Is regurg possible after 5 days?

I was so happy when my new baby corn ate a F/T pinkie on Sunday. I was planning on feeding her again tonight. However she came out (usually hides) this morning, roamed around and then when I looked again after she went into hiding, there was a "thing" on the aspen bedding. It did not look like a typical black/brown poop, but more like a poop/sausage with pinkie skin. No identifiable pinkie parts except for the look of skin. Could she possibly have regurgitated after 5 days? Also, I have not handled her at all since last feeding and my viv is 80 on the warm side and 75 on the cool. Could she have completely passed this through her body and just didn't digest it well? Any ideas?

I have had regurges after 5 or 6 days, and it has been caused by temps not being correct. Get you warm side up to around 85. also, where are you taking the temp measurement at? in the air on the side of the tank, or on the floor in/under the aspen? If you are taking air measurements, that will just show ambient temps. You need to know the temps where the snake will be living (substrate).

Wait at least 5 more days and then offer food again.

I agree. I've had one regurge after 4 days.

I'd go ahead and wait the full 10 days after the regurge before feeding again. Getting into a pattern of regurging is not something you want to take a chance with. I nearly lost one that way, and she still has problems.

I have a side mounted UTH, because when I place it under the tank it reads 125' F. On the side it is reading 85 - 89 for up to 4- 5 inches around the heater, under the substrate. Right now, it seems the snake is under the substrate on the cool side of the tank. I'm assuming that if she needs higher temps for digestion, she would hang out closer to the heat source. I also have an overhead lamp/heater, so the general tank air temp is between 75 -80. This whole endeavor is so frustrating as the reason I bought a snake for a pet for my children was because I heard how fun and easy they are. Low maintenance, low mess, no odor - it's not turning out that way. Thanks for everyone's advice, I hope things turn around soon.

If she has to choose between heat and hiding, she will probably choose hiding, so it still could be your temps. I would go to the local home improvement store & get a dimmer switch. They are $10-12 and can be found in the lighting section. You plug the dimmer into the wall and the UTH into the dimmer then keep playing with it till you get the right temps. I would out the UTH under the tank & control the temps with this dimmer. (Or go to the pet store and get a Rheostat marketed for herps--it will cost you a bit more, however.) Make sure you are measuring the surface temperature where she basks, not the air temp which doesn't matter so much. (the air can be 70 & the surface where she is laying 85 & she will be able to bring her core body temp up to 85 by absorbing the heat from where she is laying--hope that was more clear than it was confusing :crazy01: )

& I would wait a good 10 days before feeding. Then i would offer the smallest pinkie I could find, maybe even cut a few slices into it to sort of jump start the digestive process.

Debsi said:

I have a side mounted UTH, because when I place it under the tank it reads 125' F. On the side it is reading 85 - 89 for up to 4- 5 inches around the heater, under the substrate. Right now, it seems the snake is under the substrate on the cool side of the tank. I'm assuming that if she needs higher temps for digestion, she would hang out closer to the heat source. I also have an overhead lamp/heater, so the general tank air temp is between 75 -80. This whole endeavor is so frustrating as the reason I bought a snake for a pet for my children was because I heard how fun and easy they are. Low maintenance, low mess, no odor - it's not turning out that way. Thanks for everyone's advice, I hope things turn around soon.

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Snakes are an easy to care for animal. After you get everything set right. You just need patients. I tell all my future customers the same thing that a person working in a good fish shop will say, "get your tank set up wtih all the substrate, water dish, hides, and heating equipment. Set the temps correctly and make sure that they are good at least 3 to 4 days before you get your animal." This will make sure that if you have a problem, you won't have to rely on your snake to tell you about it.

I like the suggestion that cornspot had with the dimmer or rheostat. Your best bet is to give belly heat. if you can't get the dimmer or rheostat, then raise your tank up off the table so that air flow can get under there. that will help to keep the heat mat cooler.

BTW, I know ten days after a regurge sounds like a long time. The reason is that the snake needs time to get is digestive juices back to proper levels, acid and bile and all that stuff. After throwing up the snake has just spit out most of is digestive juices and will most likely regurge again due to lack of those juices.

I find it hard to believe that a pinky is undigested after 5 days unless the temps are so low that the snake was unable to digest it at all ( such as the low 50 or 60's). Pinkies especially are almost no bone. There is a lot of times where the undigested skin will come out in a poop and it will look like a regurge. After 5 days a regurge would smell pretty horrible. Dead bodies fermenting that long are REALLY bad. Poop would smell for a little bit and then stop smelling. Most of my snakes digest on the cool side where the temps are a little over 79 degrees and they have absolutely no problem digesting even rats.