Regurgitation

[ReptileRant]

For this sort of post, it helps to tell us the size of the snake and something about the snake's cage, particularly the temperature. You stated that you have rescued snakes before, but how much experience have you had with ball pythons? I'm guessing that you are relatively inexperienced with ball pythons and the snake is a baby. If this is wrong, please make allowances for my ignorance.

For dehydration, put about half an inch of water in a glass or plastic container. Water should be around 85 degrees Fahrenheit or a bit higher (cool to your finger). Leave snake in the container for 15-30 minutes. Repeat every couple of days for a week or two.

Don't try to feed the snake for a couple of weeks from the time he upchucked. That will let his esophagus heal from the stomach acids on the mouse.

The most common reason a snake gives food back to you is he is too cold. Try for 85 to 90 at the hot end of the cage and high 70s to low 80s in the cool end.

Security is a major issue for ball pythons. They are agoraphobes. Give the little guy a nice, tight hiding box or two in different parts of the cage. You want the snake to feel something contacting belly, sides and back. Dampened sphagnum moss (from a garden center) is good. If that is unavailable, a few nylon pot scrubbers may do the trick. Wetting the hiding box's contents raises the humidity and may increase the probability of eating by giving the snake the idea that it is wet season, when food is plentiful.

These are the high spots. Personally I am optimistic, because the little guy ate once for you. Good luck, and keep us posted.

So Ive bred ball pythons for several years now and rescued a few snakes in bad condition. However, I’ve never had one this malnourished. Yes it is a baby and it came to the store underweight. It was at the store for 3 months, but because the people caring for it were not all knowledgeable it did not get better or worse. It did eat a small mouse almost every week, and never regurgitated there. She did have a minor prolapse which was fixed with soaking, but it is strange that it happened at all. She is now in a snake rack at proper temp and is no longer dehydrated. She is still very malnourished though.


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