Hexadeci
10-18-2011, 12:09 AM
My hatchling Sherlock regurged last week. :( I last fed him on last Tuesday and I suspect the regurge was on the following Thursday, but I only just now found it today (Monday), at the bottom of the warm side. I found him in blue on Saturday so I skipped Sunday's feed (trying to avoid the regurge that I didn't even realize had already happened). Of course I'm super worried; he's my first snake and I've only had him for a month.
This was his 6th feeding with me, and he'd not had any issues before. He was reluctant to take the f/t pinkie; seemed disinterested until I waved it under his nose persistently, and then he took it from the tail end with the legs all splayed out after trying to take it from the middle. It was rather bizarre how it seemed like he trying gnawing on the middle, but I figured it was just a quirk. I had suspected he'd be in blue soon; for the last two weeks his scales have dulled and he's been reclusive, but his eyes were not clouded over until after the last feeding. I didn't handle him at all between Tuesday feeding and Saturday discovering he was in blue. The temperature is fine in theory: the warm side has been between 82 and 86, the cool side between 68 (night time low room temperature) and the warm side temp (83 day time high on Wednesday when it was really hot. So the days just after the critical feed were a bit warm, but I had hoped not too much. On Wednesday (day before or of regurge) I found him curled up at the top of the silk plant I'd just put in, so he was feeling active.
As you can imagine I wish I'd been more vigilant on Friday that I could have cleaned the tank sooner, but I had a bad feeling. Of course now I see in hindsight I should have responded to my intuition with activity, not inactivity.:sobstory:
So my question is, what could have gone wrong and now what do I do about it? I had planned to wait until he completed his shed before feeding, but now that I know he regurged last time, should I try to get a little food in him? I'm thinking I should still wait for the shed, maybe even more important now with the regurge, and then give him only half a pinkie (which half?), then 5 days and another half a pinkie, then resume regular feeding, avoiding blue feedings. I don't have any priobiotic on hand; should I buy some, and what kind/brands/sources? What if it takes him a long time to shed (a week or more)?
How do I clean up the regurge? I just spot cleaned by removing the paper towel and surrounded shredded paper, but should I change out all the shredded paper (substrate I'm using)? I did the big cleaning (changed all substrate and paper towels, wiped down with water and rubbing alcohol, wiped down again with water, dried) on Sunday October 9 (2 days before the regurgitated feeding).
Also his eyes were still cloudy blue when I checked on him today: is 2 days a long time for this phase?
This was his 6th feeding with me, and he'd not had any issues before. He was reluctant to take the f/t pinkie; seemed disinterested until I waved it under his nose persistently, and then he took it from the tail end with the legs all splayed out after trying to take it from the middle. It was rather bizarre how it seemed like he trying gnawing on the middle, but I figured it was just a quirk. I had suspected he'd be in blue soon; for the last two weeks his scales have dulled and he's been reclusive, but his eyes were not clouded over until after the last feeding. I didn't handle him at all between Tuesday feeding and Saturday discovering he was in blue. The temperature is fine in theory: the warm side has been between 82 and 86, the cool side between 68 (night time low room temperature) and the warm side temp (83 day time high on Wednesday when it was really hot. So the days just after the critical feed were a bit warm, but I had hoped not too much. On Wednesday (day before or of regurge) I found him curled up at the top of the silk plant I'd just put in, so he was feeling active.
As you can imagine I wish I'd been more vigilant on Friday that I could have cleaned the tank sooner, but I had a bad feeling. Of course now I see in hindsight I should have responded to my intuition with activity, not inactivity.:sobstory:
So my question is, what could have gone wrong and now what do I do about it? I had planned to wait until he completed his shed before feeding, but now that I know he regurged last time, should I try to get a little food in him? I'm thinking I should still wait for the shed, maybe even more important now with the regurge, and then give him only half a pinkie (which half?), then 5 days and another half a pinkie, then resume regular feeding, avoiding blue feedings. I don't have any priobiotic on hand; should I buy some, and what kind/brands/sources? What if it takes him a long time to shed (a week or more)?
How do I clean up the regurge? I just spot cleaned by removing the paper towel and surrounded shredded paper, but should I change out all the shredded paper (substrate I'm using)? I did the big cleaning (changed all substrate and paper towels, wiped down with water and rubbing alcohol, wiped down again with water, dried) on Sunday October 9 (2 days before the regurgitated feeding).
Also his eyes were still cloudy blue when I checked on him today: is 2 days a long time for this phase?