Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I had an unusual thing happen tonight.. any insight would be appreciated..

So, I was cleaning the large tubs my adult BRB's are in tonight. I had a 2 tubs that were had had the same mulch for a month or so, so I dumped it and decided I would scrub the whole tank before putting every those two animals back. Well... long story short, I decided to wait until tomorrow to scrub and stuck both animals in an empty cage. (an '03 male and an '04 female) They were cycled w/ the others, but I wasn't going to breed them this year.

Anyway, I went downstairs to check on everyone before I went to bed and the smell hit me when I walked the door.. one of them had regurged.. So, I went ahead and set one of the ve175's back up, cleaned her up and put her in there. Cleaned the mess up and him.. and stuck him back in the temp cage.

Has anyone else ever seen something like this when introducing animals? While the female is a bit small (52-54" and about 3 lbs.. she is a bit bigger then her 18yr old mother and hasn't grown in a year) so she may be sexually mature.

I have never had a bit of trouble with either of those two eating (in fact.. both have a crazy feed response and eat every time offered). The last time they ate was Tues, both had two small rats.

Temps were fine (80 - 74 across the tank), humidity may have been a bit low (it is about 55% in that room though).. and they were only in there for about 3 or 4 hours before I found it.

I have dealt a couple of times w/ regurge before on other animals, so I understand how to proceed there.. what has me worried is the timing of events.. any thoughts?
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Tim,

I think the regurge has more to do with handling the animal than with anything related to reproduction or mating.

I'm sure you know that handling too soon after a meal can cause this. I would think that if they ate last Tuesday, there should have been plenty of time to digest, but for some reason, there wasn't.

You implied that it was the femae that regurgitated. How do you know?
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Mike Lockwood
www.tooscaley.com

Hey Mike.. The more I have thought about, the more agree. Even though it is more than 5 days after their last meal, from the mess, it obviously had not digested thoroughly. I did not handle them except from one tank to the next, but I guess that is the most logical explanation.

I don't know which snake it was though..

They both were in the area, and had a bit of the "aftermath" on them. So I cleaned her orginal tank, then took her out and wiped her down w/ a warm rag and then put her back in her original cage. I then, put him in a plastic tub, cleaned the temp tank.. wiped him off and put him back in.

Hopefully you are right w/ the handling.. oh well, They have been eating alot lately, I will give them both a few weeks and treat them as if each had regurged.
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photos.xtremecombatsports.com

Tim,
I don't think the regurg had anything to do with being handled too soon after eating or any health issues. I think what happened is two youngish snakes just becoming sexually mature were thrust into a nuetral environment (neithers normal enclosure) together and one was a bit overwhelmed and chucked (no way of knowing which?). Snakes regurg for a number of reasons (poor husbandry, threat to self, exc). I think yours was just upset about the new housemate in the new enclosure.
Paul

"(no way of knowing which?). "

Nope.. Unfortunately I have no clue, both had eaten on the same night, and same size rodents. Both were together when I found them, and the mess was right in the middle of them.

Between handling them, the new cage.. and me being in the room cleaning other cages late last night, I guess it just had one or both a bit nervous.

Oh well, thanks for your input..
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