BRB eating question

[jglass38]

So tomorrow is 7 days since my underweight rescue case BRB regurged 2 mice (most likely due to overfeeding at the store where I got him and me holding him too much after the meal). Should I attempt to feed him 1 or 2 mice tomorrow? The back story on him is he was being nursed back to health by the crappy LPS near me after his owner's father brought him in due to the fact that his kid hadnt fed him in around 6 months or more and he was near death. He is very active now and very sweet and seems to be recovering well. I dont want to overfeed him but I dont want to underfeed either. He is around 5-5.5 feet. I would try a rat but I dont know if he can handle one yet in his recovery. Advice?

Thanks!

Jamie

[Big_V]

Go with the one mouse first and see how willing he is to take it. BRB's have really fast motabolisms so id feed one then just get some food in him then see what happens. Better to get some nurishment by being careful feeding 1 and maybe move up to 2 mice in a few weeks.

[jglass38]

Cool. Will do! He took both with no problem last time but then regurged. I figured one and then leaving him alone for 4 days or so.

[Big_V]

Yeah thats the best plan IMO. Dont press it too much if he has been having problems. Cuz once he does start eating he will pack it on nicely.

[jglass38]

Just fed Sasha one F/T mouse. We have been feeding him in a bare rubbermaid container rather than in his enclosure which has cypress mulch. He seems to have a lot of problem eating maybe because the lack of friction and grasp on the mouse? He seems to like to eat *** end first but he had so much trouble that he ended up bending it in half in his mouth so that the tail was near the head. Very strange. He is back in his enclosure and did not go to the water this time or to the warm hide but to the cool hide (78 degrees). Hopefully this is ok!

Jamie

[Linds]

Not at all strange. That's what happens when snakes are fed extremely small prey in proportion to what they are supposed to eat. If he holds it down, next time try a young rat. Does he have any RI symptoms or anything else that seems to be wrong? Rainbows do not tolerate neglect well at all, and by the sounds of his previous life, I'm very surprised he's still alive. Good luck with him, hopefully he makes a full recovery.

[jglass38]

So far so good Linds. No RI symptoms. No wheezing, stargazing etc. Hemanaged to keep down the last mouse since Friday. Is it time to go to a small rat? Thanks!

[jglass38]

I just checked his enclosure and his urates look a bit strange. Some white but mostly a yellow grainy type substance almost like sand. Any idea whether this is an issue?

[Linds]

Thats just mineral crystalization in his urates. Not abnormal in small amounts. I wouldn't worry about it yet, as he is recovering. He was likely very dehydrated and will take some time for his system to become properly hydrated again. You might want to inject water or a small amount of unflavoured pedialyte in to the prey item as well to help give him a boost :) Pedialyte works wonders on rescue cases and healthy animals alike, and can sometimes act as an appettite stimulant as well.

[jglass38]

So Sasha ate on the 5th and again today. He is doing great now! No regurges in the last 4 meals I am out of frozen mice so I am going to go to a rat for next meal. What size rat would you go with to transition from adult mice? Small rat too big? That would be quite larger than the adult mice he is used to.

[Ptindy]

Weaned rats, or pups.

Mike

[jglass38]

Going with pups starting next week! I am hoping to get her/him back to a normal thickness.