Whos to say. Consider this - What happened first? Regurge or foul stool happened first. Why? Ate something bad more than likely. We do the same thing when we eat something foul.
We are also able to flush our systems through our kidneys by urination and rehydration. Snakes are different. They produce Urea and Uric Acid -- practically solids.

Sometimes a regurge will be adequate. Sometimes expulsion of foul stool may be adequate. Sometimes both are required.
Sometimes its necessary for the snake to shed its skin, as well as the two above. Sometimes all three aren't enough.

The other day I replied to a post inquiring as to rodent thawing methods. So, I went through my rendition on thawing them in a bucket or bowl of hot water. The guy that posted after me had what seemed to be a very simple and straight forward method. I got the impression he felt I was long winded and overly complicated. Truth is, my method is much simpler and much quicker. And much safer. You'd be surprised how leaving a rat out for 3 hours becomes 8 hours, before you know it. Not many people are going to throw that ripe rat out and start again, are they?

How does this relate to the current topic? Consider this -- if there's something bad inside that rat, setting it out on the counter until it reaches room temperature is only going to ripen, ferment and increase the toxicity of whatever is wrong with it. Does that make sense? Go back to the paragraph above.

Why does a Boid regurge when given too large a meal at too low an environmental temperature? Because the food item ferments in the snake's stomach faster than the snake can digest it and it becomes toxic (putrid). If the rat is set out at room remperature to thaw, the process is taking place before feeding, getting a headstart, and only getting worse as the rat sits out for hours.

What happens when a snake eats too fatty a rat? The fat is undigestable, becomes rancid, putrid, toxic in the snake's gut. Many many bacteria produce toxins as a byproduct of their normal metabolism. Heck, ammonia is toxic. That's just one of the most common byproducts of our own bodily function.

I believe the fat rat theory is valid. I believe it is one of many things that can make a boa sick. When you have a snake that in nature is naturally lean and you stuff him sausage fat, with nowhere to move about and exercize, you are creating a reptilian veal calf. His liver is pate fwa gra. If you add an additional fatty rat to the mix and he's alredy got enough fat to last a season, bad things are going to happen.

Boas were designed to have a much leaner diet in life -- lizards, frogs, scrawny birds, with long periods between mamallian feasts.

I once sold a kingsnake to a fellow. This guy had a rodent problem in his apartment. He put out poison bait for the mice. He found a dead mouse and he then fed it to his snake. Fresh killed is better than live, right lol? Next morning he had a belly up kingsnake. Go figure.

All I can say in summary, based on my previous experience, is that when they shed their colors, it's an internal problem.
When they shed from an external environmental irritant, there's melanin production and the snake winds up darker. Same as we do when we get a sunburn. We peal and we get darker. Melanin is the skin's mechanism for protection.

Sorry to be so long-winded.
jsc

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