feeding in seperate enclosure?

[Skiploder]

Absolutely! Thanks for asking

1.) I have fed him outside his enclosure twice, and once inside. I believe the reptile shop I got him feeds in a separate enclosure.

2.) The last time he ate prior to this was last Monday, 5 days before his feeding this Saturday (The regurgitated meal)

3.) Cool side is low 80s, hot side is low 90s.


I got to thinking, and after reading more threads, I think it may also be due to the mouse being bigger than he's used to. I haven't weighed any of his previous meals, but this mouse was about 12 grams, and visibly larger than his last couple of meals.

He seems alright now (I always feel better after throwing up... Do snakes feel better too? )
He's in his hot side hide right now, but has been poking his head out and smelling around too.

I'm guessing it would be best to wait a few days before handling him?

So, because I know I've partially derailed this thread, I will relate my issue back to the topic. I'm not entirely sure if my little guy's regurg was related to handling right after feeding, or to a larger than normal meal... Or maybe it was a combination of both?

Thanks all for your responses and considerations! The help is immensely appreciated!

I'm with you on the probable cause. Like I said, I used to feed some animals in separate encloures and never had an issue with regurges.

While I don't consider snakes intelligent, they do condition fairly easily, and an animal conditioned to being fed in a separate bin would not likely suddenly begin regurging meals.

On the other hand, almost every regurge I've had in healthy snakes was due to prey size.

Keep in mind there is a difference between regurgitation and vomiting in snakes.

If the mouse came up ten minutes after he was fed, then it is indeed a regurgitation.

On the other hand if the mouse was wholly ingested or you can visibly see that it was partially digested - that's vomit.

A regurge is an entirely different event that happens in a relatively short period of time after feeding.

When people talk about the trauma of regurgitation on a snakes system they are mistaken. A regurge imparts relatively little trauma on the digestive tract and flora in a snake.

Vomiting on the other hand is an entirely different event. The protocols for reintroduction of food items differ from regurgitation.

If your snake vomits, waiting two weeks for a reintroduction of food is recommended. I would also dip the head of the prey in Benebac or something similar at the first feeding after a vomiting episode.

If your snake does a true regurge, in which no digestion takes place - there is nothing wrong with waiting a week or so and reintroducing a smaller, more manageable prey item.

Unfortunately, the term regurgitation is used when most people are describing a vomiting incident, so you are going to get a flood of recommendations to wait two weeks even through no digestion took place. If it helps with your peace of mind - wait the two weeks and feed again.