advice: to the freezer?

[pwargcm]

well i thought she was better. i have a 08 bcc brazilian boa. they are always said to be regurgers. well she was good when i first got her. then she regurged one day out of nowhere. and i waited two weeks to feed her a real small meal afterwards, but she regurged that too. then i started nutribac and waiting a couple more weeks with no handling what so ever at all after the first puke.

well she got cleared up and had one bowel movement after 3 small feedings of rat pinks. and now she moved up to a mouse hopper and had one down, and waited 2 weeks and got another down and regurged it. back to rat pinks and she regurged one again.

i dont want to. but she seems to not want to live and i dont want her suffering from starving herself and killing her insides. would it be best to just euthanize her in the freezer? any advice is welcome. shes been to the vet also and he was happy with what i was doin and was already wormed before hand and worm free. nothing else seemed to be the problem either. and shes been in quarantine the whole time anyways.

so let me hear your opinions. i think im ready to let her leave this world. especially since i will be moving in the up and coming month or 2 and do not have the time to help her fully. thanks for any advice.


pat.

 

[RobbiesCornField]

Hmmm... I'm notoriously pigheaded when it comes to my pets, so I could never euthanize one after it's been named. If you want to, that would be entirely up to you. Have you tried giving her even smaller meals (like mouse pinks/fuzzies)? Rat pinks are still pretty big, and because she's been regurging quite a bit, I could imagine rat pinks can cause a bit of trouble, even in a baby boa. Have you tried slitting the pinks as well? Or doing rat pink heads? Or rat pink halves? You could also talk to the vet about possibly tubing in small amounts of wet cat food.
Like I said, I'm stubborn and would try everything under the sun before I consider her down for the count.

 

[pwargcm]

Hmmm... I'm notoriously pigheaded when it comes to my pets, so I could never euthanize one after it's been named. If you want to, that would be entirely up to you. Have you tried giving her even smaller meals (like mouse pinks/fuzzies)? Rat pinks are still pretty big, and because she's been regurging quite a bit, I could imagine rat pinks can cause a bit of trouble, even in a baby boa. Have you tried slitting the pinks as well? Or doing rat pink heads? Or rat pink halves? You could also talk to the vet about possibly tubing in small amounts of wet cat food.
Like I said, I'm stubborn and would try everything under the sun before I consider her down for the count.

yeah. i didnt give the whole story, but the vet taught me how to tube feed slurry mixed with the nutribac. and i showed him this site and told him about kathy and he was really happy i did. he now has some nutribac on stock to give to people like me. and i tube fed her and everything. and the rat pinks were not even a full day old. just born and my buddy froze me some. i dont want to put her down. but just her state of being right now is just laying there with no strength. it sucks.

 

[Nanci]

How much does this snake weigh? How are you giving the Nutribac? Have you continued to give it with every meal? Is she a good eater?

I guess I would start all over. Wait ten days from the regurge. If you can, tube Nutribac into her at two or three day intervals. The vet can show you how to do it- it's simple. I'd do a peach fuzzy mouse for the first meal, cut into three pieces. Sprinkled with NB. I'd go to a seven day interval. I'd stick with the peach fuzzies for at least four meals, cut in thirds or halves. Then gradually work up through mouse fuzzies and on to rat pinks, then reassess. Once you've got her on fuzzies, instead of cutting the mouse in two, I'd slit it a LOT, like six slits down the back and on both sides and one through the skull. The goal is to make every meal as easy to digest as possible, by making it have lots of open area for digestive juices to get through. I wouldn't stop giving NB until she is regurge-free for a year. I'd never feed this snake in blue.

 

[pwargcm]

How much does this snake weigh? How are you giving the Nutribac? Have you continued to give it with every meal? Is she a good eater?

I guess I would start all over. Wait ten days from the regurge. If you can, tube Nutribac into her at two or three day intervals. The vet can show you how to do it- it's simple. I'd do a peach fuzzy mouse for the first meal, cut into three pieces. Sprinkled with NB. I'd go to a seven day interval. I'd stick with the peach fuzzies for at least four meals, cut in thirds or halves. Then gradually work up through mouse fuzzies and on to rat pinks, then reassess. Once you've got her on fuzzies, instead of cutting the mouse in two, I'd slit it a LOT, like six slits down the back and on both sides and one through the skull. The goal is to make every meal as easy to digest as possible, by making it have lots of open area for digestive juices to get through. I wouldn't stop giving NB until she is regurge-free for a year. I'd never feed this snake in blue.

the only problem is she will only eat live. i was injecting nutribac into the food, and i was giving her it with a slurry tube fed. i also got the food wet and put nutribac on it to make it stick on it. then i would also change her water a few times a day putting it in that too just so i know when she drinks or soaks she was picking it up. this time she regurged 6 days after eating a pink and it was still a full one. just rotted a bit. with no digestion. im not sure of what to do since this is her 10th or so time doing this. ive tried everything it seems. i even tried to starve her out or force her on f/t but nothing. she will only take live. it sucks.

