Reptile & Amphibian Forums

If anyone has had problems with their Gila regurgitating a meal, I would greatly appreciate any information on what may cause this. My 2009 gila regurgitates about every 3-4 meal and I have no idea why. When this happens, the regurgitated fuzzy mice (or mouse) are very foul smelling. I feed either 2-3 hoppers a week, or 1-2 fuzzies a week. Anyhow, ANY thoughts would be much appreciated. THANKS

I've raised a couple dozen gilas n beadeds from hatchlings. For no particular reason three young gilas or so have given me some grief with regurging. Its scary and frustrating with all the horror stories n such when such valuable animals puke in my opinion. I've found its a dirty little secret amongst heloderm keepers thats hard to get these elitist keepers to fess up too! lol...THEY ALL PUKE ONCE IN A WHILE well most of them its not as big a deal in my opinion as we freak out on it to be, like cats coughing up hair...they don't digest hair or feathers well. Could be because in the wild they eat more baby animals nests and not so much adult prey......Although my older animals seem to hold everything down fine.......

I've had less digestion issues with beadeds than gilas....imo they are a whole lot more versatile than a gila.
SOME Young gilas I've discovered don't tolerate hair as well as others. Try feeding rat pinks instead of mice smaller meals every 3-4 days. I also soak my problem feeders the day after feeding for a couple hours. This seems to help dramatically too. Most important thing is to soak your young animals for at least twelve hours after they regurg to make certain they stay hydrated. I soak all my hatchlings n yearlings once a week for twelve hours. My trouble feeders all have outgrown the condition and went on to pound adult mice without any issues so just be patient concentrate on the hydration.
...Just my two cents, could be wrong.

Peace
Merry Christmas

Dennis, just wanted to say THANKS for the thoughts and suggestions. This has eased my fears somewhat and I appreciate you help.

I have never had a problem with regurgitating gilas, but 2-3 fuzzy/hopper mice a week is a LOT in my opinion. Does the animal look under weight? A lot of gilas are over fed IMO.

I feed my gilas every week from April-June, and every third week from mid-June to brumation (Dec. 1).

Best of luck,
Chris