Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hello all. I've never posted in this forum and I'm hoping to get some help or suggestions..

I have an '06 female Rosy that will eat and VERY slowly digest the meal only to bring it back up 4 to 5 days after eating... As you can imagine, it's almost totally unrecognizable as a prey item.

My husbandry isnt the issue because she is only one of my 26 Rosy's that has this condition..

She is CB but from WC parents..

Hope someone here can help me out with a possible cause and or solution..

thanks much.
byron.d

hmm, an 06', how old? For now I'll guess 6 months. You're really the rosy expert here, but as for regurgiation, I see three common causes, although there are less common reasons that are possible (impactions, cancer, abscess, birth defects ect.)
Was this animal eating well before? Has it had any other problems?

1)Temperature. Like you said, you keep rosies enough where you know what you're doing. Is there something that might have slipped by? A draft or burnt out heat element... snoop around.

2)Dehydration. The smaller the animal, the more easy dehydration jumps on you. Dehydration is often a symptom of some other medical problem, but itself can also be the sole problem. Is a humid hide available (even desert animals utilize burrows or rock crevices that have a higher humidity)? Remember that 90% of young animals will do fine in husbandry rated a 9 out of 10, but there is that percentage that needs a 10 out of 10. Anywhere you can troubleshoot the need for improvements?

3)You've undoubteably heard of wild caughts = parasites. Parasites can be transmitted to the young before they are born, but it's also likely that intestinal parasites (worms, coccidia, bacteria, amoeba ect) were obtained from the stool released as the female litters.

Whatever the cause, trouble shoot the husbandry as always, and monitor weight loss. A 7% loss in a young animal is time for nutritional intervention (tube feeding or assist feeding). This is of no benefit however, if regurgitation follows. Veterinary care is probably your best bet at this stage.

At home, I'd wait a 10 days without feeding (provided weight loss isn't an issue). Feed the smallest meal accepted. Wait another 7 days or until stool passes and feed another meal of similar or only slightly larger size. Use your judgement. Slowly increase meal size until normal feeding is resumed, but don't surpass one meal per week until you're sure everything is perfect.

Last bit of advice... you can never be to early for a vet appointment, but it's hard to recoup from being a minute too late.

Good luck, you sound like you have an amazing collection

Ian

I wish every response were as thorough as well thought as yours!!
I appreciate it very much.

My first thought was and is internal parasites transferred from the mother or litter mates.. Unfortunately, I dont have contact with the breeder to verify weather others in the litter are having the same problem..

The animal in question is right in the neighborhood of 3 months of age... She as eaten several meals for me and I always lean towards offering smaller prey items to all my snakes - easier on the snake and easier on me...

This is the second time she's regurged. After the first I followed my standard protocol of waiting two weeks and then offered her a very small pink - no luck keeping it down...

You brought up impaction..... That could very well be it.. I noticed that the swelling from her small meal seemed to stay with her for much longer than normal... Although I feed in deli cups, impaction is still possible... Of course the swelling could also indicate other problems that cant be diagnosed without testing. Regarding water. I provide my Rosy boas a water dish at all times. Some keepers / breeders prefer to only offer water once a week or so, but with young boas (and adults) I think it better to always have it available.

I've kept a very close eye her weight, which hasnt changed at all.
She is still very active and alert as well.

I'm going to watch for a stool so that I can have it looked at just to be safe...

Thanks again for all your advice!! I'll be sure to post an update on her!

byron.d

I have heard that some rosy's will drink a lot of water after feeding, and this will make them regurge. Try taking the water out for a few days after you feed.
I think the best thing you could do is take a fecal sample to your vet. All of my snakes are CB but, parasites can still be a problem without you even knowing it.

Good luck