Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Well I went out of town on Thursday, Fed the kids Thursday morning before we left. We came home Sunday night, opened the door and were knocked out by the smell of a rotting body! I'm surprised the neighbors didn't call the cops to come investigate!

My juvenile suri had puked again, 3rd time since I bought him. I've had him about 6 months now. I thought the first time might be because the meal wasn't thoroughly thawed, So I have been dilegent to have them warmed properly. Husbandry--> they are in boaphile enclosures 80-90 degrees, I mist them every now and then. SO what now??? I've heard about using flagyl to end this problem, anyone up to date on dosing/ frequency/ route etc???

Thanks in advance,
Tony.

I've never medicated in response to regurge, however I have dealt with a couple of animals that had regurge problems in the past.

It would be helpful if you could provide the age, and size of your boa, also if it was captive bred, farmed or wild caught.
Also, what size meal are you feeding?

The general protocol for dealing with regurgeing animals is to stop feeding for 3 weeks. During that time make sure they have PLENTY of fresh water and allow the animal to soak at least once a week. I would get one of those dish bins and fill it with a few inches of room temperature water and let the snake sit in there. Some snakes really don't like being in water and in that case, a shallow level is best. Check the temperature of the water with a thermometer first, it should be as close as possible to the air temperature in the room to prevent a shock to the boa.

After 3 weeks try feeding a very small meal. If this is a baby boa, I would only feed a pinky mouse. If it is bigger, a rat pinky. The absense of hair seems to help with these problematic boas. The only downside is runny stools, so do not be alarmed. Without hair to hold the stool together and the added hydration it might get messy.

This worked well for me, and I continued feeding every 2 weeks with the small meal for 3 feedings, then I went to every week. After a month I went to normal meals. It's a long slow process, but it works.

Keep in mind that in the wild not all boas make it, some sadly can't be helped.
I would not use any medication if it can be avoided because they cause problems with the boas kidneys over time. I know plenty of people (me included) who have lost animals due to antibiotic treatment affecting the kidneys. In my case I did not have the full medical history of the boa before I had bought her.

In my honest opinion/experience, if your ambient temps are 80-90, and your hot spot maybe 10-20 degrees warmer, it is way too hot in there, which will cause regurges sometimes.

I remember many, many years ago when I had a tiny room with snakes, and for a short time the temps were around high 80's to 90's, and I had regurge problems.

Another thing to keep in mind is how long the snake has held the meal.

If a boa ate yesterday and regurged last night, the meal was still in the upper portion of the esophagus/stomach, and hasn't reached the really strong stomach acids that breaks everything down.
Regurging at this stage is much less traumatic, less stressful on the animal, and they can be fed with a week or two after, with care/caution.

If the boa ate 3-4 days ago, and then regurges (the meal will highly likely be mush by now, unless the cage was too cold, not allowing digestion), this is far more traumatic on the animal, as it also passes up those strong stomach acids, and 'burns' and possible tears the stomach and esophagus on the way up.

In this case, the boa should be watched carefully and not fed for atleast 3 weeks or so until the insides heal. Feeding prematurely can easily cause death.

Start with Chris's advise and then we can move on.

Best wishes...
Joe
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Thanks and take care - Joe Rollo
'Tis not the stongest of the species that will eventually survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change' Charles Darwin

Good points Joe.

I know the Barkers had some advice about this on their website. It mentioned that regurges can also lead to fluid getting in the lungs which can cause a boa to drown.

You need to try to figure out why it happened. If these are your first suri's they are very different than colombians, as far as regurgitation goes. The same sized Colombian can eat a much larger meal without regurging. Keep the meals smaller even after this is over. If you snake is wild caught, get a fecal sample on it. If it has parasites there's Flagyl and also Panacur, but they are for different parasites, so get the tests first, and at that time the vet can weigh your snake, and dose your snake properly. If it was jellylike, it regurged after a few days because digestion was already taking place, but the stench is the rotting flesh. If it isn't wild caught, it was likely too large a prey item or the wrong temps. You said 80-90 degrees, but you didn't say what the temps were on the cool side, the warm side, and the hot spot, in the daytime and at night. It's impossible to tell if your temps are right from your description. Please clarify them.

This poor guy has regurged 3 times in 6 months. Did you stop feeding for a while then feed tiny prey items each time, or not? How big/old is this boa? Is it wild caught?

Caden Chapman
slithering.serpents@gmail.com

>>Well I went out of town on Thursday, Fed the kids Thursday morning before we left. We came home Sunday night, opened the door and were knocked out by the smell of a rotting body! I'm surprised the neighbors didn't call the cops to come investigate!
>>
>>My juvenile suri had puked again, 3rd time since I bought him. I've had him about 6 months now. I thought the first time might be because the meal wasn't thoroughly thawed, So I have been dilegent to have them warmed properly. Husbandry--> they are in boaphile enclosures 80-90 degrees, I mist them every now and then. SO what now??? I've heard about using flagyl to end this problem, anyone up to date on dosing/ frequency/ route etc???
>>
>>Thanks in advance,
>>Tony.

I don't know any of his history. I bought him online, I haven't contacted them/ probably should. He's about 4.5 ft. I'm guessing late 05/ early 06? This is my first Suriname, I bought another that's just a babe from Barry Miller and haven't had a single problem.

Hot spot in my tanks are at 88-90 degrees, cool side's at 80ish. I will admit to one problem, I only have xl rats and rat fuzzies for the baby. However, the XL rat is barely noticeable after he swallows it, and he's a good sized snake. After the last regurges, I waited a while and went to the pet store for a med rat, which he had no problems with.

The rat he puked still resembled a rat, just a little gushier. I was out of town this time, but last two times it was on the second day.

He did have some loose stools when I first got him, so I definitely will go to the herp vet (emphasize herp vet, my wife's a vet and doesn't know squat about my boas!).

Thanks in advance for all the help, Attached is a recent picture of him.

Tony.

A Jumbo Rat is WAY TOO BIG for that animal, or any other 4-5' boa, unless it's a mature adult Bolivian Amarilli, which tend to get quite girthy and could have the girth of an 8' boa at about 5'.

The medium rat worked because that's what he should be eating.

Doing the right thing in the beginning can avoid many problems, as i'm sure you understand by now.

Next time, let's say you're snowed in for weeks and can't get the right sized prey items, give him 10-20 Pinky's before you try giving him a Jumbo again, otherwise you're only going to hurt him again.

Best wishes...
Joe
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Thanks and take care - Joe Rollo
'Tis not the stongest of the species that will eventually survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change' Charles Darwin

I agree with Joe, unless it is a VERY large male, most adult males are fine being fed a medium rat every 3 weeks.

Since you have had problems with it keeping a meal down try smalls first.

Also, as you mentioned you had a Suri from Barry Miller, a CBB from one of the best breeders and have not had a problem, I'd be willing to bet this animal is not CBB.