problems with a honduran milksnake

thx for the support. my honduran is in shed now so when she is done i will try to feed her a med mouse.

Your daytime temp of 79-85 is fine,...but wow,....60-69 is way too cool for a 12" long Honduran to digest it's meal,....it doesn't get near that cold in Honduras or Costa Rica,...........sounds like you are keeping it outside, and whatever the temp is that given day is what it gets.....do yourself (and the snake) a favor and especially for now, keep the whole cage between 80-85 for two weeks,.....this will give the snakes immune system a well needed "boost",...it will also let his stomach calm down and purge all the bacteria that was left from all the regurgitated meals. If in two weeks it throws-up another meal (make sure it is a very small one, you don't need to stress the snake any more than it already is) you then need to address the next possibility which I have also encountered several times in my decades of working with snakes,...it could have a touch of Gastro-enteritis, which is caused by an amoeba (Entamoeba invadens) that lives in the digestive system.......I have had snakes (Hondurans) in the past that would regurge every single meal that I fed them, no matter how small it was !!!......I went to my old bag of tricks, and administered a drug called Flagyl (Metronidazole).............low and behold,.......problem gone,....every mouse was held down from then on !!!!!Better yet, it seems to be a drug that is well tollerated by snakes, and they won't keel over if you're a bit off on the dosage......some books say- 40-50 mg/per kg,.....others say 40 mg/per lb.,.....that's quite a big difference !!!(more than double) so I would go on the high end of kg. dosage,....50 or 60 mg./kg. with no problems whatsoever.......you give it once,...then repeat in 14 days,...the stuff works like magic on the right problem..........hope this will help you out......D. Mong

Originally Posted by D. Mong

the stuff works like magic on the right problem..........hope this will help you out......D. Mong

I highlighted the important part here. Some people strongly disagree with empirically treating problems...others swear by it. Personally, I don't have a problem with dosing with Panacur or Flagyl, just in case...BUT if simple husbandry corrections and that treatment don't work, its time to stop screwing around and figure out what is going on. There are a number of microorganisms that can cause regurgitations & this is something that can lead to the death of the animal if allowed to continue.

I totally agree with you,... the amoeba problem is just one of many that could be the actual culprit. Those temps that the snake was kept at are what likely manifested any secondary problems that came up (if any). In any case I noticed later on, it was a very old post, and the snake died anyway.......that's too bad.........just a little common sense could have prevented it from happening in the first place. Hopefully, if some others read these posts,...we can help prevent this from happening to at least a few snakes in the future...........................D. Mong

I hope you retained what was outlined on the previous post,.....every snake hobbyist has learned a few lessons the hard way if they are in it any length of time....the most important thing, is that you learned something from all this,.... again,.......I cannot stress this enough, temperatures in the 60's, and even low seventies are too cool for Honduran Milksnakes which are native to Central America. I really do hope your other snake does well. One thing I see time and time again, is many keepers of snakes just don't seem to do much reading about them, there are some extremely important basics that every snake owner should know about the species he or she owns..........armed with just a few of these simple basics will no doubt help your other snake live a long, and healthy life............................D. Mong