Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I just received a call from a friend today that has a problem with her Everglades ratsnake. It seems that for the past couple months, he has been unable to fully digest any food. He eats and about 2 days later, regurgitates the partially digested food. She has had him for about 10 years and there have been no changes and no new additions. She has tried multiple food items and different sizes to see if that made a difference, but no luck. Aside from this problem, she says he still looks healthy and acts normal aside from acting more hungry than usual. She was hoping to avoid the additional cost of a vet visit, though that was my recommendation. Any thoughts, ideas, and suggestions are appreciated.

Well since there is no apparent weight loss, that is a good sign however how long is she waiting between feeds? She must wait at least two weeks and offer a small hopper and if it keeps it down, then do the same for every two weeks for about 2 months. When a snake barfs, it regurges beneficial bacteria that help it digest food. Hence, the more it regurges, the less likely it will ever fully digest a meal. Also, she needs to see if it is a male who is active for a female and holding food is a problem to it. Or it may be a female that is gravid and does not want to hold food? Either case, good luck but go small and extend feeding periods and keep a good eye on the snakes weight and proper housing conditions to include no handling of the snake for a while.

Dan

I concur with oxy and second any advice he has to give, he's an expert in my books

While this snake has been kept for 10 years with no problems, it is sometimes helpfull to get back to basics and verify aspects such as temperature, stress, breeding cycle, cagemates, ect.

The general rule of thumb is that whatever you try, if the snake loses 10% body mass, then a vet visit is warranted. A gram scale is necessary for this.

Wish your friend luck

Ian