Dexter Regurgitated Rats Twice This Month

[Kara]

Adding Nutribac to drinking water helps to give your snake another opportunity to get some beneficial bacteria into his system prior to feeding. Dust it lightly across the surface of the water & whisk in, repeat as necessary. You'll want to change water no later than every other day, preferably every day, if you go with this method. It just takes a gram or so of the powder, but it's also easy to go through it pretty quickly using this route. Not the optimal method, but better than nothing.

This is why mixing a slurry with NB & water and syringing it to the snake is usually the fastest way to get that initial dose in. To do so, the snake should be restrained in an appropriately-sized restraint tube, and held gently, but firmly, by an assistant. The person doing the dosing opens the snake's mouth with a stiff rubber spatula so there's no damage to the snake's teeth or gums, and quickly syringes the slurry down the snake's throat. Definitely not fun, but neither is watching a python decline due to regurgitation issues. The good news is it (usually) only needs to be done once.

As far as the caution against letting the Nutribac come into contact with water, this is with regard to it being used to dust rodents, and also to ensure it is stored properly. Exposed to water/humidity (i.e. left uncapped or with a measure of the powder intended for use but left sitting out), it will become cakey depending upon the amount of water and length of exposure. Same goes for dusting rodents with it - the rodents don't need to be sopping wet. It helps to spritz them with a sprayer (preferably a fine mist), then shake off any excess water prior to dusting. A damp rodent and and a fine dusting of Nutribac typically get the job done without issue.

So...not the most glamorous aspect of herpetoculture by far. In the days before commercially-available probiotics, snakes with chronic regurge issues were force-fed feces from healthy snakes of the same species to help re-establish gut flora. Good times.