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Regurgitating Boa

M

mgoblue346

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I recently about 6 or 7 days ago fed my snake a rather large rabbit, she took it fine, she is a 6'5 peruvian red tail boa. She had a huge lump in her stomach but for the next 4 or 5 days she was fine. Then she pissed all over her enclosure and I had to get her out to clean it up it smelled horrible. So I am thinking the handling I did while she was digesting such a large meal caused her to regurgitate this meal. What is the soonest I can try and feed her again? Again this rabbit was at least 3-5 lbs big.
 
Also her enclosure is kept at the hot end between 95-97 her cool spot is 85-88. She has a hide to go under with a heat pad, and a thermostat. At night temperatures drop to around 85 for I have nocturnal heat lamps running. The enclosure is 5 and a half ft, by 3 ft by 3 ft.
 
Also is it harmful to the snakes to house both of my female boas together, they get along fine, there is no competition for space as it is a large enclosure they wrap around each other all the time, the smaller one which is 6'2 will put its head on top of the larger one and rest there. They both have a strong eating habit.
 
It takes like two weeks for stomach acid to rebuild and than a smaller meal is needed to not stress the stomach.

I kept my boas gradient between 78*F and 92*F.

I don't believe in house them together, except during breeding.
 
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I would wait at least 2 weeks to feed and i would feed a much smaller prey.

You should go to redtailboas.com and sign up there.... There are alot of helpful people on the forum including myself and you will get a much quicker response to any questions you have.

Nick
 
I'll leave the issue of cohabitation for others, I'm sure you'll get plenty of replies to that one.

I have an 8'+ BCI and it eats jumbo rats. A 3-5lb rabbit is one heck of a big meal for a 7' boa.

On occasion, I'll have a snake that gurges. As long as it's not the ETB, I don't stress about it too much. Watch her for the next couple of weeks. Make sure she's got water and a good, clean enclosure.

What happens when they regurge is it also regurges a lot of the beneficial bacteria they have living in their stomach. This bacteria helps them break down food and digest it. She will need to rebuild the colonies that she has before she should be fed again. For BCIs this is pretty quick and easy, I've never had one not recover.

If you have the money and inclination, some ProBiotics would be good. That will help speed the rebuilding along, but the two weeks should still be taken off from feeding.

Giver her two weeks and then give her something on the small side, a large rat that's a little small or something similar. I wouldn't be feeding rabbits unless they were quite small (about the size of a jumbo rat if you get what I mean).

GL

Edit: I missed the part about having a fecal done. If it turns out she's got worms, well, now both your snakes have worms and they both need to be treated. (One of those things about cohabitation, too).
 
hey thankyou both for your insight, I recently received both these boas within the past 2 months, and they came in both very skinny, and with RI's so that is why the temp is up in their enclosure. I have taken them both to a herp vet and was told to just raise the temp medicine isn't needed at the moment, raised heat over a few months should do them fine. Since I have gotten them both within the last two months, the larger snake has eaten 2 jumbo rats and then the last being the rabbit which she regurgitated. The smaller snake has eaten 2 jumbo rats and is now going into shed so she is refusing all meals and I am waiting til she it out.
 
i would not feet your boa anything that big. Try and stick to a 2 to 3 pound rabbit. When they have a big bulge in there stomach like that it is hard for them to curl up and they feel volnerable. i dont think i spelled that right. Plus i wouldnt handle a boa that took like kind of meal for at least 10 days. if she pisses or shits i would try and cover it up of soak up the piss with out having to move your boa very much.
 
I've (knock on wood until my knuckles bleed) had to deal with RI's but I thought raising the temperature alone didn't cure them? While it's supposed to be used in conjunction with antibiotics by itself at best it just masks the symptoms?
 
You start with temps and if they can't fight it off themselves, then you intervene with antibiotics.

IMO, rabbits should NEVER be offered to a snake that small, period. WAY too small for rabbits unless the rabbit is quite small.
 
Thank you for the clarification!

If you can't handle the boa 4 or 5 days after feeding than the prey was entirely to big, regardless of it's type. Powerfeeding kills.
 
There's a pretty big difference between a 3lb and a 5lb rabbit...but, IMO, either would be too big for a 6.5ft boa - especially one that is already "very skinny". High temps can also be a factor in regurgitations.
(bumping the temps usually means running them at the higher end of normal, and with less of a gradient...going higher can serve a purpose, but with greater risk of problems)
 
nraduski said:
There are alot of helpful people on the forum including myself and you will get a much quicker response to any questions you have.
Click to expand...
Nick, if you're such a helpful person, why not just respond to his questions here (as opposed to posting to tell him to go to another site)?
 
When a snake is already thin and sick (RI) it is more prone to regurg, especially if fed a meal that is too large. It could have also been stress of being in the cage with another snake that caused the regurg. You said you've only had them for 2 months, has either eatten before this time? (maybe you said and I missed it?) Were they housed together previously?

I've fed a 2-3lb rabbit to my 8' boa and that was a pretty big meal, so I think your food items were too large. How often are you feeding? I understand if the snakes are thin and you want to try to bulk them up as quickly as possible, but it's best to just feed them on a normal feeding schedule normal sized prey and they will bulk up over time. Especially with BCC, you don't want to push them full of food too much or too fast. BCC seem to have more senstive stomaches than BCI and can take a while to recover.

I suggest no food for 2-3 weeks and then offer a small or medium f/t rat.

As far as keeping them together, can you separate them? If so, please do! It will be better for the snakes stress levels as well as for your own observations of their feeding, defecation, etc, especially since they have RIs, you'll want to keep a close eye on their nose/mouths in case the RI flares up really bad. You said they 'get along fine'. Boas are generally very solitary creatures and do not need or benefit from companionship (as far as my observations can tell). They are probably 'hanging out together' because they both want to be at a certain temperature and are both trying to be in the same spot. Sometimes one boa will be more dominant and keep the other from getting the ideal spots as well. Stress like that can further aggrivate the RI and the snake's immune system.

I hope I don't sound like I'm being harsh, just trying to help offer some advise for the sake of your boas and sometimes it comes across as a lecture. I do with you good luck and I hope they both fully recover.
 
I have several "large rtbs" meaning, over 8 foot, and I stick to 3/4 pound - 1 pound rabbits. you fed prey WAY to big - plus, if they're BCC, you're really playing with fire. That subspecies needs smaller feedings less often, and the heat gradient, regardless of why it's that high, will also be a cause for regurge in BCCs. Separate them. The "cuddling" is competition for space, not "getting along" - 2 snakes = 2 enclosures
 
hhmoore said:
Nick, if you're such a helpful person, why not just respond to his questions here (as opposed to posting to tell him to go to another site)?
Click to expand...


Considering this is a classified section I figured that if questions needed to be asked and there were things to learn why not let it be known that there is a great place for that??? Why point me out in a crowd for trying to help???


my user name on redtails is the same as my fauna name and if you have any questions at all or just want to chat there are many wonderful people over there...
 
nraduski said:
And if you learn to read before you type away I did answer his question...
Click to expand...


I think we were quite prompt in trying to help. He posted in the wrong part of the forum not on the wrong site.

I answered him within 20 minutes after he posted, so why don't you learn to read.
 
Me and my husband use Tylan to treat RIs and it works very quickly you can buy it at you local tractor supply store, its an injectable made for swine and cattle but can be used on snakes. Just raising the temp in the cage will mask and possibly make the infection go dormant for a short period of time it will not kill the infection. Medication and Raised Tempature is the proper way to treat RIs. I dont have the conversion for Tylan on hand but you can look it up on redtailboas.com
 
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