Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have a 3 month old boa that regurgitated her last meal. This happened on friday and I fed her on tuesday(so three days later). I am guessing that I caused this by overfeeding her(I have been feeding her a mouse every 4 days for the last month). I have read that we should wait about 14 days and feed her again a small meal. What I am really wondering is what the chances are of her being cured of this problem? Also, I was wondering how often this problem occures? Is this common?

Josh

It is probably most common with young boas, and more common with BCC than BCI from what I have read. I would back off of any handling, except what is necessary to clean the cage. Check your temperatures and hide spots. Feed smaller prey items for awhile, and feed about once a week. Very gradually increase the prey size. Hold off refeeding after a regurgitation for a week or more, so it can rehydrate and settle down. I am not an expert, but this worked for me on 2 young BCIxBCC earlier this year. Frank

I agree with the last reply. I have only had my youngest BCI's have any regurg problems and I can usually stop it pretty quickly now just by not feeding for at least a week (I have waited up to 10 days) and then start feeding with the smallest prey food you have (pink mice). Just start up the feeding nice and slow. it takes patience, but it is the best thing for you snake..

I would check your temperatures. Make sure your snake has a warm spot to bask in to digest its meal. If possible, provide one in a hide if your snake likes to hide after it eats. It seems to me that after three days, the main digestive process should be fairly complete, so a regurgitation this late after feeding probably indicates that the food item is rotting in the snake's digestive system, rather than being absorbed. To me, your feeding schecule doesn't seem that aggressive. You might want to record the weight of the food item and the weight of the snake at each feeding. If you have problems with any particular snake, feed a smaller percentage food item at a slightly longer interval.

Good luck.