Reptile & Amphibian Forums

On the 23rd I fed my young Texan two hopper mice, then on Sunday the 27th she ate only one hopper. She refused a second, BTW.
Yesterday afternoon I noticed that Dixie had regurged what appeared to be two mice.
Just the night before, it had gotten into the lower 50s (pretty cold for S. Florida) and I had left a few windows open... don't know, but that is my best guess as to why she yacked. Maybe she was too cold...
I know extreme temps can cause that because in early August she regurged, and I'm almost sure it's because she had eaten quite a bit a couple of days before the house was closed up (when I was out of town) with no air conditioner running and the temp in the house was pretty darn hot...
I just want to know what you guys think, am I overfeeding? Or should I just try harder to keep a constant temp in the house? Just so you know I bought a nice space heater and I ran it last night to keep the temp up in the house... nice and cozy this morning and all of my snakes seemed happy and healthy...
Any suggestions welcome, and thanks in advance for the advice.

Take care,

Justin

I truly admire the attachment you have for Dixie. You're probably correct to attribute probelms to temperature drop. Have you recently switched source for feeders?

np

Justin...
I think that it would make the most sense that it is temp related.

Do you have a basking spot during the day?
The snake should be able to heat itself up as needed...

Not that I'm an expert, but you might try feeding a little less, especially if nighttime temps are dipping a bit. It seems to me that two hoppers followed by two hoppers a few days later might be a little much...
What you could try is switching her to small fuzzy rats. My pair of erebennus (one of which is a sibling to yours) are both eating fuzzy rats every five days or so with no problems, and even though a fuzzy rat may be less volume than two hopper mice, it seems to stretch farther. Less fur = more meat.
Robert

For the next meal...I would wait a week and feed a SMALL meal.
Regurgitation can make the stomach sensitive and the last thing you want is a pattern of puking to develop.

Take it slow...and small...for a while

Thanks alot for that advice... I don't have the web at home so I only post/read from work when I get a moment. So on Friday, when I posted, I could not check again until today... since Friday I fed her one hopper... (Saturday) She seemed eager to have it... I've kept the windows closed every night since she regurged and ran the space heater too. The temp in the room is nice and cozy now.

I'll try smaller prey items from here on out and keep my fingers crossed.

Thanks again guys...

Justin

Hey Justin,
Sorry for the other email - I hadn't read this thread before.
Anyways, Keep the temps constant. I did best raising babies at about 85° night & day. With the regurge start off with smaller meals. Obviously it's been a while now, but if I have a snake puke I usually give it about 5-7 days & then only feed it one small pink. If it keeps it down, give it 2-3 days & feed it another small meal. Then you can start feeding it more frequently. I'd go to pink rats next & stay away from fuzzies & hoppers for a while - the hair seems to sometimes irritate the snakes digestive system & ,as I stated in my last email, they grow faster on rats.
Good luck & enjoy Dixie!
Max
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"I got out of the business because it's almost impossible to do business without breaking a law some place, whether you knowingly do it or not."
Tom Crutchfield