Hey everybody, Togo is my first corn snake. I've had him for about 4 months with no real problems. Though I have a question. Has anybody else seen a snake regurgitate 6 days after feeding? I was under the impression that almost a week was enough time to fully digest the mouse. After the regurgitation, the mouse was about as long as it used to be but about 1/10 of it's original size with the regurgitation slimy look. I'm still trying to figure out why, because I don't handle him at least 48 hours, sometimes even longer, after he feeds. I plan to follow the 10 days without food, though regurgitation's on feeding day are not fun because that leaves him 16 days without eating, which I certainly don't like. Does anybody else have any ideas or experience as to why this may have happened, or how to respond? Any and all input is greatly appreciated! Thanks!
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6 day regurg?
- Thread starter Skazzle
- Start date
Fenderplayer108
MC Reptiles
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Yes, this is possible. I witnessed a yearling in my collection do this the day before feeding day. It's most probably due to stress. Is the snake in a aquarium or in a tub? If its in a aquarium, then it probably is having trouble finding a place to hide, warm up, and digest.
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Treat it as a regurge, I suggest ordering some nutri-bac from Kathy Love @ cornutopia.com. It helps build back nessesary stomach acids for there next feeding day. After waiting 10 days, feed the smallest food item available, then gradually move back up to original size.
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Good Luck!
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Ryan McCullough
MC Reptiles
Yes, this is possible. I witnessed a yearling in my collection do this the day before feeding day. It's most probably due to stress. Is the snake in a aquarium or in a tub? If its in a aquarium, then it probably is having trouble finding a place to hide, warm up, and digest.
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Treat it as a regurge, I suggest ordering some nutri-bac from Kathy Love @ cornutopia.com. It helps build back nessesary stomach acids for there next feeding day. After waiting 10 days, feed the smallest food item available, then gradually move back up to original size.
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Good Luck!
.
Ryan McCullough
MC Reptiles
JoannaD
Formerly known as jodu
Regurges have a very distinct foul smell. If it did not smell then it could have been a poop. The skin and fur are not always digested.
Having said that I would still treat this as a regurge. Your snake will be absolutely fine going 16 days without eating. That is much safer than risking another regurge withe dire consequences.
Good Luck,
Joanna
Having said that I would still treat this as a regurge. Your snake will be absolutely fine going 16 days without eating. That is much safer than risking another regurge withe dire consequences.
Good Luck,
Joanna
I had pretty much the same thing happen to my little snake. She regurged after 4 days. Looking back on the incident I attribute it to a couple of things. 1., A large size pinky. 2., Too much handling for a baby leading up to the feeding that she regurged, and again after 48 hours after the feeding (in essence making her exercise with a still pretty full belly). 3., Digesting on the cool side of the tank, which was her choosing. She went under the paper towel substrate on the cool side and stayed there after she ate. I think in my case it was because she needed a more secure hide. I had her in the basic paper towel tube hide and I don't think she felt secure there because I routinely would slide her out into my hand. After she ate she did not want that to happen so she chose under the substrate on the cool side.
Since then I'm handling her less, got rid of the cardboard tube and gave her 2 secure and dark hides.
I went 10 days after the regurge without feeding then got the small gourmet mouse pinkies at petco. For the first 4 feedings I cut the pinky in half and fed her half a pinky then waited 5 days before feeding another half pinky.
She's eating good now and has not regurged again.
I checked a few vet sites and read a few papers when it happened and found that they classify it a regurge when it happens right away to a few hours after feeding. When it happens several days after feeding they classify it as vomitus and consider that more severe than a regurge as it does things like deplete the snakes digestive juices and throw it's electrolytes out of balance. The paper I read also said it takes about 2 weeks for the snake to get back to normal after this. That's why it is important to go with smaller meals for a while.Unfortunately I don't have the URL or the reference as I was blowing through site after site looking for info. Another thing I read was that a regurge right away is usually stress related and a vomitus several days after feeding is more likely to be caused by an intestinal parasite then a regurge would be. So if it happens again you'll probably need to bring the vomit to the vet.
Since then I'm handling her less, got rid of the cardboard tube and gave her 2 secure and dark hides.
I went 10 days after the regurge without feeding then got the small gourmet mouse pinkies at petco. For the first 4 feedings I cut the pinky in half and fed her half a pinky then waited 5 days before feeding another half pinky.
She's eating good now and has not regurged again.
I checked a few vet sites and read a few papers when it happened and found that they classify it a regurge when it happens right away to a few hours after feeding. When it happens several days after feeding they classify it as vomitus and consider that more severe than a regurge as it does things like deplete the snakes digestive juices and throw it's electrolytes out of balance. The paper I read also said it takes about 2 weeks for the snake to get back to normal after this. That's why it is important to go with smaller meals for a while.Unfortunately I don't have the URL or the reference as I was blowing through site after site looking for info. Another thing I read was that a regurge right away is usually stress related and a vomitus several days after feeding is more likely to be caused by an intestinal parasite then a regurge would be. So if it happens again you'll probably need to bring the vomit to the vet.
Nanci
Alien Lover
Urates!!!!
Um, if it's white, it's urates- the urine part of the dropping. Snakes' urates can be very solid. Normally, you'd get some poo mixed in with the urates, but they can go just urates, too. It's just like bird droppings- green/brown fecal component and white urates.
