Just had a yearling regurge

[Geckilian]

Blot, a yearling I've had since Thursday, just regurged.

I fed him on recommendation from the store as his last meal had been the 3rd, so the 10th seemed good. I fed him a fuzzy as that's what the pet store said he was on. However after I fed him I continued to do forum reading and so forth, and came across the 'don't feed for the first week' advice. This worried my a bit, though Blot, the other corn I got at the time, has eaten, pooped and all is well.

However, 3 days after feeding him, he's regurged this -
http://i288.photobucket.com/albums/ll176/Geckilian/regurge.jpg

He had no bulge at all, suddenly came to the cool side of his tank and threw it up, and has gone back to the warm side. Temps are 82 to 85 for the warm, and 69 to 70 for the cold, constantly (through the night also). The regurge itself is very small - 3cm long by half a cm wide.

I'm hoping this is merely due to stress from having a new home? From what I understand, I should leave him for a week, feed him half a pinky, then leave for a week and continue with half pinkies till he's had 3 successful meals, then go on to pinkys?

Any help and advice would be greatly appreciated, as I'm quite worried about the little guy now.

[Geckilian]

Also, for the last 5 mins or so he's been rubbing his head against his own body - is this normal after a regurge to merely get clean? The only rubbing I'm aware of is due to a shed.

[Lennycorn]

I never had to deal with a regurge thanks goodness but this is what is post on the sticky by kathy Love about it!!
Kathy Love FAQ's

FAQ from Kathy Love on Regurgitation Treatment

THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT - once a snake has regurged, especially twice or more, it is more likely to keep on regurging until it dies, unless something is changed about its care and feeding. It is very important NOT to let this continue. PLEASE FOLLOW THE INSTRUCTIONS BELOW VERY CAREFULLY. This is from my FAQ on regurges:

I suspect your problem is probably not bad mice, but about handling too soon, feeding too soon or too large of a meal, a stomach "bug", or improper temps. If you make these mistakes once, or even twice, it is not usually a problem if you FOLLOW MY INSTRUCTIONS EXACTLY. But remember, each time it regurges, the stomach acids are depleted, and the whole electrolyte balance is thrown off more and more each time, and it makes it MORE likely that it will continue to throw up until it dies. (those consequences are just my opinions - I do not know if science backs up my conclusions, but my experience certainly does!) That is why it is so important to NOT ALLOW another regurge.

The next month or two is crucial. DO NOT feed it for AT LEAST 8 days since the last regurge. NOT ANYTHING AT ALL! Then get a newborn frozen pinky and cut it in half (or cut off just the head) If she eats it, leave her alone for a whole week. (no handling). Repeat the partial pinkie feeding the following week. Then feed a whole newborn pinkie a week after that, if there has been no regurge. Leave alone for a whole week. If she regurges, wait a week and repeat 1/2 pinkie. If she keeps it down, wait a week and repeat whole pinkie. If she holds down a couple of meals, DO NOT rush back into larger meals and more handling. Treat this seriously. Go very slowly. After 3 successful meals, go to a newborn pink every 5 days. Go back to normal feedings only after 6 successful meals. Always wait to handle until after 3 or 4 days, but only AFTER 6 successful meals. No handling until then (causes stress, need to keep stress down). And NEVER feed again right after a regurge - ALWAYS wait AT LEAST 7 or 8 days, maybe even up to 10 days, and then only feed something that was about 1/2 the size (or less) of what she regurged..

Also, be sure that temps are not too warm or cool. Try to give an area of low to mid 80s on one side and 70s on the other. Too hot or cold will cause regurges.

Grapefruit seed extract can sometimes help if the snake has some sort of "stomach bug" (any microbial problem) as it is a natural remedy that is good against many kinds of pathogens, but not as strong as an antibiotic prescribed by a doctor. This product has been used in agriculture for many years and seems to be very safe, as long as you dilute it with enough water that the acidity does not burn the tissues. A vet has told me he feels that it may somewhat alter the pH of the animal and thus change the way medicines are absorbed. So if you use this product and then take the snake to a vet, mention the treatment so it can be taken into account if the vet decides to change the prescription because of it. It is best to mix it in a glass and taste it to make sure it is not so bitter that the snake refuses to drink it. I have used it on myself and so has my husband. I find it works better on stomach problems than for other symptoms (such as respiratory - I didn't have any luck treating colds or other respiratory problems).You can buy it at a local health food store or online. Please refer to the following website for more background info:
http://www.nutriteam.com/index2.html

