Feeding question #1246

[Currin1019]

My dh forgot to turn Snicker's heat lamp on this morning. Grr I came home from a 2 day conference and the temp was 70. Usually during the day with the lamp on it's between 80-82. Today is her feeding day. I have her and 2 pinkies sitting in a cup inside of the terrarium. I also put the light on (the cup is not directly underneath). Usually she gobbles the pinkies right up. It's been about 45 minutes now and no eating. She doesn't even seem interested. Could she be too cold? Should I take her out an try again later on tonight (she usually feeds around 6:30 p.m.)? Thanks

[pcar]

I would let your snake relax and warm up to her normal temps for a day or two, and then offer her good again. Although, 70 shouldn't be low enough to cause the snake to not eat.

[Currin1019]

She threw up something. It looks pinkie-ish. She didn't eat the two that were in the cup. I'm going to try to take them back to the store since she can't eat for 10 days (is that right?). She last fed 7 days ago and didn't have a lump or anything left from the feeding. What the heck?

[pcar]

she may not have had a lump, but that doesn't mean that she had fully digested the meal. Yes, you should wait at least 10 days to feed her again. The pet store probably won't take the pinks back, so your best bet would be to just stick them in the freezer.

[Currin1019]

Thanks. The store took them back for me. They were live, not frozen. Could something be wrong with her that it took so long to digest? She should be shedding soon on top of everything else. Should I give her one or two at the next feeding? Store says feed her in 5 days and give her one but they've been wrong so far.

[MegF.]

The low temps could be responsible for that, although 7 days is a long time to go before regurge. Usually it's within a few days. I take it you don't have an Under tank heater? You might want to get one so that they have consistant belly heat to aid in quicker digestion. Then you won't have to worry about a heat lamp not being turned on either. Make sure you go to a smaller sized food, and only one, when you go back to feeding her. At least for a couple of feedings. Since you feed live, you can't do the cuts thru the skin on the back to help aid in digestion. If you feed frozen, you can thaw in warm water and make 4 small cuts in the back with some scissors. This makes it easier for them to digest. Hurley suggested it after doing some tests on her snakes. She found they grew better and were more quickly onto the more nutritious fuzzies.

[Alias47]

Cutting the pinks (don't cut your live pinks...do this with Pre Killed or Frozen Thawed ones only) is a GREAT thing...my hatchlings are growing like never before without eating much more than they already were...and digestion time is cut by about a day on average.

I have a VERY small hatchling king that is taking two pinks at a time...and digesting them in less than 2 days.

Another comment I have is about your source of mice.
When you mentioned that the pet store was willing to take your live pinks BACK it COMPLETELY made the hair on my neck stand up.
You had those pinks in with your snake for a while...and they took them back...and assumingly resold them...
Granted this probably doesn't happen OFTEN...but they could do the same with someone else that has parasites...or mites...and are creating a situation to potentially infest the reptiles of anyone that purchases from them.
I would be careful when purchasing mice from this source...better yet purchase frozen mice and thaw them...much easier...you can keep a ton of food on hand...and much safer for your reptiles...the freezing kills most any type of disease that could be passed to your snake.

[Alias47]

Oh yeah...

My dh forgot to turn Snicker's heat lamp on this morning.

Is dh short for "Dumb Husband"??

LOL

[pcar]

that is what I was taking it to mean.

No, don't feed in 5 days. After a Regurge, you want to wait for at least a week (7 days) or longer. 10 days is usually the recomended and widely accepted time to wait to feed again. After a regurge, you will want to feed a smaller food item for at least the first feeding to make sure that the snake will be able to hold it down. Then you can go back to your normal feeding schedule.

[Currin1019]

The store didn't resell. No worries. I don't have a problem with buying the live pinkies for her to feed, but I'm not going to kill them myself. They disposed for me. I'll switch her to frozen once she can feed again.