Nanci
Um, if it's white, it's urates- the urine part of the dropping. Snakes' urates can be very solid. Normally, you'd get some poo mixed in with the urates, but they can go just urates, too. It's just like bird droppings- green/brown fecal component and white urates.
Nanci
MegF.
That's for sale???
I wouldn't think that after 6 days it's a regurge. Unless your temps are incredibly low and it took that long for it to regurge it, but I doubt that's the case. If you're feeding mice, they often poop the hair and sometimes the skin as well. I usually cut the backs of the mice to aid in the digestion and to reduce the undigested waste. You can treat it like a regurge if you want, but I don't think it is.
Hello, just signed up after looking for this exact topic. We have been caring for the high school's cornsnake for the holidays and he also vomited/regurgitated 6 days after eating. (Yes, 6 days.) Definitely a regurg, not a poop with skin. The mouse was pretty intact. I did not examine it too closely as it was very smelly, but I did see at least one area of digested fur and skin where ribs were showing. He does tend to regurgitate now and then, usually only at the school where there is more stress with all the kids around, and one in particular who kept handling him after eating despite being told not to. As for the 6 day regurg, the tank may have been a bit too cool. Turns out my daughter did not have the UTH plugged in since he is next to the baseboard heater in her room and the temp tape showed 80 degrees. However, the science teacher has the tape up along the top of the tank so I told her it could have been too cool at the bottom where he was and she plugged it in a couple days after he ate, but it was probably too late by then.
He was very lethargic during those 6 days, but after he vomited, he was much more active and seems fine now. He also did a lot of burping, and perhaps farting during that time. My daughter is pretty sure she was hearing farts, anyway. Next week I guess we will try giving him a fuzzy instead of a grown mouse and see how he does. He is about 45" long and has been fed on adult mice for at least the past 1 1/2 years. Would it be better for him to switch to several fuzzies a week instead of an adult mouse per week as they seem like they would be easier to digest?
Oh, also what little poop he is passing from that mouse is a light green color. Is that a concern? It's usually quite brown. I can speak to the teacher about having him go to a vet if he keeps regurgitating, but the nearest reptile vet is 120 miles away, so I don't know if they will do that.
He was very lethargic during those 6 days, but after he vomited, he was much more active and seems fine now. He also did a lot of burping, and perhaps farting during that time. My daughter is pretty sure she was hearing farts, anyway. Next week I guess we will try giving him a fuzzy instead of a grown mouse and see how he does. He is about 45" long and has been fed on adult mice for at least the past 1 1/2 years. Would it be better for him to switch to several fuzzies a week instead of an adult mouse per week as they seem like they would be easier to digest?
Oh, also what little poop he is passing from that mouse is a light green color. Is that a concern? It's usually quite brown. I can speak to the teacher about having him go to a vet if he keeps regurgitating, but the nearest reptile vet is 120 miles away, so I don't know if they will do that.
JoannaD
Formerly known as jodu
You should wait 10 days before trying to feed the snake again. If he keeps the fuzzie down I would wait a week between feeds. If he is a good sized snake a few weeks of smaller prey items is fine.
I would be concerend though that he has regurged and has such abnormal stools. If you have access to a vet you might want to see if they would be willing to look at a stool sample. They will be able to tell if there are certain types of parasites. They might even be willing to speak to a herp vet to determine what if any treatment is needed if a parasite is found.
In the meantime you should see if you can put a thermometer on the glass above the UTH to double check the temps. The warm end should be about 85 and the cool end 75. Make sure he has hides at either end of his cage.
Good Luck,
Joanna
I would be concerend though that he has regurged and has such abnormal stools. If you have access to a vet you might want to see if they would be willing to look at a stool sample. They will be able to tell if there are certain types of parasites. They might even be willing to speak to a herp vet to determine what if any treatment is needed if a parasite is found.
In the meantime you should see if you can put a thermometer on the glass above the UTH to double check the temps. The warm end should be about 85 and the cool end 75. Make sure he has hides at either end of his cage.
Good Luck,
Joanna
MegF.
That's for sale???
80 should have been high enough to digest the average meal. Most of mine digest on the cool side and never have a problem. I also think you should have this animal checked by a vet. If he is having regurges off and on there could be something going on, or if it's a case of stress, perhaps he isn't the animal for the classroom.
Sorry I have not had a chance to post back until now. I was in error on the temp. It may have been in the low 70's instead of 80. He is back at school now and I did tell the science teacher everything that went on. They have an excellent, award-winning science program at that school and they should be able to check his poop to see if there are any parasites and if not, they should be able to get a sample to the local vet to check. We took him to the reptile vet last May when we picked him up for the summer as we weren't sure if he was having a respiratory problem or not. He would "pfft" every so often and since we have snakes and geckos of our own, we wanted to be sure he was fine before we put him in the same room as ours. The vet gave him a checkup and said he was fine, and it was her experience with her own cornsnake that the "pff"ing was a social behavior as her snake does it with her more than anyone else, likewise Chuck with my daughter. Chuck has been doing great the last few days, very actively exploring my daughter's room. We will be picking up some fuzzies for him on Thursday which will be a bit more than 10 days from the vomiting. Thanks for the replies.