regurgitating snake

LuvDux · 04-02-12, 10:12 PM

On March 3 I bought my first snake from a reptile expo. I got a male kenyan sand boa and named him Hammer. The guy I got him from said he was feeding his snakes live mice. I used frozen/thawed pinkies and Hammer didn't have a problem eating them, he just won't keep them down. I fed him the first time on March 6 which was 7 days from his last feeding. A few days later he regurgitated it. I didn't know that's what it was at the time, I thought it was poop. So a week later I fed him again and when he regurged that one I thought "It is supposed to still look like a mouse and smell so bad?", did some research, and found out it wasn't poop. I got on a another forum but those guys weren't a whole lot of help and stopped responding. They said that Hammer should be eating fuzzies and not pinkies so on the 29th I gave him a fuzzy and a few days later he regurgitated that one too. I'm calling the vet tomorrow to see if there is anything they can do. I was told to get him checked for parasites but I don't have a fecal sample to provide.

At the beginning I had Hammer in sand substrate (I took him out of the tank to feed so he wouldn't ingest any sand) but after the second regurge I have switched him over to aspen. I don't have anything between the aspen and the bottom of the tank. On the bottom of the tank (its 10 gallons) is a Zoo-med UTH mini size. It's 4 watts. I have a shallow water dish on the other side of the tank and a small hiding place in the middle. I also have a light but it's not for heating. 76.4

I switched him to aspen because I was told the aspen would have better air circulation and lower my temps. In the sand it was 97 on the warm side and about 80 on the cool side. Now it is almost 115 directly over the middle of the UTH, 76.4 on the cool side, and 81.5 in the middle which is even hotter. The humidity right now is at 40.

So here are my questions:

What temps should my tank be at?
Should I get a terrarium liner?
Is the UTH too small? Too big? It covers about a 1/4 of the bottom.
Should he be eating pinkies or fuzzies?
If the vet cannot check for parasites without a fecal can I go ahead and treat him for it just in case?

He still has a good appetite and eats everything I give him but also regurgitates everything I give him. Lately he seems to be getting agitated and may be losing weight. I post some pictures of him and the tank and get his current weight. The guy I got him from said Hammer was from last years hatch so is he considered a yearling? I'm not sure of the exact date.