Vomiting, please help!

I'm sorry, this is really wordy, I'm just trying to give as many details as I can.


On the fifth of this month, I fed my corn a fuzzy, but I think it was too big for him. He'd only had a fuzzy once before and it seemed big, but he digested it without issue. Not so the second time. I knew better to handle him, but on the eighth he vomited. I might not have noticed, since he did it in the back of the viv, but he got some of his bedding stuck in his mouth and was rubbing his face against his water dish trying to dislodge it. I noticed fluids around his mouth when I helped him out.

I haven't fed or handled him. I've left him completely alone besides checking for messes and changing out water. I fixed the only housing problem I had (purchased a thermostat instead of monitoring the temp manually) and the warm side has been kept at 85, and the cool side is averaging around 70. He spends most of his time on the cool side as he always has. The last couple of days he's been active like he usually is the day before a feeding, so I'm assuming he's got to be hungry.

Today, the eighteenth, ten days after the first time, he vomited again! There wasn't much in it this time, other than a lot of liquid. At first glance I thought it was just a large poo, but it was greyish and not spread out like snake poops usually are. When I picked it up with a plastic bag, it was squishy. I would have taken a picture, but I got too much aspen in with it.

We called a vet today, but the reptile vet and his tech weren't in so the lady said she'd call us back tonight, but she didn't. I'm at a loss. I've had my snake for less than a year, so this is my first health issue to deal with and it's going horribly.

for starters...

http://www.cornsnakes.com/forums/sho...92&postcount=2

I'm remembering a post by Nanci that is more detailed on regurge treatment, but I'm not finding it.

Other thing I'd do is try to keep clean water at all times. When I say clean, I mean more than just "clean". I'm talking removing water bowl daily, cleaning it with a decent dish soap (plain ole dawn, ivory, or Palmolive), rinsing well, and refilling. That will hopefully eliminate 1 variable, or at least a route of non-beneficial bacteria reintroduction.

Be patient! If it is regurge, keeping the snake hydrated is key at this point. Double check your temps, and make sure your warm side is indeed 85-87°F. Do this with some sort of digital thermometer, be it a laser type thermometer or a simple indoor/outdoor wire probed thermometer. Also pick up some NutriBac df. Wait 10 days and dial prey item back to a pinkie. Small meals are going to be key here. It's just like with us when we start puking. You don't want to go eat a buffet when you start feeling better. Slow and methodical...again be patient.

In my experience, random regurge like this is typically due to:

1. too large a prey item....though they can take large, food should be no more than 1.5 times their thickest point of body
2. too low of temps
3. too high of temps

http://beanfarm.com/product_info.php?products_id=5933

link for nutribac. It's also on Amazon, but for $2 more and ironically also sold by The Bean Farm. Semi-convenient for you, the Bean Farm is up in WA if I remember right.

Thanks, I'll get some of the NutriBac, I hadn't heard of that before. I'll also clean out his water dish daily instead of just changing out the water. I've been using bottled water so that didn't occur to me.

I think my main concern is that he vomited again without being fed/handled/otherwise bothered and his temps are good. Would I want to try putting a bit of the NutriBac in his water or no?

BUMP... This is out of my league.. the fact that you hadn't fed him or anything would make me worried with the second vomit as well. I would probably take him to the vet for a check up just in case.. Hopefully the others can help you better regarding the nutriback...