Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi,
Sorry for the long post but I am in no way claiming to be a "boa" person, allthough I have worked with multiple species of reptiles most of my life.
I bought an adult pair of CB Surinames about 5 years ago and they produced their first litter last year.
I sold most of the babies in Nov and Dec 06 and got a call from a buyer today saying her snake has regurged 3 times.
My snakes have never been near imports and they are truly CB in the USA so I was wondering if this is something seen in the boa world that happens from completely out of no where.
I want to also add that I was a bonehead when I shipped him, and fed him 3 days before I sent it out(I lost track of days until shipping) and it did regurge in the shipping box. I am totally to blame for that and feel horrible.
Is it possible that this is triggering the issue at hand? I asked what she is feeding the snake and it seems like the size is OK for the size of the snake. She did state the snake is growing normally. She is also feeding f/t and I was feeding live.
Any input would be greatly appreciated.
I am not posting this to get into a peeing match with the buyer.The money I got for the snake means little to me. That is not the issue.
I only sell healty animals and anyone who knows me will vouch for that. Without a clean name in the industry you are nothing as far as I am concerned.
I am just looking for answers.

Thanks a bunch,

Scott Pasqua

Find out if the buyer fed it right after the boa regurged in the box, because if that's the case, then it will continue to regurge until you give it enough time to build back the bile in its stomache to digest the food. The boa should be left alone and not fed for atleast 14 days or even more, if it has regurged muliple times, i would leave it alone for 3 weeks. What i've done in the past is administer orally some pedialite through an oral syringe to help rehydrate the animal. When the first meal is given after this, make sure it is a very small mouse, like pinky. Then feed every 10 days gradually increasing the size of the prey.
This is a very long process and the buyer should not get discouraged, there is still hope if they do their part.
Good luck.

I would say 100% the cause of the beginning regurge was your fault, but the fact it has been fed three times and regurged three times in the time since you shipped it tells me that the person who has it now needs to stop feeding it for a couple weeks. It needs time to heal, and now that it has regurged so many times it may need three weeks or more to heal, then feed it a very small meal, then wait ten days before feeding it again. Good luck . Craig Kade

As I am the owner of the snake being talked about I figure I should add my two cents. The snake regurged twice the day I got him. Once in the bag before he was taken out of the box and about a half an hour later, maybe less. He was taken to my reptile vet and given a clean bill of health as my vet could honestly find nothing wrong with him. He said lay off of feeding for a couple weeks so I did. When he did start eating he was given rat weaninglings f/t. He regurged for the first time since I got him on Sunday, three days after he was fed. He also had an abnormal shed despite ideal conditions (70% humidity and 85-90 degrees in his hot spot) I talked to my snake guru and this guy has been into snakes for as long as I can remember and he said not to necessarily worry about it as he might have just gotten stressed with me taking off his eyecaps. I agreed and we decided the vet would be called if he regurged next time. He has not been fed this week but will be given a mouse fuzzie two weeks from today.

As Scott mentioned, he IS growing normally and is in PERFECT health save for the whole puking bit. He is not dehydrated and again, outside of the puking, is an ideal snake.

If you wait two weeks from now to feed it a mouse fuzzy, then leave it completely alone, no handling for a week, he should be good to go. Let us know how it works. Good luck. Craig

I'd like to state that SWH is a friend of mine. She's intelligent, she isn't a novice snake owner. She isn't one of those "Ohh I have to hold it people!" that constantly handles and stresses their animal. I've been in contact and honestly have been asking about the snake since the day she got it. She has ideal conditions, she described her heating, humidity and it sounded perfect. The snake is NOT in a high traffic zone, it's in it's own quarentine room. There honestly is no logical reason for this animal to be doing this, were both baffled. It's a healthy happy reptile. Suggesting "wait two weeks feed it and leave it alone" is insulting to her intelligence, if I was her I'd be angry. Instead of treating her like a novice, help.

Oh, she forgot to add, she waited 3 days before un-sticking the shed, the animal was having a serious issue that HAD to be addressed, it wasn't a "omg touchy my snakey" thing.

try gerbils if they are legal there where you are, if not try hamsters. They smell different than rats and mice. This is a trick to get ball pythons to feed, maybe it'll work for these snakes too? Wait until spring and I think you'll see this snake eat. Good luck.

Caden
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Caden Chapman
slithering.serpents@gmail.com

Umm..Slithering, the snae is eating fine. It's just regurging.