Snake I've had for years just had first regurge

[jdtate51]

Hello All,

I'm new to the website. But I have had my RTB for years. She's maybe like 6 or 7 years old. I feed her around once a month a large jumbo rat. I just moved two weeks ago, and she has been laying in the water a lot. I thawed out a rat tonight to feed her and noticed her eyes are blue (about to shed) I went ahead and put her in her feed box and left her alone.

I came in and saw that she had the rat about 1/3 in her mouth, when I came to see if she were finished 15 minutes later she regurged it. This is the first time she has ever regurged. I have her in a boaphile plastics cage and have had the same heating set up for years. I also use newspaper substrate.

Any suggestions on why this happened, do you guys think she will be okay? Should I do anything for her?

[LukaTisus]

Being in blue, you probably startled her and it was a defensive response if it wasn't all the way down. I've had my kingsnake spit up a mouse he had halfway down once because I walked past his tank to get something and he's just a jumpy little brat.

Still, just as a precaution, offer her a much smaller food item for her next few meals and keep a good eye on her after that, and maybe take her to a vet just to be sure. Better safe than sorry, right?

[Ranger]

It doesn't sound like your snake regurgitated. If it had it partially in it's mouth, was disturbed, and chose to reject the meal before swallowing it, it didn't regurgitate. That's good news!!!

If it completely swallowed the rat, then regurgitated it, you need to find the husbandry or health problem(s) resulting in the change in behavior. If the snake is soaking, I'd be looking for mites, excessive heat, or dehydration. What circumstances was the snake subjected to during the move? How are you monitoring temps?

	Mites Mites, close relatives of fleas and ticks

[razeraze]

I agree with lukatisus and ranger. it sounds like you startled it, I would try feeding in the cage. this way the snake does not have to be bothered and eventually put back in it's cage.

[jdtate51]

Thanks everyone for the replies. My snake did not completely swallow it. It looks like it had about half of the rat in before rejecting it. She has been in the water an awful lot lately, but she has blue eyes and is about to shed. She always lives in the water before she says. I use newspaper for substrate. I am monitoring the temps with a thermom i got from walmart about 3/4" off of the floor.

[LukaTisus]

She might need more humidity in that case, which is why she soaks so much. Still, if she only had the rat half swallowed, then something just startled her and she should be good to eat once she's all shed out. Do you have a humidity gauge at all? How about misting her tank? Newspaper doesn't hold humidity that well so she might need it upped a bit and perhaps check her for mites just in case.

	Mites Mites, close relatives of fleas and ticks

[deadliestformula]

If it was a regurge it would have stunk to the high heavens. And if it just 'quit eating' it would have been just a regular ole dead mouse. SOOO....if you are sure that the snake regurged it, the digestive juices would have been on it, and that can be really rough for the snakes system. Feed a smaller prey and wait a week of so longer than you normally would have to make sure that the snake can eat it. (if you normally feed large rats every 2 weeks, then feed a medium rat 3 weeks later instead of 2 weeks) I hope that made sense. If the snake takes it fine. If it regurges again then I would start to look for something being wrong....

	regurgitate Throw up. Reptiles will regurge when they feel they are in danger or if they have some sort of health issue. If your reptile has regurgitated his/her food please seek help!

[MegF]

If it was as you said before she swallowed completely, or even immediately after swallowing, it isn't a true regurge. I suspect it's mostly because of her imminent shed and once she's shed out, she'll be fine. In the future I would refrain from feeding her during the blue cycle.

	regurgitate Throw up. Reptiles will regurge when they feel they are in danger or if they have some sort of health issue. If your reptile has regurgitated his/her food please seek help!