Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Thanks to those who posted their dire predictions for my ETBs that have had the occasional regurge. It certainly put me in a depressed mode. My question is, are ALL regurges symptomatic of underlying internal maladies that eventually prove to be fatal??

All fed last week and held down their meals just fine. I tweaked their caging parameters a bit - DTH 83F, NTL 79F and lowered the average humidity to 50% from 70% (24 hr. average). The temp. extremes had been at 84F and 80F respectively. I also seriously reduced the size of the prey item for each snake. I will also err on the side of feeding frequency and only feed on a monthly basis regardless of their outwardly manifested desires to feed.

For now I will take the naive and optimistic position that its my husbandry parameters and prey item-size that are the contributing factor to the 'gurges when they occur. One can always hope, right?

Bill

Bill
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The Menagerie:
3.8 Emerald Tree Boas
2.4 Spilotes Pullatus
1.3 Chondros
2.4 Red Tailed Green Rats - Maylasian Origin
2.2 Scrub Pythons (Kofiau, Moluccan)
1.1 "Sunburst" Indian Sand Boas (Adults retain juvie coloration)
Veileds, Jacksons, and Panther Chams
1.1 American Bulldogs

I do agree, not all regurges are symptomatic of disease. My Pseustes posecilonotus have done it a few times, and usually it is a direct result of a larger meal size, and a "fight or flight" reaction. The snakes' health always checks out perfectly.

Which is also why I mentioned that I would have had fecals run before giving meds.

Fecals are next! I have a busy travel schedule for biz. over the next 60 days so my oldest son is on "fecal alert" lol. Awesome Pseuses my friend! I have "reservations" out w/a few importers. Now that the Spilotes are about ready to be cycled I'm hoping some will come in.

Do they inhabit Panama? We bought a townhome on an island off the coast on the Caribbean side and I've already seen a giant Spilotes and a gravid Boa (BCI). I believe Annulated Tree Boas are there but I haven't had the time to really explore. Our next trip down will be to close on the property upon completion next Spring.

Bill
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The Menagerie:
3.8 Emerald Tree Boas
2.4 Spilotes Pullatus
1.3 Chondros
2.4 Red Tailed Green Rats - Maylasian Origin
2.2 Scrub Pythons (Kofiau, Moluccan)
1.1 "Sunburst" Indian Sand Boas (Adults retain juvie coloration)
Veileds, Jacksons, and Panther Chams
1.1 American Bulldogs

Yes,

Pseustes poecilonotus has a fairly large range actually. From Mexico into South America.

I, of course, am not all too excited to see WC animals come available. In part because I paid quite a bit for my cbb pair. But I am someone who will pay the extra money to support the captive bred selection. Especially captive breeding efforts outside the U.S. I can't blame the local people who are feeding their families by collecting hundreds of animals from the wild. But it would be really nice to see a trend where people were willing to pay more for the cbb individuals. I was kind of hoping this market would move in that direction.

But that is just my sappy take to save the world.

I will say nothing further regarding your regurge issue, as I was relating my experience. However I do believe you are treading on dangerous ground with that humidity level. DTH humidity should be in the low to mid 80% range. Averaging 50% may lead to an RI.
Again, I'm speaking from my experience.

Craig

Craig,

I greatly appreciated your insights presented in your first reply! If I wasn't open to advice, suggestions, or even criticisms I wouldn't post! Even after 20 odd years of keeping herps I for one will never be too proud to ask for and subsequently heed sage advice.

Humidity is a constant issue here in Vegas. I can literally dump a gallon of water on the floor of my snake room and it will be gone in an hour! I utilize Barrs cages now and they've really made a difference. Humidity never dips below 50% w/a large water bowl and a once daily misting. Acually misting the Helix panels will ramp it up in minutes. Thanks for the comments and I'll bump it up a few notches. Funny thing though, none of my ETBs have ever had an UR issue.

I keep my Black Tree Monitors in a "saturated" state and they love it - average humidity for the little devils is around 80%.

Thanks again for taking the time and effort to respond and please don't hesitate to chime in!

Bill
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The Menagerie:
3.8 Emerald Tree Boas
2.4 Spilotes Pullatus
1.3 Chondros
2.4 Red Tailed Green Rats - Maylasian Origin
2.2 Scrub Pythons (Kofiau, Moluccan)
1.1 "Sunburst" Indian Sand Boas (Adults retain juvie coloration)
Veileds, Jacksons, and Panther Chams
1.1 American Bulldogs

I´m averaging 60& over 24h. I´ve never had any problems and my pair had 3 babys in july this year. Am i in the risk-zone of too low humidity? I feel like it could be to low?

Pictures of the babys is in another thread below. They has eaten five times now and is growing faster then I thought.
More pictures will come when the colorchange starts.

/Henke

Bill,

It looks like you have a nice set up there with all those BARRs cages... My suggestion is that you remove every emerald that has puked on you and freeze them. Then bleach every cage throughout and replace the occupants with quality, captive bred emeralds from a reputable breeder... I can say that I have tried in the past to come up with every possible excuse for why my WC emeralds were puking their meals ie: (too large of prey, too humid, not humid enough, too hot, too cold, parisites... yadda yadda)

It might even be worth your while to get rid of all of them so you don't risk passing anything on to any new CB babies that might enter the collection... Sorry for any hurt feelings this post might cause..

Rob

Thanks for the honest reply but I'm not going to do what you suggest. The ones that have puked, which were the reason for my original post, have fed and defecated normally since their last regurgitation with no incidents.

I may be a bit myopic here but I just can't throw in the towel quite yet. I'm going to stick to a 7 week feeding regimen of REALLY small prey items in relation to the size of the snake and take my chances.

Bill
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The Menagerie:
3.8 Emerald Tree Boas
2.4 Spilotes Pullatus
1.3 Chondros
2.4 Red Tailed Green Rats - Maylasian Origin
2.2 Scrub Pythons (Kofiau, Moluccan)
1.1 "Sunburst" Indian Sand Boas (Adults retain juvie coloration)
Veileds, Jacksons, and Panther Chams
1.1 American Bulldogs