 

[RobbiesCornField]

the only problem is she will only eat live. i was injecting nutribac into the food, and i was giving her it with a slurry tube fed. i also got the food wet and put nutribac on it to make it stick on it. then i would also change her water a few times a day putting it in that too just so i know when she drinks or soaks she was picking it up. this time she regurged 6 days after eating a pink and it was still a full one. just rotted a bit. with no digestion. im not sure of what to do since this is her 10th or so time doing this. ive tried everything it seems. i even tried to starve her out or force her on f/t but nothing. she will only take live. it sucks.

Have you tried assist-feeding f/t?

 

[pwargcm]

Have you tried assist-feeding f/t?

yep. she would only strike at it then leave it for all attempts at f/t. then when i tried assist shed get it almost all the way down and spit it back up. when she eats live its nasty. shes a killer by heart. wants to grab her prey and slaughter it. she tore a rat pink in half by coiling it. which i never seen before. i didnt think shed even get a good coil on it how small it was. im gonna wait it out and see these next couple of weeks. see if i can give it another go. but she just seems like she has no will to live right now. or any strength any more. i dont want to lose her. shes a beauty. i knew i shoulda never bought her from that store. dumb me.

 

[Nanci]

Well, that, combined with her just laying there with no strength makes me a lot less optimistic. Even if you _could_ keep her alive by assist feeding her, eventually, you would come to resent that, and she would fear you and dislike any contact with you. It's just not a good long-term solution for an already-ill snake. IMO.

 

[pwargcm]

yeah. right now shes moving to her water. im gonna let her lay around a couple days. up her temp a couple of degrees. if theres any improvement im gonna give her some more slurry through a tube. i hate blending it up. its nasty. i dont wanna lose her, but i also know when an animal is gonna suffer. so im not going to let that happen either. especially its gonna be hard since im moving this month. thats just more added stress. so she might not end up making it.

 

[danielle]

I know Kathy mentioned a ferret food she uses you could tube feed if you feel its worth it, or even egg yolks. I would bump the temps up since he regurged a barely digested meal after 6 days maybe he needs more heat right now and try live pinks after 10 days off feed with nutribac every 2-3 days like Nanci said. Sorry I hope this one bounces back

 

[ghosthousecorns]

Guess I'm gonna be the one that says it, if a snake is not doing well for you after a certain point if your assessment is that it has no will to live and is suffering from being alive, the kindest thing you can sometimes do is put one down. That being said, I have no experience with boas, and an upcoming move isn't reason enough to euthanize unless there really is something seriously wrong with the snake.

 

[Chris Olson]

"Notorious regurgers?"

Nope. I've been keeping ECC for a long time, and they don't regurge any more often than anything else I've kept. If he/she is regurgitating, it is likely there are environmental issues, or he/she has a health issue. High temperatures are, IMO, the leading cause of regurgitation in BRBs. Keeping in mind that mid-80's is hot for them.

 

[pwargcm]

"Notorious regurgers?"

Nope. I've been keeping ECC for a long time, and they don't regurge any more often than anything else I've kept. If he/she is regurgitating, it is likely there are environmental issues, or he/she has a health issue. High temperatures are, IMO, the leading cause of regurgitation in BRBs. Keeping in mind that mid-80's is hot for them.

not a brb. a brazilian red tail. bcc. as in true red tail. and i keep her under strict limits. she has her own helix. everyone else shares one throughout set ups. but she was special enough to me to buy her her own.

 

[Chris Olson]

not a brb. a brazilian red tail. bcc. as in true red tail. and i keep her under strict limits. she has her own helix. everyone else shares one throughout set ups. but she was special enough to me to buy her her own.

Oh, excuse me....I'm sorry. I must have mis-read your post. My brain saw ECC instead of BCC. However, I think it's premature to start thinking about euthanization.