Rainbow Boa Vomiting

ArcoIris · 04-14-20, 09:24 AM

Hello all!

New forum member here. First, I hope everyone is doing well in these times of so much uncertainty.

I’m writing this post in hopes any info or help gleaned helps others in the future as to this point, I’ve found no help or assistance for my snakes issues.

My snake is vomiting some sort of thick white mucus like membrane. Could be a worm, could be a mucus membrane.

No, it is not the urate that usually accompanies feces. No it is not regurgitate. I know what these things look like as I have 30 years of keeping boas and never seen anything like this. I will post pics for hope someone can identify.

Backstory.

My feeder rat moved to Memphis. I ordered new frozen rat feeder for her in January and she fed immediately as she has since hatch over 6 years ago. That would be the last time she fed. She would not accept any more of the rats I order (40 pack) and no, she has never refused food in her life. It is now 4 months and a shed since she’s eaten which is obviously concerning.

She has an amazing home with two large hides in both temp gradients and all husbandry sound as it’s been for decades. I know how to create a great environment complete with temp, humidity gradient and monitoring so it isn’t any of that. She is the lone reptile and has never been outside so she couldn’t have “caught” anything.

So, the only variable is the new feeders.

I was alarmed by the “fasting” as again she’s never refused food but she is more active than ever. Which is kind of wierd considering she hasn’t eaten. What is even more wierd is she is active and out of her hides all day. Prior to the feeding in January she has been nocturnal as is normal for her species. Now, she’s out and active all day.

Although she is perfectly docile, I rarely handle her As I’m aware that snakes don’t like us. I’m not one of these noobs who argue this, I know for a fact snakes prefer to be left alone. So she isn’t stressed for from handling, same large aquarium for years so she hasn’t been stressed from a new move.

I’m at a loss. Vets are clueless by me and short staffed because of the virus. Don’t know what to do.

I have removed and replaced all substrate and furniture. I will attach pics of the discharge in hopes someone has seen this before once I figure out how to do so. I keep getting errors telling me to manually resize photos.

Thanks for reading my novel 😩.

ClockwerkBonnet · 04-16-20, 02:23 PM

What are the temps and humidity that the gradients are set to?

ArcoIris · 04-16-20, 06:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ClockwerkBonnet

What are the temps and humidity that the gradients are set to?

Thanks for your reply.

I keep the cool side of her tank at 75° and the warm side from 80-88° and the humidity stays between 75-85% with a misting system on a timer. There is a second level in her vivarium that has a basking spot at 93° that she likes to climb to sometimes to aid digestion after feeding. She’s been staying under her hide on the warm side lately when resting which is new for her. She’s very active even though she hasn’t eaten in months.

Behavior is wierd, for her. Last few days she comes to the door of the tank, waits for me to open and climbs out onto my arm every time I’m in the room. This is straight up bizarre as In all of her 6 years, she’s never done that. I’ve always had to remove her and I don’t handle her often. Once a month when I clean the tank. I prefer to leave my snakes be but of course this new found “affection” is pretty cool aside from the issues I listed above.

chairman · 04-17-20, 10:00 AM

I think you need to make 5 posts before you can post pictures. Just post your description of the enclosure, temps, thermostat used, etc as separate posts and you should be good. If I remember correctly than one of the users on here has quite a bit of experience with rainbow boas suffering health issues, I imagine she's likely to provide good advice.

ArcoIris · 04-17-20, 02:42 PM

Thanks Chairman!

Excellent news to report. My BRB chowed down on a small rat last night! Still monitoring closely to see how she digests and if the mucus vomit/discharge returns but so relieved she finally fed. Never in 20 years of snake keeping have I had a boa refuse to eat for months so it’s been pretty stressful.

The only thing I did differently was increase the temperature on the warm side of the tank so for now I’m thinking that the last rat she ate was too big or didn’t digest well for some reason.

I will keep posting updates on how she’s doing and also welcome any perspectives or experiences from others that may shed further light for myself and others.

ArcoIris · 04-17-20, 03:00 PM

Vivarium Description:

Size: 3.5 x 3.5 x 4
Substrate: 6” of coco fir (loves to dig), sphagnum moss, bamboo
2 large cave hides on either side, second level with dark heat basking bulb
Gradient: 75° cool side, 80-88° warm side, 92° basking platform
Large water dish on the cool side.
Jumpstart thermostat regulating under tank heat wire that covers 30% of tank
Mist King mister on timer keeps humidity level between 75-85.
2 Digital Temp/Hygrometers on either end with probes monitoring ground and ambient climate

Before latest feed issue, she eats every 10-14 days. Handled on average once a month, twice occasionally for 6+ years.

Shes on the longer side of BRBs I’ve had at approximately 8’. She eats small rats but is about the girth of a medium rat. Thickest part of her body is comparable to a 16 Oz water bottle.

ArcoIris · 04-17-20, 04:44 PM

She doesn’t appear to be having any digestion issues thus far and is back to climbing about looking for that allusive way out...more confident that the last meal was just too big. From now on, small rats 3/4 size of her widest section.

ArcoIris · 04-22-20, 01:22 PM

Although my boa has eaten finally, she is still vomiting a very concerning mucus like substance in her water bowl. It doesn’t move but looks alive. Hard to explain but I’ve never seen anything like it.

I can’t find any information about snake vomit. Just regurg which this is not. I wish I could figure out how to upload photos but they don’t show. I have them hosted in drop box and the embed code shows but no pic.

chairman · 04-22-20, 05:02 PM

To post pics, click on the "Insert Image" icon in the Quick Reply box. Add the url of the image and it should post. I usually post from Imgur, that seems to work fairly well.

ArcoIris · 04-22-20, 06:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by chairman

To post pics, click on the "Insert Image" icon in the Quick Reply box. Add the url of the image and it should post. I usually post from Imgur, that seems to work fairly well.

Those are the steps I took but it didn’t post from my Dropbox. I tapped edit and tried again each time the imbed code looked fine but no dice. Two posts back you may see an empty thumbnail where the pic should be. I’ll try Imgur next. Thank you.