Lump present after poop

[Jessicat]

I decided to try my corn out on two pinkies last Saturday to see how it would go. He's about 14 inches and I read here that two would be more nutricious.

Today I saw that he had pooped so I figured it would be alright to handle him. He still had a pretty substancial lump in his stomach though. It's been I'd say about 4 days ( I fed him early Saturday). Is having a lump that long normal?
Does two pinkies = two poops?

thanks in advance for help/advice

[Spirit]

The only thing I can think of is maybe 1 of the 2 pinkies you fed her weren't fully thawed?

As for feeding two, ONLY do it if the lump after 1 is minimal or non existant. Two obviously offers more nutrition but that doesn't mean the snake is capable of handling it, and 14" is pretty small.

My advice would be to make sure the temps are up (83ish) and wait another day or two before handling. The poop is a good sign to a mouse digested, but if there's a lump that second mouse might have been too much and you MIGHT be facing a possible regurg.

I'm completely speculating here, but better safe than sorry... I'd lay off handling the snake until you know.

Do you have a picture though? Does it look like you just fed it (what kind of "lump" is it)? I'm thinking if it's not the food (which it likely IS) that we can help rule out other possiblities.

[Jessicat]

Hmm well in order to get a picture i'll probably have to handle him even a little bit. I can try to take one with my roommate's digital camera when she gets badk though....

and the pinkies weren't f/t so it wasn't a thawing problem
thanks, i'll try to get the picture

[pcar]

Look at Spirit go...Good job in answering this question.

jessica, feeding 2 pinks is only recomended for transition stage between pinks and fuzzies. You will feed your snake only one pink until the snake is large enough that you don't see a lump. Then you move to 2 pinks for a couple of feedings, and once you know that your snake can handle 2 mice, you move to fuzzies. With your snake only being 14 inches, you should only be feeding him one pink...unless he is out looking for more food after the meal. I keep all my hatchlings on one pink till they are at least 20 inches...unless they are very fast growers. Then, I just feed as they dictate.

Best thing for you to do, is as Spirit says, wait for the current lump to go away, then go back to feeding one pink...and watch the snake. If you don't see a lump, or he is out hunting for more food, then feed another. If you don't see either of these, stick with just one food item until you do see them.

[CAV]

Feeding multiple and smaller prey items (as opposed to a single larger item) will slow down the digestive process considerably.

[Jessicat]

thanks for the information Paul, I wasn't aware two were transition food =0)

and here's a picture which shows the remaining lump

[CornCrazy]

It looks like 2 were too many for him to handle. You very well may ex[erience a regurge. If this happens, then withhold food for 10 days. After the 10 days, offer a very small meal (a tiny pinky or a pinky head). I would offer smaller food for 2-3 meals, then go back to his regular meal size of a normal pinky.

[Jessicat]

even if a regurge doesnt happen should i feed really small meals for awhile?

[CornCrazy]

Probably so...and also I wouldn't feed her until a few days after the lump is gone if she doesn't regurge. Her GI tract may be irritated from having trouble digesting even if she doesn't regurge.

[sumguy]

Hopefully you won't have a regurge. Once everything's cool with it's current meal, may want to feed one pink every 4-5 days. For prey larger than pinks or multiple pinks start weekly feedings. When I think an animal is ready for a change up (see above), I double the current size for the next 3 weekly feedings. If there aren't any problems with 2 mice they start on the next size mouse. If you get a regurge, follow corncrazy's advice; also do a search for lots more helpful regurge information. Good luck.

[MegF.]

Also make sure that your belly temps are around 82 degrees. If you don't have an UTH, the air temp might be that warm, but at substrate level, it could be too cool to easily digest the food.