Reptile & Amphibian Forums

The first time this happened, I wasn't too worried, but this is the second time in less then 6 months.

My adult female poss het pied looked like she had 12 eggs in her, but I didn't breed her! So I gave her a warm bath where she laid the longest fart I have ever herd. It trumped my dads best!..lol. Some yellow urates came out, but she was SOOOO hollow...filled with gas. She sheds, eats (med f/t rats (once a week)) and poops just fine, but this is the second time. Why is she getting so bloated? She lives on newspaper, so it can't be impaction. Im curious as to whom of you have had to deal with this, or know about it. And most importantly...should I be worried?

She is a CBB that I hatched from a pairing of CBB, so no WC.

Well, I guess this is a rare thing. Ralph told me to get a stool sample for the vet cause it might be an internal parasite from feeding bad rodents. I will try that and let you guys know what turns up.

On a side note, I have ALWAYS just thawed a whole bag of rodents, feed however many my snakes will eat, and then refreeze the rest. Some times ONE bag will last for 6-10 feedings. The rodents get pretty nasty after about 5 thaws and refreezes. Ralph said, "never refreeze!" So I have been a dumb ass for over 3 years. Now I have to re-evaluate the way I feed my collection. Weird that I never learned this. He thinks that it is a direct result of my feeding practices. We'll see what happens.

He's probably right. The rat is probably rotting in her stomach before she has a chance to digest. That would produce the gass you are seeing. I have had this happen with hatchlings a couple times when I gave them a meal that may have been a bit too large. Refreezing 6-10 times is WAY too much. I would not refreeze them more than once.
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John Vandegrift

Thanks, I will stick to only refreezing once. I am going to buy a few boxes of freezer bags and am going to put the rodents into them in singles so that I am not thawing more than I MIGHT feed.

We don't refreeze the meat we eat so it probably isn't the best idea to do it with rodents either.

I've never thawed out a steak in my fridge for three days and then re-frozen it and for the same reason I've never refrozen rats for my snakes. It's gross and unsanitary.
Not to mention bacteria-infested.
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