Sensitive Anery regurg'ing

[Kimber]

Hi all,

It seems my tiny Anery is very sensitive to being handled after eating. I am aware of the commonly-followed 48 hour rule.

She ate well on Friday night and on Monday she had still kept it down so I thought I was in the clear. Monday night - 72 hours after feeding - I picked her up only for a second and she regurg'd that night

I didn't think handling 72 hours later would be a problem.
I guess I will refrain from handling her until I see that it has come out the other end...but she is getting very skittish due to lack of handling.

Comments from anyone?

K

[CornCrazy]

What exactly did she eat?

[Kimber]

She ate a live 2-3 day old pinkie (just one). It looked a bit big for her but she managed it just fine.

K

[Scorpionking]

What about the temps ? Around 86 ? IF not raise a litle.

[Kimber]

Hi,

Ok, my conversion tells me that 86F = 30C.
I have the warm side at 25C. I was worried 30 would be too hot as it is a smallish cage she is in. Approx 30cmx30x30. The water bowl was evaporating and making dampness when I had the temp higher.

But ok, good suggestion. I have been battling a bit with temps as my heat pads seem to heat to different degrees. I do have them on a thermostat but might swich the heat pads around. I am always concerned about the temp getting too high.

Thanks. Will try raising it a few degrees (C!)

Kimber

[Kimber]

Since you guys are so helpful, I thought I'd let you have a look at my pretty little puker! I bought her as a silver but who knows what she will turn out like.

K

[Kimber]

and...

[CAV]

I have found that small corns are more likely to have this problem. ~72 hours seems to be the point that non-digested food is regurged.

Temperature is a big player in how quickly the food is digested. You are currently heating at 25C (77F). Personally, I've had better luck with higher temperatures, around 28-29C (83-85F). I think you will have fewer regurge issues if you raise the temp.

[tmountain35]

are you sure that you are getting accurate readings on your thermometers? At 77 F you really shouldn't be having an evaporation problem. I wonder if you are getting lower than actual readings. Just a thought, although one that has nothing to do with ur problem

[CAV]

If humidity is an issue at only 77F , one of three things come to mind:

1) More ventilation is needed
2) Your substrate is new and hasn't dried out
3) As mentioned the thermostat is inaccurate

What kind of enclosure do you have them in? What kind of substrate are you using?

[tina]

How are you telling what the temps are? I have a UTH with those sticky thermometers from Zoomed on the walls of the aquarium. They were way off on the hot end because they didn't measure the actual temp of the surface of the substrate. I bought a Inside/Outside digital thermometer from Radioshack with a probe that you can rest ON the substrate and get a very reliable measurement of twhat the snake is feeling. Hope that helps.
Tina

[Kimber]

Hello everyone.

Thanks for all the suggestions!

I have raised the temp to 30C and will try feeding her again next week. My other snakes are eating fine but she is the smallest so therefore probably the most sensitive.

Regards,
Kimber

[bmm]

I would say if you aren't already doing this, cut handling down to zero for a few months except when you *must*clean the cage, fed her in cage as well. Handling back and forth is also handling when feeding in a tub and could cause stress especially after eating. If you use loose substrate, place the prey item on a paper towel.

it could very well help with this problem to cut out handling 100% for a while.

:D
bmm

[Kimber]

Hi Bmm

Thanks for the suggestion. You will see her cage in the second photo. I do feed her in her cage (I just remove the hides first) and I use carpet for substrate.

I will stop handling her altogether as you suggest. You don't think that will cause here to grow up to be an "anti-social" snake?

K

[bmm]

Not at all.

In fact, when I have gotten hatchlings in the past (all my snakes are adults now) I have never really handeled them at all until they are like 6 months old. I just find them squirmey, and sensitive to stress and such and easy to injure. It has been far easier for me to get them eating, stable and on a schedual without any handling except for cage cleaning.

All have grown up to be handleable, "friendly" and trustworthy.

bmm

[Kimber]

Hi guys,

An update on my Anery. She kept 2 meals down once I stopped handling all together and raised the temp slightly.

But fed her 2 newborn pinks on Friday and they were waiting for me on Monday. Peeeuw! Guess her limit is 1. Will stick to that.

Funny how they never regurg in a dark corner but like to "present" it to you right in the front of the cage. Like a present or something. Yuck! What a smell!

K

[Taceas]

I'm surprised no one mentioned through out the entirety of your posts that the fact of feeding live can sometimes cause frequent regurges.

In a young, small animal..live prey can sometimes irritate the esophagus lining and stomach thereby causing irritation enough to result in a regurge.

Have you tried feeding frozen/thawed or even pre-killed prey to your snake, instead of the usual live? I would try that and see how it all goes.

I had one teeny-tiny snow corn who insisted on live, but was always too small to really constrict the prey to total death. So the prey would invariably wake up half-way down, and try and claw it's way out of the snake's stomach. 9 times out of 10, I'd find a regurge in a day or so.

If your snake doesn't like frozen/thawed, it might take a pre-killed pinkie. Just flick on the pink's head with your finger pretty hard to dispatch it nearly painlessly and cleanly.

Best of luck to you. =)

[Kimber]

Hi Taceas,

Thanks for the reply. I have tried f/t and she regurg'd those too but that was also 2 that I fed her.

I will use your idea to pre-kill because she didn't even try to kill the pinky and it was a real fighter!

thanks,
Kimber