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first regurge

1

1_and_only

New member
I fed my snake last sunday 2 large fuzzies because im trying to move onto a bigger mouse. last week i fed it a large fuzzie and a smaller fuzzie. and she ate them no problem. today i looked in the viv and noticed it i could see the mouses tail. So do i leave it now for 10 days then feed it 2 fuzzies again or just the 1 fuzzie? any help would be great :santa:
 
To be completely safe, yeah, you should wait the ten days. After that, feed it a single fuzzy for two or three feedings. If all goes well, bump up. I have to be honest, I think a hopper is an easier meal than two fuzzies for the bump up. I guess it all depends on the actual size of the prey item, but for the frozen mice I buy, the hoppers aren't that much larger than the fuzzies.

And of course, you should make sure your temps are correct. You could also cut slits in your f/t mice, if you don't already, to facilitate digestion. Nutri-bac supplement may also be something to look into.

Good luck.
 
Grapefruit seed extract in the water can help. I learned that trick from reading these forums last year but haven't seen it mentioned for a while, so IDK if anyone else still uses it. I put a drop or two in each water bowl. I am also really conservative when picking the size of mouse for a snake. I agree that one hopper could be easier for a snake to digest than two fuzzies. It takes a lot more digesting to get through two different sets of hair and hide than one.
 
2nd Regurge

How long can a snake REALLY go without food though? Especially if the girth of the snake is a little smaller than a pencil and only 7 inches long?

I woke up to my 2nd regurge this morning. Following Kathy Love's FAQ, I only fed a pinkie head 2 days ago. If I wait the recommended 10 days again, she'll be going almost 23 days without eating. I have not handled her since her 1st regurge which was almost 2 weeks ago, temps are fine. I keep shining a flashlight in her hide just to make sure she's still alive.

I've also put in my order for Nutribac today, should be here in time for the next feeding. I read about the Grape seed extract, but I've never seen my little one roaming so don't even know if she's drinking water. What do you suggest about that? Should I handle her in order to put her by her bowl so I see her drink? AAAGGGH! I think I'm more stressed than the snake is.
 
Cornylover2 said:
How long can a snake REALLY go without food though? Especially if the girth of the snake is a little smaller than a pencil and only 7 inches long?

I woke up to my 2nd regurge this morning. Following Kathy Love's FAQ, I only fed a pinkie head 2 days ago. If I wait the recommended 10 days again, she'll be going almost 23 days without eating. I have not handled her since her 1st regurge which was almost 2 weeks ago, temps are fine. I keep shining a flashlight in her hide just to make sure she's still alive.

I've also put in my order for Nutribac today, should be here in time for the next feeding. I read about the Grape seed extract, but I've never seen my little one roaming so don't even know if she's drinking water. What do you suggest about that? Should I handle her in order to put her by her bowl so I see her drink? AAAGGGH! I think I'm more stressed than the snake is.
Click to expand...

I'd wait the 10 days this time, dust with the Nutri-bac, and see what happens. I think there comes a point when a hatchling is so malnourished that successive 10 day waits are no longer feasible. How many successful feedings has he had with you? Post the results of the next N-b supplemented feeding, and we'll take it from there. Good luck.
 
What you can also do is to take her water bowl away for a night or a day and then give her some water with Nutribac in it a few days before you feed her. This way she'll already have some good bacteria in her stomach when it comes time to feed. This is what I had to do for my snow stripe. I fed pinky heads for 2 weeks, then pink bodies for 2 weeks, then last week and this week she's had small pinks. I'll start bumping up the time frame before I move her up in prey size. Good luck.

~Katie
 
Yes, be sure to get some of the NB in her BEFORE the next feed, to help her digest the next meal. Whether you do the withholding of water to make her thirsty (discard the NB water after about 24 hours though), or give it in a tube, get some down her one way or another.

Your order went out today, so it should hopefully be there soon.
 
Thank you Kathy and everybody!! In Kathy's e-mail to me, she suggested getting an eye dropper, mix the Nutribac in water to make it liquid and giving it to the snake in the dropper. This little hatchling is so flighty, I don't think I could keep her still long enough to open her mouth and put it in. Mixing it in her waterbowl is definately easier.

After stressing all day about the snake yesterday, I got to thinking. When I brought this snake home, I had kept her in a 3 gallon critter keeper, very small cage until I was able to go get my 10g viv. She ate successfully 2 times with me, a whole pinky, no regurge. Well, about 2 1/2 weeks ago is when I switched her to the new, bigger, better viv!! The next feeding time is when she started the regurges. So last night, I got the smaller cage out and fixed it up. I put it directly inside of the larger one so it could sit half way on the heatmat and put the lid on. She is roaming like crazy now, even saw her drink some water. And of course after I fixed up everything is when she wanted to mark her spot I guess. Just looked like pee, there were no feces in there.

