throwing up mice!!

ericschuh00 · 01-18-13, 10:21 AM

My columbian red tail boa who is fairly new keeps throwing up the mice i feed him about a week after she eats. Shes about 1.5 ft. Yesterday was the 3rd time its happened now and since I bought her she hasnt completely eaten a mouse.

I think it is most likely stress induced or maybe the tank is getting to cold at night?

I handled her 2 days after feeding and she threw up the first time but this thrid time i left her a week and then changed out the water so i was messing in the tank and that night she ended up puking up a mouse from a weeek before.

Any thoughts?!

Thanks!!

EDIT- I should add that she is acting completely normal and not doing anything out of the ordinary for a snake (ie. stargazing, skinny ect.)

Lankyrob · 01-18-13, 10:40 AM

If you can provide the temperatures of your hot and cold end, how the enclosure is set up (hides etc) theboa keepers should be able to help you

infernalis · 01-18-13, 11:08 AM

this is usually a sign that it's not warm enough to digest the food.

Will0W783 · 01-18-13, 12:20 PM

...or that it's TOO warm.

Once you have corrected any/all husbandry errors (temperature, humidity, etc) you will need to go about helping the snake to slowly build back up its stomach acids and intestinal flora. Regurgitating is very stressful to a snake, and they lose a LOT of stomach acids and intestinal flora-- much more than we do from vomiting. There is also a risk of intestinal damage if the snake regurges too many times. Many viperids do not recover once they've regurged 2-3 times, and some pythons as well. I'm not sure of the chances for a baby boa, but they should be fairly good if you take your time with the recovery.
Your best bet is to let the snake go longer than a usual gap between meals. I would say wait at least two weeks if the snake is a weekly eater..or even 2.5 weeks, then offer a SMALLER meal (i.e. if the snake normally eats adult mice, give a mouse hopper). If the snake eats frozen/thawed, inject some probiotics dissolved in Pedialyte into the mouse. Do not handle or stress the snake at all after it eats....wait and see if it can hold the food down.

If the snake keeps that meal down, wait another 2 weeks, then offer another hopper/probiotic meal.

Wait another 2 weeks, then try a slightly larger meal.

Again, the wait time is an example for a snake that would eat once a week. If the snake has been fed normally every 2 weeks, wait 3-4 weeks before the first recovery feeding and between each recovery feeding. If the snake will not take f/t you can't inject probiotics into the mouse.

I've had a lot of luck with this slow reintroduction of food regimen with tree vipers that had repeated regurgitation as well as rattlesnakes that had been starved.

ericschuh00 · 01-18-13, 12:56 PM

yes i agree that it is to cold after doing research so im going to buy a heating pad to help raise the temperature up a little bit. Temp at day is about 80 then at night it drops down to 70's. I live in wisconsin and its really cold right now so its tough keeping up the temps. Hummidity is really hard to keep steady as well in the winter but im trying to keep it above 40. He has a hide and uses it but is really active mostly. I will wait 2 weeks like stated but im afraid he hasnt actually eaten in over 3 weeks now. Will that be ok?

Thanks alot!

mykee · 01-18-13, 02:39 PM

If it is in fact a regurge (which usually happens ion a day or two) then your temps are way too low. A regurge is either a sign of an internal parasite or terrible husbandry.

Will0W783 · 01-18-13, 02:54 PM

Those temperatures are definitely too cold. The snake is regurging days after eating, because its body is trying to digest, but when it cannot digest the food before rotting sets in, the snake expels it.

Fix the temps, then try the recovery plan I suggested and your little boa should bounce back.

marvelfreak · 01-18-13, 03:10 PM

If your having trouble with keeping the temp and humidity up you could move it to a tub or totes with a UTH. Could we see pictures of your set up and what are you using right now for a heat source?

ericschuh00 · 01-18-13, 04:33 PM

Right now for heating i have 1 white light and a night time red light that are both at 75 watts so I think i am going to upgrade those tomorrow to about 125 watts. If UTH means under tank heater then i just installed one of those today. I also increased the temp of the actuall room so im thinking tomorrow that the heat should be higher then what it is now but if not im goning to upgrade the heating by getting higher wattage bulbs.

Thanks so much for help if theres anything else you would suggest let me know!

EmbraceCalamity · 01-18-13, 05:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ericschuh00

Right now for heating i have 1 white light and a night time red light that are both at 75 watts so I think i am going to upgrade those tomorrow to about 125 watts. If UTH means under tank heater then i just installed one of those today. I also increased the temp of the actuall room so im thinking tomorrow that the heat should be higher then what it is now but if not im goning to upgrade the heating by getting higher wattage bulbs.

Thanks so much for help if theres anything else you would suggest let me know!

What are you measuring temps with? With a 75 watt it seems like it should be warmer than just 80 - I presume you're talking about the warm side? What're the cool side temps?

UTHs are better. They don't dry the air like lights.

~Maggot

ericschuh00 · 01-18-13, 05:23 PM

Ya warm side its 82ish with the addition of the UTH now so im hoping it will continue to rise and i just turned the heat on in the room to max.

The main problem is that its winter here in wisconsin and my house is older so its hard to keep the room warm.

Im really hoping the new higher wattage bulb will increase the temp to my desired temp.

Thanks for help everyone.

EmbraceCalamity · 01-18-13, 05:37 PM

What are you measuring your temps with? If you put a hide over the UTH, it'll trap the heat in and warm it up pretty well. And if you're going to keep her in a tank with a screen top, you're going to need to cover part of it to keep some amount of humidity in.

~Maggot

ericschuh00 · 01-18-13, 06:01 PM

I am measuring heat with those petco gauges that everyone says dont work but they seem to be doing decent. The uth is under a log hide for him and he is starting to hang out there more then usual as I type this. The tank is covered with damp towels so the humitidy is looking really good now and the heat keeps rising as we speak because of the uth and raising to the heat in the room.

If it doesnt get to an ideal temp im goin to increase the wattage of light tomorrow.

Thanks so much for the help

EmbraceCalamity · 01-18-13, 06:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ericschuh00

I am measuring heat with those petco gauges that everyone says dont work but they seem to be doing decent.

How do you know that? What are you comparing them with? Are you calibrating them weekly?

~Maggot

ericschuh00 · 01-18-13, 07:09 PM

I have 2 of these guages in the room and they are giving me similiar readings thats why i assume they are accurate.

Heres a few pics of him. Letme know what you think of him.

Again thanks for the help