Reptile & Amphibian Forums

okay my baby hypo hondo female loved eating and never missed a meal, she ate 2 small f/t pinks each feeding. Now about 2 months ago i put her into a rack, after having her show tank for awhile, and i just gave her one small pink after a week in the rack and she ate it just fine. Then about a week and a half later i decided to give her a fuzzy, cuz she is growing like a weed, she ate it just fine but it seemed alittle big for her. Her next feeding i tried to offer her a smaller fuzzy but she refused it take it, i then waited a week and offered her a pink again and she whoofed it down with no problem. The next morning i checked on her and she regurgited the pink? I gave her a another week to rest and offered another and again she took it and regurgited it. I gave her another week of rest and offered another pink this time she kept it down. Now ever since, its been about 3 weeks now, she won't eat anything? i tried all the tricks and still nothing? But i haven't offered her a live pink yet. Doe's anyone know what else I can do for her?

Actually, the snake isn't stubborn, it has an intestinal problem that needs to be addressed. Regurges are a definite sign that something is VERY wrong, and it should be seen by a vet. A short regimen of Flagyl(Metronidazole) at 50mg./per kg., and another follow-up dose 10-14 days later should take care of this problem in short order. Trying to feed the snake is really the WORST thing you should be doing until the intestinal issue gets treated. The snake should NOT be fed at all during the treatment either, as it kills both bad AND the good gut bacteria that is needed for proper digestion.

The snake should also be able to access temps on one end of it's enclosure(ONLY) in the mid to high 80's, with the other end being an ambient temp in the mid 70's. This problem can snowball BIG-TIME and easily lead to the snake's death if not taken care of ASAP!. It is not very expensive either. Many times less than $50 bucks total.

It's life really depends on what action you take after reading this. I have seen this very same scenario play out many times in the past with people's snakes, and unless action is taken fast, the outcome is never good. I would bet a dollar to a donut that Flagyl is the answer to this particular problem, along with your temps probably being too cool as well.

Hope the snake gets better soon, but this depends on what you do now.

regards, ~Doug
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"a snake in the grass is a GOOD thing"

my website -serpentinespecialties.webs.com

Okay where can I can I get Flagyl at? I want to do all i can to help her.

It can be ordered online from MANY pet or farm stock related sites, but I strongly suggest a vet visit for the correct diagnosis and proper administration of it to most people. A few bucks is certainly worth the snake's life,...correct?

~Doug
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"a snake in the grass is a GOOD thing"

my website -serpentinespecialties.webs.com

Are there others in the same rack at same temps with same substrate that are not having problems?

If the initial problem was stress induced, then Flagyl will fix it. Did the display cage afford more hides?
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Mark

Yeah i have all the on pine shavings. No it had 2 hides and she stil has 2 hides. She is still fiesty and nippy as heck.

I hope it's at least kiln-dried, to cut down on the toxic phenols. Even so, I wouldn't use it... newspaper or paper towels would be a better choice, or non-toxic shavings/mulch like aspen or cypress bark. Some of your pictures show snakes on Carefresh bedding, that's fine, too. You don't feed your snake on that substrate, do you? If so, it may have ingested some, which leads you to a whole other category of health problems (impaction, organ failure) that Flagyl won't help with at all.

Sorry,
Nate

yes it is. I have had all my snakes on pine shavings for many years and never had a problem. Yeah I had use to carefresh for a while but it started to stick to the mouth of some of my snakes so I changed it. No I dont feed them on the substrate.

I use pine shavings and feed my animals on pineshavings. However, I have never had a problem indicating a need to switch. The quality of the pine shavings I can get at the same price in bulk versus the quality of aspen shavings I can get in bulk is incredible (get it at petco or petsmart). Much better texture. The aspen I can get feels like rough chunks of wood, less absorbent, and I am more apt to smell "weird" odors from it than the pine!! Also, my snakes seem to be more comfortable in it, and it appears more hygenic in its capabilities of trapping feces and urates.

Yeah,......shredded wood absorbs far better that very course "curly" chips that are nothing more than a bi-product of planing boards in a wood-shop. I find that the large thick chips are almost like expecting a 2" x 4" to be absorbent, and simply puddles-up underneath the chips when I go to "spot-clean" if it was a fairly recent dump..

Finer is better in my opinion, although it can be a bit dustier most of the time. This all depends on the packaging process, and if they go to any effort to remove any of the dust prior to packaging. Seems like there are pros and cons to just about everything in life..LOL!

~Doug
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"a snake in the grass is a GOOD thing"

my website -serpentinespecialties.webs.com

Well, your snakes aren't dropping dead (I hope), so far be it from me to argue with results. There's no shortage of pine trees here in Maine, so it's nice to know that I can use them in a pinch. Personally, I prefer the look of cypress mulch... always buy a big bag or two (the one with the Sinaloan printed on it) at the New England show.

What a coincidence I was just asking about Pine shavings. I've used pins shavings not chips for well over twenty years and I have never had a problem with it. I do however feed all my snakes in paper bags so there is no chance of them ingesting anything but mouse.
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King Snakes! Who can make a better mouse trap?
J Sierra

As others have said, stop feeding it! It sounds like you fed it too much or too large of a meal and it regurged. You disrupted the normal flora and attempted to feed it again, repeating the process and causing more potential problems. For me, as a rule, it anything regurges, I do not attempt to even feed it again for at least 3-4 weeks after. Years ago, this happened to a customer of mine. He continued to feed the snake and it died shortly there after. Of course, this is assuming that there isn't an internal parasite of some sort (didn't sound like it from your story).

They also make supplements that can be added to the rodent when you do feed it again. It helps regulate the normal flora. Just a thought.

Good Luck