arrrghhh new boa just regurgitated

[HetForHuman]

well i just found my new 4 month old bci just regurgitated her meal. she seemed to be doing fine since i fed her which was 2 days ago, but i went to look in her cage to check on her tonight and i seen her mouth was wide open, and all of a sudden i seen the little bulge from her belly moving up. the only thing i can think of is that last night it ended up snowing here and got fairly chilly so she might have cooled off a bit too much.
i keep her temps always the same which is about 85 on the hot spot and 78 or so on the cool side. this is the same way i kept my other boa for 2 years now and never a problem.

could it have been the cold snap??
could it have been a bad mouse??
i am going to start feeding rats now though
so what should i do??
i have never had this prob before

[Zoe]

Did you handle her after feeding her? That is always a possibility.

How cold did it get?

Zoe

[ReptiZone]

if you are feeding her every 2 days I am not surprised that she regurged. I used to feed every 3 days and then the vet said stop and that was a burm you have a BCI if the weather chilld out alot that is what did it. I have a 7 month old BCI female and she just started to eat rats last month (small) and she is near 3.5 feet nowshe takes a larg one but if she does not want a larg one I have small ones on reserve.
Take your time she will grow when she see fit my male is only 2,8 feet and he eats 2 small rats every 2 weeks I try to feed him weekly 1 rat a week but he will only eat every 2 weeks so when he does eat he gets seconds on his meal.

[hip]

Hey Het Sorry to hear about your problem with your boa.Did the temps in the enclosure go down over the cold night you had?I would figure that they are in your house so the furnace or the heat would have come on when the house cooled of a bit,so this could or could not be the problem.Your temps are a bit low increase your got spot to 88-90 and keep it there all the time.The day time high in the cool end should be around 80-84 82 being the median.let the night time low be in the 78-80 range.


Do not feed again for a week and make sure she has fresh water every day.Regurgeatating is very hard on a small boa and dehydrates them quite a bit,not to mention stresses them a fair amount.Place a hide box at the hot end,one at the cool end and one in the middle.Keep handling to a minimum for the next week let her relax.Switch to rat pups, mice do have a lot of hair(some boas can't keep mice down after a while) Feed her on a 7 day cycle for now(If she is crusing looking for food at night after 5 days try her with a small rat pup.Remember one prey item no bigger than the largest girdth of your boa.Keep the humidity in the 50-70% range (60% is about perfect).


Remember all boas are different so this one might require different husbandry practices to achieve a healthy problem free boa.I won't get into what I do for my B.c.i's as this will not help you with your boa and it's unique needs.I have always found most B.c.i's(except for a few ssp) to be the battle tank of the boa world.They eat well are easy to get along with and are very forgiving with husbandry errors.If you are still worried send me a pm and I will help you any way I can




Hip

[Frankie]

Could the mouse have been to big? You do know about waiting to feed agian for 14 days and a little smaller prey item.

[ReptiZone]

well I find 14 streching it but my male does it and he is verry healthy I would prefer a 7 day cycle but he just wont eat every week.

[Frankie]

I meant he should wait on trying to feed agian. I agree 7 day cycle is much more perferable.

[sSNAKESs.com]

I agree the cold is most likely why its regurged... if you feed a proper sized prey item, you definatly dont need to feed again for at least 7 days... Feed the thickness of the thickest part of its bidy, every 7 and you should be fine!

[zouleous]

When did he ever say he fed her every 2 days? I see him mentioning the last time he fed her...which was 2 days ago. Careful to read a post before you reply offering information imo.

Regurgitation: I had this problem with Buddy (my BCI) when I got him as well. Definitely give him the suggested week before trying to feed him again. The stomache enzymes need time to rebuild and if you feed a snake too soo he will most certainly spit it up all over again. I would try soaking him in spring water (it's like 58 cents for a gallon of cheap stuff at walmart) for at least 20 minutes each day. Make sure the water is luke warm and remember that what feels warm to you could be too hot for your snake. It's body temp is going to raise when it hits warm water where yours does not. So make sure it's just barely warm. My vet recommended this for me as it can help the snake's metabolism.

The first day I soaked my BCI after about 15 minutes out came some poop! Ever since that day he's eats great. Check out the "My First Rat" thread down further in this forum for pics =)
I can't assure you constapation is the problem with your BCI, but the soaking won't hurt. I'm pretty sure that's what my snake's problem was, but read on...

Buddy also got mites from a mouse I picked at the pet store I believe. So I would also check closely for parasites. Mites and tics can annoy a young boa to the point of regurgitation as well. After the week goes by and you try to feed him and he still regurgitates I would get make an appointment with the vet ASAP. It doesn't hurt to get him dewormed and tested for possible internal parasites (though I did not do the internal parasite testing). I did some research and had my vet prescribe me some Probiocin. Probiocin (form of probiotics) can help the snake rebuild the stomache enzymes he's losing when he regurgitates. There was one other thing the vet prescribed besides the probiocin, but I can't remember off the top of my head. FYI, the vet trip cost me like $70 in US money for the visit, deworming, and both prescriptions.

Again, this is what the case was for MY BCI, and may not be the case for yours. See a vet if he isn't eating soon.


Z

[Zoe]

There could really be a number of problems. But if your husbandry is good and your snake is healthy then it was probably the cold.

And yeah, he meant he fed his snake 2 days before she regurgitated. chondro I've seen 2 posts so far today you misinterpreted and chastised the person for it, so please read more carefully.

Zoe

[HetForHuman]

thanx for all the comments everyone i really appreciate it.
and no i dont feed every 2 days i feed her every 6-7 days right now.
this is the third mouse she has tooken for me in the month ive had her and there was no problems with mice before, so its leading me to think it was the cold too.
and no she does not have mites i check all my new snakes repeatedly for mites and she is free of them.
her humidity is always at least at a constant 50-55 and i usually give her a spray every few days to bring it up a bit more.
also i did not handle her at all except to put her back in her tank.
Thanx everyone

[HetForHuman]

also it has been so damn hot here in alberta that i had my temp gauge for my furnace off since i do not have air cond. it was a sweat box in my house. there was no sign it was suppose to snow and get below zero, but it did. i have all my lights on timers and it did come on at 7 in the morning but the cage still stayed quite cool for her. so iput a higher wattage bulb in for now while its still cool out to give her the extra heat while its cold.
i would have her in my snake room but she is new and i want to keep her away from my other snakes untill i make sure she is fine.
my snake room stays the warmest it is the warmest room in my house.i hopeto have her in there soon though.

[Randolph]

My new baby Boa regurgitated as well, but i had her in a dark place and left her alone when i checked all the mouse was gone and some muckus in the corner and on my snake. So it wasn't really a problem, but i am keeping an eye on it. I guess this doesn't help you much but just letting you know you're not the only one out there.