I have also had success with a probiotic called Nutri Bac, a fine powder containing seven different microflora that should be inhabiting the gut of reptiles, but may be absent due to stress, disease, antibiotic treatments, etc. Using the powder as a supplement will sometimes allow the reptile to get back the natural balance of microbes in its digestive tract, and then its own immune system can take over. See my website for more details, or go here:
http://www.cornutopia.com/Corn%20Ut...information.htm

The number of days and amounts of food, etc, suggested above are not set in stone. Other people may have success with slightly different formulas, but this is what I found works for me and many of my customers. If this protocol does not work when carefully followed, it is likely that the snake has some severe problems. Your only hope is a QUALIFIED herp vet, who may or may not be able to save your pet.

Please follow my care sheet for the first month or so when starting with new acquisitions (posted on my website for the first month's care of new corns).. The first month is crucial in getting the baby established. It is worth a little extra "coddling" for the first month in order to have a trouble free pet for the next 10 or 15 years or more.

Good luck!
Kathy Love

CONTACT INFO:

CORNUTOPIA / Kathy Love
Captive-Bred Cornsnakes

WEB: http://www.CornUtopia.com
TEL: (239) 728 2390
Backup tel. # 239-691-4414 (Cell)
EMAIL: kathy@CornUtopia.com
__________________

[Nanci]

He might be going to shed.

It's always safest to let a snake settle in for a week with no handling before attempting to feed, then feed a meal smaller than the snake would normally be eating for the first meal.

I would feed him a meal half the size of what he regurged, so a large pink, probably. I would cut it in half or in thirds and feed him all three pieces. How did the fuzzy look, compared to the snake? It should be the same to 1.5 times the diameter of the snake at the widest part, but it's really safest to stick to the same width or just very slightly larger.

I'd also order Nutriback from Kathy Love, or wherever- tons of places carry it now, and powder all his meals with that for six months at least, and never feed him in blue or when you suspect he might be.

So after the first meal I'd go to a peach fuzzy, cut in half, feed both halves, then the same, then a small fuzzy, and evaluate from there. I'd feed at a five day interval. After the small fuzzy, you could go back to whole fuzzys, but I would slit the back and sides of the mouse and continue to do so until the snake is on adults. I mean 4-6 shallow slits just through the skin on each side.

[DMong]

If you follow Kathy Love's steps to the VERY LETTER, and the snake has access to warm temps in the low to mid 80's on one side ONLY of it's enclosure, and it STILL regurges even one more time, then it is time to get a dose of Flagyl(Metronidazole) for intestinal bacteria. When conditions warrant this medication, it can turn things around like absolute MAGIC!. I administer this myself, but would strongly recommend you take it to a qualified reptile vet for a fecal floatation for proper diagnosis. The proper dosing is 50 mg./per kg. of body weight. During this time do NOT feed it ANYTHING whatsoever for at least 7 to 10 days after the dose, as the medication kills bad as well as GOOD bacteria that needed for proper digestion. The snake MUST be allowed to regain the proper stomach flora to then properly digest it;s next meal after being medicated. And when you DO feed it, you need to feed it a much smaller meal than normal to make sure it is digested properly. After several smaller meals, you can then gradually work up to normal larger meals. The key thing to remember is to ensure it doesn't regurge again.

I have had countless people thank me later on for saving their snakes lives over the years from doing this when it is needed.

There are only a few things that commonly cause snakes to regurgitate, and they are handling/stress soon after a meal, temps to cool to allow proper digestion, temps too warm, too large a meal. All things Kathy Love addressed above, and also bad intestinal/stomach bacteria (that I just addressed).

Consider all these important things and figure which of these conditions are not suitable, and correct them and the snake will be fine, it all depends on what you do with this extremely helpful info.

Good luck with things, and I hope the snake does well from now on following these above steps.



~Doug

[Tatile]

Geckilian and I have done come searches, but we can't seem to find anywhere in the UK that sells Nutribac and we don't really know of any suitable alternatives. Any ideas?