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siepher

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i have a boa who is about 6 months old or so ive had him for about 5 of those months and he has never any problems but this past month everytime he eats he throws up and cant hold any food down and im not sure why . can anyone help me out here i dont want anything to happen to him
 
I'm definately not an expert here, so if anybody can refute the advice I'm offering, please feel free. I have a couple questions to begin with. Are you trying to feed oversized prey items? Is the temperature ideal?
If the prey items and temperatures are sufficient I would give the animal a week or so to re-establish the fluids in the stomach then try to feed a prey item about half the normal size. If regurge continues after these parameters are met, consult your vet.
 
The first thing you do is take him to the vet. Parasites are easily transferred to snakes through food, so a question: are you feeding live prey? Frozen thawed are better for controling of parasites. Along with Rob's questions there is really no right answer just yet. If temps are too low he may have an upper respitory infection. The vet will do a fecal test and check for mouth rot along with listening to his breathing for an infection.

After the vet check, the vet can direct you for proper care, if the vet is not to smart about snakes, let us know what the results are and we can guide you along the way.
 
the first thing I would look are are the enclosure temperatures. if they are too high, too low, or are fluctuating significantly, it can cause regurgitation. Rob made a very good point, in that you should allow some recovery time after a regurg...and that the first meals afterwards should be smaller than usual. What are you using as a heat source, and how is it regulated? (check and make sure everything is working properly). What are the temperatures (warm and cool side, day and night)? are you handling the boa after feeding? Using different cleaning agents in the enclosure? have you changed food suppliers? any difference in prey items? has the snake been defecating? is this a CB boa? Parasites are a possibility, but it seems strange that the problem would just develop after 5 months. There is also a product called Nutribac that (from what I hear) is useful in this type of situation.
 
i feed him frozen thawed he is one of 2 snakes i have that i can get to eat frozen the others will not but im trying . his tank is in the low 80s on one side and in the 70s on the other he is active and loves to be held and doesnt act sick he is capltive bread and is a great snake overall and to heat him all i use at the moment is a dome light on the one side and nothing on the other and he has never had any problems until recently i use a night light on the tank so it is always on because it never heats the tank to much so its always on and i never take any of my snakes out after they eat but he is throwing it back up while im asleep the night that i feed him i feed them all at night around 9 because some wont eat during the day only at night and when i wake up the next morning it stinks incredibly bad and there his food is he usually takes down 2 small mice but after he threw it up two weeks in a row i gave him one very small mouse compared to what he was usually getting and that ever came up i see him drinking every now and then and he holds that down but once he eats it comes up
 
temps sound a bit on the cool side to me. I keep my boas with a warm area of about 88 and the cool side at 80 (or in a room heated to 84). I suspect that your problem is due to decreasing temperatures at night, as for the past few weeks it has been colder than usual (I'm in NY/you're NJ)...to the point that indoor temps here when I get home in the morning have been in the mid-high 60s. If you have windows open, it would be getting colder than that. (yes, I know it has warmed back up the last few days) I am not sure how to interpret your statement regarding the dome light/night light...is the dome light shut off at night? What kind of thermometer are you using, and where is it located in the enclosure? I am a bit concerned about one statement regarding the regurgs, however: "i see him drinking every now and then and he holds that down but once he eats it comes up". are you sure he is vomiting the water back up, or is your statement related to the fact that the substrate is wet/damp after he regurgs? 2 important questions (one left unanswered, one previously unasked *sorry*) - Has the snake been defecating? and What are you using as substrate? - one possible reason for a snake to regurgitate is intestinal obstruction...and the fact that you state the water is coming back up also would strengthen that concern.

I know I asked a lot of questions between my 2 posts (believe me there were more, but I was trying to keep it simple)...they are asked ONLY to help us help you - please make the effort to answer all of them, so we can best direct you in getting the little guy back on his (*ahem*) feet.
 
The temps are a bit low, raising would be beneficial overall for the snake. To add to Harold's questions. Where is the heating located? Is it above the tank or on the side of the tank? Do you have any heating under the tank?

