Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Help please.

my boa regurgitated a few weeks ago...i stupidly fed her only a couple of days after, because i noticed that she regurged after i had already fedher...and she regurged again...i took her to the vet and the vet said she looked normal. wasn't able to get a blood sample but the vet said that it should be stress related. My temps have been a little on the low side. Ambient temps of 78 during day and low 70s at night. I am sure that this is causing the regurgitation, but wouldn't i also notice a respiratory infection - mucus or wheezing??? she shows no signs of this.

The vet had previoiusly given her a solution that also contained flagyl and some food for her to digest. Shortly after she defecated and i took this sample to the vet and he did an analysis that showed nothing..no parasytes..

so i waited another week and fed her two days ago. today she regurged. I fear that she has regurgitation syndrome...i took her out of her location and have placed her in a warm location. I don't know what to do. I want her to get better.

Any ideas if it is related to the cool temps or could it be something else...or could it be something within her that would show up on a blood test.

Thanks for any info.

try a smaller meal. alot of younger boas regurg when fed to large of a meal. also temperture needs to be higher.

One dose of Flagyl was probably not enough. Our vet prescribes dosing every 3rd day for 3 doses. And do NOT feed anything for 2 to 3 weeks. Then start very small. If your snake is big enough to take an adult mouse only feed it a fuzzy, and then wait at least 10 days before feeding again and limit all handling. Keep feedings small and well spaced until it keeps things down. Ambient temps should be about 82* with a warm spot around 90*.
Good Luck,
Kathy

First thing you need to to raise the temps , i keep all my boas with an ambient temp of about 85f and a hot spot of 92/93f , then do not try to feed your boa for at least another week to 10 days then try and feed it on something about half the size or less than it would normally eat , then after this has been digested do the smae for another 2 feeds or so and gradually increase the food size

also, it may depend upon the type of boa. bcc's espescially surinames have regurge issues with rats at an early age. if you have a bcc and you are feeding it rat pups or whatnot, try switching to mice. but yes you should increase the temps to mid-high 80's and dont feed it for another 10-14 days. regurge is very tramatic to a snake and it needs time to heal. good luck.

You should have you snake tested for crypto. It won't show up on a typical fecal analysis that looks for other parasites and can not be treated with flagyl. you can either get a fecal sample or you can take a regurgitated meal as a sample.
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Michael McFadden, M.S., D.V.M.