CornSnakes.com Forums  
  Tired of those Google and InfoLinks ads? Register and log in!

Go Back   CornSnakes.com Forums > The CornSnake Forums > Health Issues/Feeding Problems
Register FAQ Members List Calendar Mark Forums Read

Notices

Health Issues/Feeding Problems Anything related to general or specific health problems. Issues having to do with feeding problems or tips.

New Snake - Regurgitation
Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Old 04-07-2019, 11:20 AM   #1
AdverseCamber
New Snake - Regurgitation

Hello. Sorry, this is a bit of a long post so please bear with me.

We obtained a corn snake a few weeks ago. We'd been thinking of getting a corn snake for a while now and done our research, but a friend of a friend passed away suddenly and left her five year old male snake without a home. As her daughter did not want to take care of it, we stepped in and volunteered to become its owners.

We were advised that the snake would be delivered to us in its full set up, but were pretty horrified at the state of his viv when he arrived. It had no substrate, one hide and a heat mat (without thermostat) that did not seem to get any higher than 26 degrees centigrade. Over the next week, we rapidly improved the tank with help from a local reptile shop. It now has both a heat mat and a ceramic lamp, aspen substrate, two hides, a water dish and thick branch. The air temperature ranges from day heat of around 26-27 degrees centigrade at the hot end to 23 degrees centigrade in the cold side. The temperature over the heat mat is regulated by thermostat and is 28-30 degrees centigrade during the day and drops to around 24-27 degrees centigrade at night.

Now for the problem.

The daughter of the snake did not know much of his history but said that he was feeding on medium sized mice - one every two weeks. It had last eaten the day before she delivered him to us and he certainly kept this down.

I took some photos of the snake to our local reptile shop, along with one of me holding him to give an idea of scale. Based on his side, the owner suggested that I feed him large mice more regularly (he suggested every 7 to 10 days). I first tried to feed a large mouse to my snake after we had had him for nine days and did not handle him at all afterwards. The snake kept this mouse down for about a day and a half before regurgitating it.

I waited eight more days before trying him with another mouse - this time a medium one. Once again, about a day and a half passed before he regurgitated it - mostly digested this time, but still with a very visible head.

Now, I'm a bit of a worrier. We did take the snake to a reptile specialist vet a few days after we received him to make sure he was okay (especially having been kept in such a cold tank previously). They confirmed that he was in good health, but was very angry and stressed out by his multiple moves.

I have not handled the snake in over a week now. He seems a lot more relaxed and certainly moves around his tank a fair bit, though does have a tendency to rear up when you open the door to change his water. We leave him alone as much as possible so he doesn't get too disturbed. He is also certainly pooping and peeing after a feed.

I'm a bit stumped. I tried to do some research on why snakes regurgitate, but there seem to be a million and one causes. Am I doing something noticeably wrong? If you can suggest anything, I would be massively grateful! This is my first snake, though I did used to keep leopard geckos up to a few years ago.
 
Old 04-07-2019, 12:45 PM   #2
Twolunger
Hopefully it was just a reaction to ingesting a larger mouse than was previously fed. Let him rest at least five more days so his digestive tract can return to normal. I would offer him a much smaller mouse for his next meal, a large fuzzy or small hopper dusted with reptile probiotics. If you can buy it there Nutribac df is great for stimulating the appetite and restoring intestinal bacteria. If he keeps the mouse down continue feeding small mice for a few more feedings. Good luck and thanks for taking him and providing a better home.
 

Join now to reply to this thread or open new ones for your questions & comments! Cornsnakes.com is the largest online community dedicated to cornsnakes . Registration is open to everyone and FREE. Click Here to Register!

Google
 
Reply

Tags
feeding problem, health, regurgitation

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off


All times are GMT -4. The time now is 08:55 PM.





Fauna Top Sites
 

Powered by vBulletin® Version
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Page generated in 0.02587891 seconds with 9 queries
Copyright Rich Zuchowski/SerpenCo