Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi
My yearling BCO regurged again yesterday.. she has done it a few times in the last year. But this time i fed her a small rat and she regurged about a week later and what came out was like the size of a fuzzy mouse. Is it possible that she cannot handle the fur so she digests everything else and regurges the fur?
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"If you talk to animals,
they will talk with you
and you will know each other.

If you do not talk to them,
you will not know them,
and what you do not know
you will fear.

What one fears,
one destroys."
.

-Chief Dan George

A couple of husbandry questions to be addressed.

How often are you feeding?

How soon after regurgitation are you feeding the next meal?

How big is the prey item in relation to the snake?

How soon after feeding do you handle your boa?

What are you using to heat the enclosure?

What are you using to control the temps in the enclosure?

What is the humidity level in the enclosure?

From whom are you buying your feeder rodents?

Are they F/T? And if so, how do you thaw them out and how do you determine that they prey item is thawed enough to be fed?

Once we have the answers to these questions, we'll be more able to help!

Thanks,
jb
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What's written above is purely my opinion. In fact, MOST of what you read on the internet is someone's opinion. Don't take it too seriously

Jonathan Brady
DeviantConstrictors.com
Deviant Constrictors picturetrail

With it being winter time im only feeding about every other week.

Last time she regurged I waited about 3 weeks to feed her and she didnt regurge for a few months til the other day.

I fed her a small rat, it was a larger meal then she has gotten in the past but it was maybe a tad bigger than her largest point. Usually I feed her a couple smaller ones but I thought she could handle the bit larger of a meal. She in the past has regurged smaller meals.

I really don't handle her unless i am cleaning her cage, and i never handle any of my snakes after they eat i wait at least 3 days to be safe.

She is in a constrictors northwest HDPE cage, which i heat with heat tape and is controlled by a herpstat.

Im really not sure of the humidity levels, but she always has perfect sheds, none of my boas ever have a bad shed. ( knock on wood that they dont start lol)

I fed her a rat that i bred, it was frozen.defrosted before i fed it to her.

I defrost them in a baggie in warm water, and replace the water over a few hours then when i feel they are completely defrosted i let them sit in hot water to rise the temp of the meal up.

-----
"If you talk to animals,
they will talk with you
and you will know each other.

If you do not talk to them,
you will not know them,
and what you do not know
you will fear.

What one fears,
one destroys."
.

-Chief Dan George

The only recommendations I might make would be to make sure that you're not feeding anything that would bloat the snake during the winter months - so, small meals. I'd also lean towards the conservative side for feeding frequency. If every other week is your winter schedule, make that your summer schedule and your winter schedule could be every 2.5-3 weeks.

Handling after feeding sounds good, but I try to shoot for 5 days with my BCC or any animal that I suspect may have a sensitive stomach. So possibly extending that time may be beneficial.

I'm not sure that any of these recommendations will make a difference, but they're worth a try. My thoughts behind them are that the snake has shown a tendency to regurg quite a bit, so it's worth it to be VERY conservative. Also it's an Argentine. BCO's are generally from a higher elevation and cooler climate. My GUESS (don't know for sure) is that during the winter months, they probably eat very little in the wild due to a lack of sufficient heat to stay warm and digest food. So pulling back on the meals this time of year could fit perfectly with their natural evolution.

Other than that, I'd recommend a vet visit to a qualified herp vet. Have them check for everything, parasites, bacteria, etc..

Good luck with everything... jb
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What's written above is purely my opinion. In fact, MOST of what you read on the internet is someone's opinion. Don't take it too seriously

Jonathan Brady
DeviantConstrictors.com
Deviant Constrictors picturetrail

thank you for your help I appreciate it.
-----
"If you talk to animals,
they will talk with you
and you will know each other.

If you do not talk to them,
you will not know them,
and what you do not know
you will fear.

What one fears,
one destroys."
.

-Chief Dan George

OK so my BCO regurged the other day, what looked to be a small furball. But I looked in her cage today and she had deficated over night. And its a healthy looking poop. Im really starting to think she cant tolerate the fur. I do have some hairless rats, maybe i should put them back together and try feeding her only hairless.
-----
"If you talk to animals,
they will talk with you
and you will know each other.

If you do not talk to them,
you will not know them,
and what you do not know
you will fear.

What one fears,
one destroys."
.

-Chief Dan George