please help!!!

[lyndsy_davis123]

I fed my 8 month old red tail boa a full grown adult mouse, and she regurgitated it 3 days later... why would she do that?

[lyndsy_davis123]

also, i found poop in its cage at the same time, so it pooped and regurgitated its mouse.. should i be concerned?

[Aaron_S]

I would suggest yes. Maybe you're temps are off. We can't help you without more information. Also it's probably too small of a meal too.

[lyndsy_davis123]

what more information would you need? last time i fed her a hopper because thats all i had at the time, and she did not regurgitate it. what size of mouse/rat do you think she should eat? she is 8 months almost 2 feet long. the adults seem kinda big for her..

[marvelfreak]

She should be eating rat fuzzies or bigger. What are you temp at the high side? They should be in the upper 80s to 90. If your temperature high enough it could cause them to regurgitate.

[Will0W783]

Hello Lyndsy...we actually would need quite a bit more information to accurately help you out. There are many reasons why a snake would regurgitate its food...some are easy fixes, others are more frightening.

Let's take care of the easy stuff first:

1. What are the temperatures in your cage? There should be a hot (basking) end and a cooler end. For a RTB, the hot end should be around 90-93 and the cool end around 80-85. If your temperatures are much higher or lower than this, the snake will regurge.
At temps too cold, the snake's digestive enzymes cannot work properly, and its metabolism will be too slow to digest the food, so it will regurge it. At temps too high, the food will spoil in the stomach before the snake can digest it...they eat whole animals, so it will likely regurge in a day or two. How soon after feeding did your snake regurge? Was the food item still mostly intact or did it look partially digested?

2. How thick is the snake versus the thickness of the mouse? A properly sized meal for a RTB will be slightly fatter than the snake at its widest point, but not by much. It should leave a bulge, small but noticeable, that gradually disappears over 2-3 days.

3. How often are you feeding the snake? An 8-month old boa should be fed every 7-10 days. If you're feeding more often, you're likely overfeeding it and that could contribute to the regurge.

4. If your temps are all correct and you haven't fed it a food item too large, and it's not been fed too often, you will need to take a fecal sample to your vet to check for worms.

[Jay]

Is your RTB Colombian?

[lyndsy_davis123]

no its not columbian. and i feed her every thursday. the mouse actually left a pretty big bulge, so yeah i think it was to big or her. the temp on the hot side is 87 and on the cool is 83.

[Will0W783]

I'd bump your hot end up a few degrees..try to get it at 90 or so. Give the snake two weeks before offering any food again, and when you do, offer it a very small meal (about half the size you think it should take). If it keeps that down, then next feeding you can go back to the regular sized prey.

[TeaNinja]

that's only a 4 degree difference in the hot and cold sides, they probably need more then that.
for example, in my ball pythons cage, it's around the low 90's on the hot side, and probably mid 70's on the cold side. they need a good amount of heat difference so they can choose which side to go to and thermoregulate. basically in your cage, your snake can choose hot, or hot. being too hot constantly is a good cause for regurge.

[lyndsy_davis123]

alright, today i am going to get a different heating pad because i think thats the problem. when i had to clean up the regurgitated mouse i thought i was going to puke like 10 times! haha the smell is aweful!

[Will0W783]

Ah yes...snake regurge is a terrible smell. One any snake-keeper becomes all too aware of over time.

I would avoid a heating pad honestly. Snakes are basking creatures, and their digestive system is set up to handle overhead heat. Too much belly heat can lead to impaction, kidney stones, and constant regurging because the food spoils before the snake can digest it. I prefer to use heating lights or ceramic heat emitting bulbs (no light, just heat). The best option in a lot of keepers' opinions is a radiant heat panel...they are efficient, can't burn the snake, heat the cage very evenly, but can get really expensive to buy.

