Regurg issue in Imerial pueblan

[RAD House]

I recently bought an Imperial Pueblan milk snake(75% Pueblan milksnake and 25% Cal Kingsnake) and I am looking for some advice. I fed a few days after I received him to give him a little time to settle. He took the small pinkie just fine. I didn't see him for five or six days as I was out of town. When I got back home I noticed he regurged a half digested pinkie mouse. I thought that this may be due to the stress of travel. So I waited a week and offered him another smaller pinkie which he readily took. I visually checked up on him for the next few days and on the fourth day I found another half digested regurg. I have one side of his cage set at around 85 F with a thermostat and heat pad and the other side stays around 70-68 F. The humidity on the cool side is about 40% and he always has a bowl of clean water. I am using aspen bedding and he has three hides spread out throughout the tank. Should I be concerned and do you have any advice for me?

[marvelfreak]

Check your temps. 80% of the time if a snake pukes up a meal it because of stress or improper temps.

[Rattlehead]

It gets my attention that the regurge comes in the 4th day. Shouldn't him digest it a little faster? Maybe the real temp is lower than the thermometer reads

[RAD House]

I was wondering about that too and I checked the temperature with a different thermometer and it was fairly accurate. I turned the temp up to 87 F to see if that might help him some.

[Rattlehead]

Try with smaller items if possible, after a week. I think your little fella will be ok with some extra warmth

[RAD House]

I sure hope so, I really love that little bugger. Thanks for your help.

[marvelfreak]

Originally Posted by MesoCorney

I was wondering about that too and I checked the temperature with a different thermometer and it was fairly accurate. I turned the temp up to 87 F to see if that might help him some.

You should get a temp gun. You be amazed at how off temps can be. I was having issues with this very same problem a few years back. i was told to get a temp gun. I had three different thermometer telling me my temps on my hot side were 84f. Got the temp gun and checked it was 90f wich is way to hot for BRB. That why mine had regurgitated was the temp was to high. Actually deadly for BRB. So then i checked all of my cages and on the average my temps were off 5 degrees F. The thing you want to check is surface temps because this is where your snake spends it time.

[sharthun]

Originally Posted by marvelfreak

You should get a temp gun. You be amazed at how off temps can be. I was having issues with this very same problem a few years back. i was told to get a temp gun. I had three different thermometer telling me my temps on my hot side were 84f. Got the temp gun and checked it was 90f wich is way to hot for BRB. That why mine had regurgitated was the temp was to high. Actually deadly for BRB. So then i checked all of my cages and on the average my temps were off 5 degrees F. The thing you want to check is surface temps because this is where your snake spends it time.

So true! Makes it easier to spot check temps and make adjustments.

[Primal Rage]

Colubrids will sometimes act funny this time of the year even if you keep their temps the same year around. Maybe try smaller food items or braining if you are worried. If your humidity is really low that could be another factor.

[RAD House]

I just ordered a temp gun. I guess I will just have to wait and see. Thanks everyone for their advice.

[RAD House]

Hey all just wanted to give everyone an update. I uped his temp a bit and fed him a small pinkie last Wednesday. Luckily he kept it down. He has been out since Friday hunting around his cage. I will give another small pinkie today but so far so good. Thanks everyone for the advice.

[Rattlehead]

I'm glad for the good news. When one of my girls regurged, I was really concerned, I even had nightmares that week lol