Regurgitation

Another awkward question from a new snake mom. I'm making mistakes but I swear I'm learning from them.

So the snake regurgitated his first meal. I fed him again ten days later (I didn't know I was supposed to wait fourteen) and he digested it just fine.

When I went to check on him yesterday (stuck shed) I notice he still had a bulge. I didn't hold him or anything, and decided to leave him alone. This morning I found the mouse regurgitated.

Is this a chronic problem, or something that could be fixed by doing things to make him feel more safe in the cage (ie making it more cluttered, fixing the heat- The warm side is 83, and I've been told both "Its fine" and "it needs to be warmer, so I'm at least going to try warmer). The basking area is 88 degrees. Humidity is fine, 40%.

Regurgitation can be caused by an underlying health condition or as a result of triggering a fight/flight response. Assuming you scared the snake then I'd say clutter the cage more (plastic fake vines from the dollar store work well) and give the snake three days before even looking at it after a meal (instead of the one day that usually works).

Some people recommend dusting a snake's next meal after a regurgitation with Nutribac. It is a probiotic for reptiles.

I'd bump up the humidity or add a humid hide, I prefer ambient humidity at 50%. It isn't a big change but will help prevent any future stuck shed.

Right now I'm going to say its stress/heat issues because

1. It ONLY happens after I go into the cage for some reason (first time was probably too soon after feeding, just after 48 hours) and the second time I was adding Decor and I looked under the hide and noticed it still had a bulge. Next day I checked and regurgitated.

2. The only thing I can find about digestion taking that long is heat being too low.

I also read somebody saying that I should cut off a pinkie's head and just feed him that so he's getting a smaller meal when he recovers. Is that true or am I wasting a pinkie?