Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have a pair of Baja Rats that I acquired as yearlings, and per the advice of the breeder, I feed them small meals and never attempt to push them. I maintain them exactly like my subocs, as far as temperature, availability of water, humidity, etc. I bred them at three years of age, and they produced fertile eggs. Ever since laying that clutch of eggs, both the male and female have been prone to regurgitating (the female more so than the male).

I have heard that "regurgitation syndrome" in Bajas is common when fed too often or too large of meals, or when kept with too much water, and is likely irreversible. I don't really think their feeding schedule is to blame, but I don't know what else it could be either. They have a very small water dish in a large enclosure, and I make sure the bedding always stays dry. Both snake have been treated with Panacur and Flagyl. They tend to keep live meals down better than frozen, but neither is 100%, or even 50%. Neither snake appears underweight.

What do you do with snakes that get the mysterious "regurgitation syndrome?" Is there any fixing the problem, or is it truly irreversible? I appreciate any insight.

Thanks,
Ronda
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Ronda Van Winkle
Northwest Herpetoculture

That is somewhat curious that both started this regurge syndrome at about the same time. Do you keep them caged together? While I have no experience with rosaliae, I keep three adult subocs and haven't had this sort of problem. Chronic regurging is a serious problem in any snake, but you don't say how often this is occurring. I would try this approach with the next event:

Don't feed the snake for at least 2 weeks. I've been told that those gastric juices really inflame the GI tract, and the animal needs time to recover. I believe the biggest mistake many keepers make is feeding the animal to soon after a regurge. You did say your animals had good body weight. Adult snakes can go a month without a meal with no harm. This may allow more than enough time for their digestive tract to recover.

When you feed them again, give them a very small meal. I would try a mouse fuzzy. All you want is something that they can completely digest without further incident.

You may wish to consider consulting with a vet regarding an oral Baytril regimen, in case some sort of chronic infection is part of the problem. Good luck and keep us posted.

Thank you for your thoughts on the matter. I do wait a few weeks (average 2-3, sometimes longer) between meals, and usually offer a fuzzy or small hopper. I *hate* smelling and cleaning up puked mouse, so its quite possible that there have been 1-month stretches where they were not offered food. They have never been housed together, except for breeding. I also have three adult subocs, and none of them have ever thrown up a meal.

As for the timeline... I'm not at home so I can't review my records, but I think it goes something like this: They hatched in '98, were acquired by me in '99 and bred successfully in 2001. The female began regurging after egg laying in 2001, and the male began sometime between 2001 and 2002. I could be off by a year (they may be 1999 animals), but I don't think so. It sounds about right that they are now 5 years old. What I don't understand is why they don't look completely emaciated after 1-2 years of regurgitating? These are the only two adult Bajas I've ever seen, so I really don't know how big they are supposed to be, but I'm sure I'd recognize an underweight snake if I saw one. Someone once told me that their Bajas are about 5 feet in length... Mine aren't nearly that long.

Thanks for the tip on oral Baytril... may give that a try.

Ronda
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Ronda Van Winkle
Northwest Herpetoculture

I've kept Baja Rats on and off for several years and have experienced the same type of thing. I wished I could offer some real solutions but it helps to back off when they they do regurge, not feed for awhile and start back with small meals. It seems once they start to regurge it is harder not keep them from not doing it. It does seem very important to keep meals small and infrequent to keep this from occurring. The male in the above pic is the most aggressive breeding snake I've seen and I only feed him a few times/year and his body weight is good. Also, I've seen in other female snakes after laying that if given to big of a meal after laying you may have regurge problems even though they may could normally handle such a meal.

Nice looking snake!!

Thanks for the info... Its nice to know I'm not the only one who has had problems with this species. Interesting that you only feed him a few times a year. I think I remember reading a few months ago about someone who has a once-a-month feeding schedule for their Bajas. Prior to the regurgitation problem, they were fed on a weekly schedule, but always very small meals such as a small hopper mouse. I guess their systems just can't handle that.

Yes, it definitely could have been that the female wasn't ready for a meal after egg-laying, even a small meal. Not sure what the male's problem is? Sympathy regurging?!

Thanks,
Ronda
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Ronda Van Winkle
Northwest Herpetoculture

I have one Baja (a three foot female). She does ok as long as I give her one fuzzy every two weeks. If it's a hopper she throws it up. I have had similar problems with feeding subocs.
Frank