[lyndsy_davis123]

well i do also have a heat lamp its wire and 150 watts

[stephanbakir]

I haven't used bulbs to heat my tanks, but for a snake, isn't 150 watts a LITTLE high?

[lyndsy_davis123]

haha not if the tank is 250 gal

[lyndsy_davis123]

well actually maybe... the guy at the petstore told me to use this one but he didnt seem to know alot abotu snakes haha

[Jay]

no its not Colombian.
Then what is it? I'm just asking because I know my Guyana is very finicky when it comes to feeding. A source told me that they are prone to regurgitation. I would defiantly increase your temps to a 91 basking. If you're not breeding the snake then don't let the temps drop at night.

[lyndsy_davis123]

alright, uhmm i am not to sure what kind of red tail. she just looks like a normal red tail haha. not to sure.

[lyndsy_davis123]

i also just found out i am pregnant, and i have such a weak stomache latelt so it was sooooo hard for my to clean the cage. i had to use tongs that were over a foot long haha

[stephanbakir]

Grats on the future baby? :) Get the hubby to clean it!

[lyndsy_davis123]

thanks! yeah, i should of but he was at work all day and i did not want it sitting in his cage all day!

[stephanbakir]

Teach the snake to shovel his own poo. Once you learn how teach us so we can do the same.

[Aaran]

Teach the snake to shovel his own poo. Once you learn how teach us so we can do the same.
Congrats on the kid :) And im Sure that this snake con do this already stephan

[whoaxmary]

Teach the snake to shovel his own poo. Once you learn how teach us so we can do the same.

I wiiiish. No more waking up to smelly snake poo.

[lyndsy_davis123]

haha!! my boa has something on her mouth that looks like it could be a piece of skin that hes going to shed? could it be that hes starting to shed?

[natsamjosh]

What about the humidity? Any idea what the humidity is in the cage? If you have the boa in a glass aquarium with a powerful heat lamp, the humidity might not be high enough.

[lyndsy_davis123]

yeah actually, yesterday i moved him into a container, i didnt have the humidity high enough even though i misted a lot.

[lyndsy_davis123]

yeah she the smorning.

[marionsclan]

One concern I would have about the size of the tank is that it might be too big for a young snake. I hear they get stressed if their environment is to vast in comparison to their size. Not sure how much truth there is to it but if it is a fact then maybe decreasing the size would make the snake feel more at ease. Just a thought.

[Lankyrob]

The size of the enclosure is less important than the number of hidey places. I have my baby BP straight in a 4foot vivarium but have about 90% of the floor space covered in hidey areas.

[ilovemypets1988]

if u want belly heat, the best way is to use a piece of slate bellow a heat lamp (simulates the sun heating up the ground).

what the distance between the bulb and the tank base?

as for food, once the 2 weeks have past and you have fed her a half sized mice, when u go back to normal, try a rat pup, there slightly bigger than mice hoppers but not overwhelmingly so.

heres a pic to show the difference in sizes:
http://images.canadianlisted.com/nlarge/frozen-feeder-mice-rats-natals-asf_4544473.jpg

best of luck to you

[lyndsy_davis123]

yeah the only problem is that the person i bought her off of was feeding her live and now she will only eat live. so the rats wont work. they have soft fur rats here though. i just hate feeding her live.

[SpOoKy]

I have personally not heard of a Boa that is live/f/t picky. It is usually Balls that have that problem, Boa's are known to eat pretty much anything.

[marionsclan]

Ok, call me ignorant but what does f/t stand for? I see it all over the place but can't figure it out. It's probably a 'duh' answer, huh? ;)

[Gungirl]

Frozen / Thawed

[Jay]

yeah the only problem is that the person i bought her off of was feeding her live and now she will only eat live. so the rats wont work. they have soft fur rats here though. i just hate feeding her live.

Do you know how big your boids going to get ? You need to swith it to rats asap. Wait 3 weeks with NO interaction besides water changes then offer it a fresh killed rat pup (20 – 29g)