move.

    If temps are too cool, digestion is slowed, and that's when there is a chance that the food may rot before it can be broken down properly in the stomach.

    It's unlikely that he'll regurge as long as it's warm and he's left alone. They're designed to be able to handle anything they can manage to swallow. It's rare that a snake has to regurge a huge prey item for any reason other than it was disturbed and wants to flee--then it gets rid of the big meal to lighten itself up to move faster.
    --Donna Fernstrom
    16.29 BPs in collection, 16.11 BP hatchlings
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  2. The Following 3 Users Say Thank You to WingedWolfPsion For This Useful Post:

    Chocolate Muffin's (02-15-2010),dc4teg (02-15-2010),dr del (02-15-2010)

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