Just to clarify for my own thoughts.
 
the light is on the top of the tank and i do not turn it off at night i keep it on all the time and there is nothing under the tank to heat all i have at the moment is the light ontop i dont think he is vomiting the water back up because its not really wet at all it is just what he ate and he doesnt soak in his water ever ive never seen him do that i did have him on a wood chip type of substrate at 1st but i cleaned his whole tank out and put news paper down while he is having this problem the fact that it has gotten colder might be it because like i said he was fine for 4-5 months no problems and he just now for the past month or so cant hold his food down and he is in the basement with me becasue thats where my room is but the room i am in is carpeted and insilated and all so its the warmest part of the basement and all my other snakes/dragons are in here also and i do have a window but never open it because i have my animals in my room unless its really hot out the window stays shut and for the most part my room during the night and day stays pretty hot so when i sleep i just put a fan directly on me so the temp in the whole room doesnt go down
 
One word of advice (literally, one word) - Punctuation!
There are still a couple of questions which remain unanswered. Once you have answered them, I will try to offer some suggestions as to how to proceed
 
as far as a thermometer im using one that i bought from a local petstore , it just sticks on the tank . i have it on the inside twards the bottom of the side with the light on it . Im not sure what other question you asked that i did not answer . sorry
 
Corey, you need to get those temps up! I have a feeling that is the source of your problem. The enclosure should have a heat gradient so the snake can thermoregulate himself. You should have a warm side of about 86-88 degrees. A cool side of around 78-80, and a hot spot around 92 (under your heat lamp). It sounds to me like you need to get yourself (your snake) a heating pad to place underneath the enclosure. I'm assuming that since the problem just recently developed, in association with the onset of cooler temperatures at night, that your snake is just too cold. You need to get those temps up man!
 
I'd also like to add that, ideally, boas should have approximately 10 hours of sunlight. Get yourself a timer for your light and provide your boa with some ideal conditions. 24 hours of light can be stressful to your snake, adding another component to your problem. Also, have you provided your boa with a hide box? Its not absolutely necessary, but they do like to tuck themselves away to hide, especially after a meal.

It comes down to this. Raise the temps in the enclosure. Provide the ideal 10 hours of light. Give him about a week or so to recover from the regurge. And if you haven't already, provide a hide box.
 
yea i have an extraunder the tank heat pad ill put on and i have a hide box wich is pitch black and he gos in there after every meal . ive been giving him a week after everytime he regurge to i changed stuff around and tried something new after everytime and gave him a week . my other snakes are in the same place and they have no problem thats why im confused , i guess its just because they are bigger maybe . i will set up the heat pad and see how he does im goin to be feeding him again on thursday night .

wether or not any of this works i appreciate all the info and help you guys have givin me
 
Also, spring for the $10-12 and get yourself a decent thermometer so you actually know what is going on. you can pick up a little digital indoor/outdoor at WalMart, Home Depot, etc. Even if you are strapped for cash, it'll be worth it because proper temperatures are crucial for keeping your reptiles healthy.
 
which "wood chip type substrate" did you have it on? And the all important question (for the 3rd time) is has the snake been defecating (or more specifically, has it defecated since the last meal it kept down)? While (as I mentioned earlier) I suspect that the problem is due to low temperatures, it would be nice to rule out a potentially life threating problem. Since you are going to be feeding tonight (and the temperatures have been much warmer the past few days/nights), let us know how you make out.

Going back to the temp issue. You really need to know what the temperatures are before you start adding more heat...and keep in mind that some brands of undertank heaters get very hot (ZooMed, for example). You may want to look into getting a red bulb or ceramic heat emitter so you can leave the heat on 24/7 - what size tank is the boa in (to better select the correct wattage).
 
siepher said:
i have a boa who is about 6 months old or so ive had him for about 5 of those months and he has never any problems but this past month everytime he eats he throws up and cant hold any food down and im not sure why . can anyone help me out here i dont want anything to happen to him
Click to expand...

I try not to assume anything when someone asks for help.

The first question should be what kind of BOA do you have? Before any advice is given. If I were just to assume you are talking about a BCC and you actually had a Brazilian Rainbow Boa I would be giving the wrong advice.
 
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