Reptile & Amphibian Forums

My 9 year old boa just regurgitated it's last meal yesterday. This has never happened before and I am a bit nervous. I recently had a problem with the heat lights and relaced them with flex watt the last time I feed them. I attatched the flex watt on the top of the enclosure but was not happy with the temps so I figured a new way to heat with lamps and put them in. However I think that the unstable temps lead to the regurgitation. I feed her on Dec 30 and she regurgitated yesterday Jan 8. Thats 10 days later. The meal was fairly large but not much larger than she's had for the last 7 years.

I set her up in quarantene with bottom heat and will let her reast for 14 days. I then plan to give her a relatively small rat and see what happens.

Is there anyone who has been through this that can add advise in what I should be doing otherwise. I would seek a vet but I need a stool sample to look for internal parasites etc.

I have kept snakes for over 15 years and have never had this problem, althogh I also have never fed when changing heat sources before and will never do it again!!

If you have her in quarantine with belly heat, I don't see how you don't have proper belly heat set up on the cage itself.

If she regurged almost 2 weeks after she ate, then there is little to no heat at all being offered to her... she didn't digest a thing in 2 weeks.

I'm sorry but heat lamps are nowhere near adequate for heating reptiles, and especially such a larger adult.

I strongly recommend to provide her with adequate belly heat in her own enclosure and make sure the hot side is atleast 85-95, and the ambient temps atleast 75-85.

She could have a cold (respiratory infection) from being cool for so long, which could be why she regurged.

Make it warmer for her!

take care, Joe
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Thanks and take care - Joe Rollo
'Tis not the stongest of the species that will eventually survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change' Charles Darwin

I do not trust heat pads or flex watt inside an enclosure. This may just be because I never have done it but I do not plan on using it in enclosures. Right now she is in a large sterilite box (over 100qt) with a heat pad underneith one side. I use belly heat on all my rack kept snakes but my boas are to large to keep in a rack.

I normally keep her and another adult in a large homemade terrarium and cannot supply belly heat through the bottom of the enclosure in any why that I have used before, but have used heat lamps and am able to get temps of 75-80 up to 95 at the basking sites.

The problem was that last time I fed her I also changed heat sources at the same time as the previous fixtures were giving me trouble. The new source could not provide the heat needed so I changed back to bulbs until I can build new enclosures. I was planing on making new terrariums as the one I have now is inefficient on space and I want to go back to housing them seperately.

If you can't use heat pads/tape outside the enclosure, and are scared to used it inside, or don't trust it, do this...

Get a blanket box sized rubbermaid tub or similar, fill it about halfway with aquarium gravel, or something similar, and then get that heat pad, heat matt, or heat tape and place it inside this tub.

You leave the tub open, and you place the heat inside either all the way below the gravel, or somewhere in the middle of it, until it warms the top layer up to the desired temps.

I used to have to do this with the old big Kane Heat Matts before I could get thermostats and rheostats. Tape the wires to the sides of the tub so they are not in the way.

If you are placing the heat all the way at the bottom of this tub, cut some holes in the bottom of the tub to allow urates to seep out, this way it won't puddle up and damage the heat source.

later, Joe
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Thanks and take care - Joe Rollo
'Tis not the stongest of the species that will eventually survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change' Charles Darwin

That sounds like a good idea as I would not have to worry about the bedding catching fire. Also the snakes would not dig down to it or tear it up. The gravel would also allow for good air circulation.

Thank you I will have to try that.