Regurgitation?

[DannyA]

My snake clearly regurgitated a portion of his meal from the previous week last night. I thought it was feces at first, but when I took it out it was definitely the remains of the mouse he had eaten the previous Monday. This concerned me because it doesn't seem normal for him to have the mouse in his system for that long. It was definitely partially digested, but I would have expected it to be out of his system "through the other hole" by now. Should I be worried? Was the mouse too big?

[dr del]

Hi,

Have you checked your temps? I would have expected it to have been digested as well if he had access to the proper temps and had no other problems.

Are you certain its a regurge and not just a hairy peice of excrement?


dr del

[Stewart_Reptiles]

If you are positive that your BP as regurgitated I would recommend you to make an appointment to an herp vet.

While regurgitation can be due to something as simple as improper temps, or stress it can also be due to internal parasites.

In the mean time allow two weeks before attempting to feed your BP again.

[LadyOhh]

Stress is usually the main factor of regurge, secondly being illness.

Post your setup, and lets see what could have caused it, OR if you are feeling up to it, take it to a vet.

[DannyA]

I don't have any way of posting my setup right now, but I can describe it: it is a 20 long with newspaper substrate, with a hide box on the cool side and water in the center. Temps are generally in the high 80s on the warm side and high 70s on the cool side.

I have noticed that he has been staying under the heat lamp for extended periods, and that has worried me too because he's out in the open and doesn't seem to mind. He does spend most of the day in his hiding spot, though. He digested the last mouse fine with the same temps, which is why I am confused.

He isn't showing any RI symptoms that I know about (then again I know very little) and he is very active at night and when I handle him. I'll hold off on feeding him and I have a vet in mind if I need it. It is a new environment, I suppose, but again he had no problem digesting his mouse 2 weeks ago.

[dr del]

Hi,

O.k your probably going to want to change a few things just from that but a couple of questions first to plan the process;

What are you using to measure those temperatures?

Where in the tank (side,height,inside or outside hides) are you measuring them?

Was there any differences in the mice you fed him - was this one larger or smell funny or anything compared to the first?


dr del

[DannyA]

I am using a laser temperature reader. Obvously that's not the technical name, but that pretty much describes it. You point it at a spot and it measures the temperature at that spot, and it is extremely accurate. I know it's not the best, but I am "makeshifting" at the moment, and I would say that those are the straight air temps (nothing from in the hide box). And the mouse was not discernibly different from the previous mouse, although I suspect he may have gotten a little fatter due to free access to food. I have noticed that the 3rd of the trio seems to have a gut that he may have developed over the past 2 weeks. Also, I forgot to mention that my Ball was born in October, so he is very young. The mice are testing the limits of the "no food wider than the snake" rule, but they aren't any bigger than that. I would have preferred a slightly smaller mouse, but I am cursed with a city that has very little variety in feeders. These were the smallest I could buy (including frozen, which he doesn't eat anyway).

[giaach]

I had a regurge a while back with my normal female, I took her to the vet and nothing showed up with the fecal float test. I changed my setup from a 10gal glass aquarium to a 16qt tub and once she was all settled in, I never had anymore problems. My best advice is to get him/her to a vet to make sure they are not sick.

[GiNGERFiSH]

"through the other hole" nice visual. anywho, before his next meal try some pepto. Seems to help me a bunch when Im feeling poopy.