Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hey Guys!

So My RTB just upped from large mice to jumbo mice, and I fed him last Thursday. Today I noticed a lovely little present under his log... the mouse. Last time I fed him his large mouse, he ate one, but regurged the other. Any Ideas whats going on? Thanks!
My Sal

I know you mentioned RTB, but that animal pictured is not a redtail, and doesn't even look pure colombian bci.

Do you have other pics of it?

How old and large is the animal, how often are you feeding it, and how many/what sized prey?
What are the temps in your enclosure, both ambient, and on hot side?

From the pic, that may appear to be a central american variety, and they can't be fed like colombians can.

Hopefully we can help you out! Bci 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

Hey! The place where he was purchased said he was a Red tail, if he is not, then I dunno what he is! LOL He is about 3 ft long, and a little larger than a quarter at his thickest part. He was getting fed 2 mice 1 a wk, and was fine until about 3 wks ago. I have the temps at about 95 at his hot side, and about 85 at his cool side. Im not exactly sure how to post pics right onto the tread, but ( dont laugh) if you go to Myspace.com, and search for "Anette" then you can see all his pics. Ill attach one more onto this post! Thanks for the help!
Another Sal

Hi Again, I searched myspace for Anette and got many many pages... which one are you? can you send me the link?
rollojoe@hotmail.com

Your boa seems to be a central american, which stay smaller and thinner.
Almost all pet stores label almost all boa subspecies as redtails.. lol

Giving the length and girth you mentioned further makes me believe it is central american.

One mouse a week is more than enough, and the temps are TOO high, this is another reason it regurges.

Hot side, meaning ambient temps on hot side, should be a bit cooler, and the cool side should be quite a bit cooler..

Do you have a hot spot, like a UTH (under tank heater), or a heat lamp?

thanks, 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

Hey Joe!

I actually have a yahoo photo album of him that I just made yesterday! Well if thats the case, then what temps should I be keeping him at? Why is iit that most pet store just put him as a red tail. He was purchased at a reptile store, you would think they'd know the difference! LOL Thanks!!

The link below should bring you to my photos, if not i posted it in another one of my replys, so just let me know thanks!
Link

There are a few things that could cause regurgitation. First if you can still recognize the prey item after regurgitation than that means it is not being digested at all and that some impaction could be going on. Impaction is mainly caused by dehydration or feeding on loose substrate. If your snakes hot spot is not hot enough this will also disrupt his digestion process. The norm for hot spots is around 95 degrees and after a big meal all snakes need a nice hot spot to help digest their food. Second i noticed you said that your snake ate on large mouse and regurtittaed the other, if you are feeding him multiple prey items at once I would try only feeding him one and let him fully digest it first. If you over feed your snake that will definately make him regurge.

I had a big female with the same problem and I freeked out and rushed her to the vet. She was seriously impacted, I could see the lump in her and it was hard, they gave her something to break the impaction down and let it pass. I put a tub of water in her cage at first and she soaked in it for a week trying to get it to pass and nothing happened so i took her to the vet and thats when they treated her. I eventually moved her up to one of my top cages, turned up the heat some and put a tub of damp cypress mulch on part of the side. The damp mulch keeps the humidity up in the cage and she loves it because she stays in the mulch box and only comes out to get something to drink or frolick around at night.

I am no expert but this just from the experiences that i have had. I hope this helps you and if you have any more questions just ask.

Shot

That link should bring you to my Yahoo photo album of him! Thanks!!
Link

a young colombian boa, or perhaps central american and colombian mix, but YOUNG! I think the 2 mice is too much... and the 85-95 is too hot. Mine are more like 75-85 or 80-90 in rare cases.

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

My friend Mike (Flavor) had this reply on regurge and IMO was very informative. Does not point to why yours regurged but how to handle it now that it has.

Regurgitation can be very frustrating and can be a serious problem if not treated correctly.

Remember that when a snake regurgitates a meal it's kind of like throwing up a bowling ball or a watermelon. A lot of damage can be done to the lining of the digestive tract. This damage needs time to heal before another meal is eaten.

When I have a snake that regurgitates I will not feed it for two weeks from the day of regurg. When I do feed, I offer a meal that is very small. Literally, half the normal-sized meal. I will continue offering this size food item for 5 weeks. I do not want to stress the animal's digestive system at all during this period of time. The 6th - 10th feedings will be roughly 3/4 of the normal size. Only after about 12 feedings with no regurg am I confident enough to offer a full-sized meal.

Snakes are very efficient at converting food into snake. They will not starve or lose any body weight if they are fed small meals for three months. However, if you feed a snake too soon after a regurg or too big a meal right away, it will continue to regurgitate and deteroirate healthwise. Slow, steady progress is how to handle this problem.

Many things can cause regurgitation in animals. High temperatures, low temperatures. stress, handling, infection, dehydration. Double check the temps in your cages. How long after you fed the animals did you handle/transfer them?

Remember, slow, steady recovery. Good luck,

Mike
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Thanks,

Dave "Rainbows-R-Us"

0.1 Wife (WC)
0.2 kids (CBB)
4.12 Brazilian Rainbow Boa
2.1 Hypomelanistic BRB
0.1 Het for Hypomelanistic BRB
0.1 BCI "Elvira" normal from 1989
1.0 BCI albino / het-anery
0.1 BCI Hypo / het-albino
0.1 BCI Anery / het-albino
0.1 BCI Hypo (possible super)
1.0 BCI albino het stripe
1.0 BCI salmon hypo
0.1 BCI ghost

lots.lots.lots feeder mice and rats