I held her this morning and she still has some muscle tone as she was hanging on to dear life to my fingers trying to slither everywhere. I hope this is a good sign. Woke up this morning and she was still roaming in her little viv looking for ways out. When I receive the Nutribac, I will mix it in her waterbowl and wait to feed her for a bit. I will keep you all updated!! Thanks again.
 
Update...I've since received the Nutribac and have put in in with the snakes water. I've only seen her drink once so I got an eye dropper and put some down the snakes throat a couple of days ago. I tried feeding last night with the pinkie head dipped in the Nutribac and it is so sticky. I saw the snake nipping at it, but it was stuck to the newspaper. So I rinsed it off, I got the head warm again, this time dipped it in Tuna and sprinkled the Nutribac on it and left it overnight. It was still there this morning. I see her roaming in her viv, but she's getting weaker and weaker, no longer flightly like she use to be. She's only 2 months old. Can I force feed a pinkie head or is it easier to use a tail? Not sure what else I can do to save this little one's life.
 
Cornylover2 said:
Update...I've since received the Nutribac and have put in in with the snakes water. I've only seen her drink once so I got an eye dropper and put some down the snakes throat a couple of days ago. I tried feeding last night with the pinkie head dipped in the Nutribac and it is so sticky. I saw the snake nipping at it, but it was stuck to the newspaper. So I rinsed it off, I got the head warm again, this time dipped it in Tuna and sprinkled the Nutribac on it and left it overnight. It was still there this morning. I see her roaming in her viv, but she's getting weaker and weaker, no longer flightly like she use to be. She's only 2 months old. Can I force feed a pinkie head or is it easier to use a tail? Not sure what else I can do to save this little one's life.
Click to expand...

By the nipping, it sounds like she's interested. I'd try another pink head, no tuna, dipped in Nutri-Bac. Feed her on bare plastic, so there's less chance of adhesion. I'd put a hide in the smallest feeding container that will hold her, the hide, and the pinky. Put her in just after sunset, and leave her in a dark, un-trafficed area all night. Don't peek. Good luck.
 
You are right - it is very sticky - and probably smells "weird" to snakes too. Try dusting it only on the neck part, and leave the nose clean. If she won't eat it with the NB on it, you may have to just give NB to her in the eyedropper and give the head without any on it.

I can't really determine the chances your baby has at this point and what measures are necessary. If it is weak and has poor muscle tone, the prognosis is poor. If that is the case, it can't really hurt to force feed a little liquid nutrition (such as meat baby food, cat food, egg yolk, etc.) as the snake is likely to die anyway. Maybe a little nutrition might keep it alive long enough for the NB to do some good. But if it still has some strength in its body as it holds onto your hand, then you probably have some time yet to let it eat on its own.

Good luck!
 
Giving up

Well, I've pretty much tossed in the towel on my little one. She's been on Nutribac for a week now, I've seen her drinking but she still refuses to eat. I've even went so far as to cut the head of a live pinkie (blood has stimulated her in the past) and injected the head with Nutribac. Put it in her viv (newspaper bedding) with a towel covering her and left overnight. Still refused to eat. According to Kathy Love, I tried the egg yolk, cooked to remove salmonella and force fed her that with Nutribac mixed in. She regurged it the same day. This was on New Years Eve. Her last meal was on December 6th without a regurge. She's still alive, however no longer wraps her tail around my fingers when being held and getting paler and paler each day. I still see her roaming around her viv very slowly, she is either in her waterbowl or wrapped around the bottom of it. Temp on the warm side is 82. I've tried everything and I'm literally waiting for her to die on me. Not sure what could have went wrong but this has definately been a learning experience. I have one other snake we got as a hatchling who is now 5 months old. Cages are side by side. My kids won't even go by the cages anymore because their scared they'll find the snake dead. There's a reptile show coming in a couple weeks and I'd like to get a yearling this time, hoping to elimate some of the struggles with a hatchling, but I think we'll be in mourning sometime this week. So sad!!
 
I'm so sorry - that sucks. Have you tried a live pink at all? I know my girl would only eat live for a while and now she only eats seriously warm pinks. At this point even getting food into her without the Nutribac (think plain pink head) might do some good. I wish you luck.

~Katie
 
Yes I have tried live pinks. First 2 weeks she ate them no problem but after the regurges she's had, I'd put a live pink outside of her hide and she would bolt to the other side of her viv.

I had a vet appointment today, went home to get her and she had already passed. Never easy on anybody that has had a little one pass, however I haven't given up. I've already contacted a local breeder here to see if he has any yearlings for sale. No more hatchlings for me!!
 
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