Reptile & Amphibian Forums

ok my boyfriend went to pick up our burmese and it hissed as usual and he ignored it as usual and he picked it up and a stream of water/ flew out of his mouth! it looked like he threw up water. he ate a rat 3 to 4 hours prior and drank some water afterwards. what could this be? should i freak and call the vet? he is acting normal all except the water thing. he just got over pnemonia (spelling) 2 weeks ago or so. thanks you all for the replies to the previous post!!

I don't think handling them after they eat is a good idea. I'm not an expert or anything, but everyone I know gives their snakes atleast 24hours after feeding for them to digest so you don't stress them and/or give them time to digest to avoid regurgitation (sp?).

I don't know whats up with the water thing, but from now on you might want to give your burm a day or so to digest its meal before handling it.

Goodluck,

Richard

After eating a meal burmese will usually drink a good amount of water to aid digestion. While snakes have muscles that can hold a solid food item in place, the same can not be said about water. Until the water can mix with the meal as it is broken down into liquid "soup" and passed into the intestines the water will roll out of the snake's throat and mouth if its head and neck are lower than its stomach or at a steep incline.

It is best to not hold a snake for a few days after it eats.

>>ok my boyfriend went to pick up our burmese and it hissed as usual and he ignored it as usual and he picked it up and a stream of water/ flew out of his mouth! it looked like he threw up water. he ate a rat 3 to 4 hours prior and drank some water afterwards. what could this be? should i freak and call the vet? he is acting normal all except the water thing. he just got over pnemonia (spelling) 2 weeks ago or so. thanks you all for the replies to the previous post!!
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Believe in yourself and your abilities and you can accomplish anything.

If it happens again, try to see if the clear liquid is thin like water or thick and slimy. A couple of months back I picked up my boa and when he tilted his head down clear gooey liquid came out of his mouth. Later that day he ended up regugitating a jumbo rat that I gave him 2 weeks prior that was basically turned to mush. I took him to the vet and all was well, we concluded that it was probably lower than ideal temps that caused the meal to not get fully digested and thus thrown up. Keep us posted.

I've had two Burmese pythons projectile vomit water. In both cases, stress was definitely a factor. The only recent case was in October due to a new cage with insufficient cover/hide areas.

Keep an eye on him and make sure it doesn't become chronic. Boots only did that once -- after adding some fake plants for hiding under, she has yet to do it a second time.

Best of luck,

--jr