substrate ingestion question (lol rhymes)

[gardenfiend138]

I recently had an atb eat some coco coir for some reason (not during feeding), and it did back her up for a few weeks, but after a few frantic vet visits she ended up passing everything. Not really the same but hopefully it will help ease the worries.

[Skiploder]

I didn't suggest making one regurgitate on purpose. But I would suspect handling a snake for 20 minutes after feeding like that guy did could certainly cause one to, and he was not advised against this, so I was wondering when, if ever, such a risk was acceptable to take.

I do believe I have my answer now. Sorry if this seemed like a dumb question.

The world is full of bad advice. Asking an honest question isn't the problem, the problem is the plethora of bad advice that is given.

Issues arising from ingesting substrate are so rare that many exotic vets never confirm an actual case. There are real documented exceptions, but they are so rare they don't even merit this being an issue.

I have had snakes, big and small ingest large amounts of woody substrate over three decades without ever having a problem. I have seen snakes looking like a bad Guinness Book of World Records stunt for swallowing matchsticks they had so much crap in their mouths.

And I have never had an issue.

So in that context, people who screw around trying to coax, massage, masturbate or tweeze wittle woody bits out of their snakes mouth trying to prevent a non-event are courting real issues. Issues that are palpable and that can lead to serious consequences.

Regurges can be incredibly dangerous to a snake. If aftercare is botched, it can easily lead to a second regurge which can easily lead to death.

It can also put a picky eater off of feed.

Why put your snake at risk for something that is so rare (impaction from substrate ingestion) that most vets never treat it in practice?

[gardenfiend138]

Why put your snake at risk for something that is so rare (impaction from substrate ingestion) that most vets never treat it in practice?

I wish I would have known this a couple of weeks ago! They basically did nothing both times I was there.

[MasonC2K]

so in that context, people who screw around trying to coax, massage, masturbate ...

omg! Lololololololol!