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Did I just do something very stupid?

MakersMarked

MakersMarked

On the outside looking in
I think I may have done something stupid. I've been meaning to switch Agitprop over to aspen from paper towel. So while she was in her feeding tub (eating like a champ even though she's blue), I decided to go ahead and put in aspen. I also put in a humid hide cuz this is her first shed with me. But I didn't think about the fact that she's near-blind right now, and I've dramatically changed her viv. When I put her back in, she seemed kinda lost. Now she's just curled up in the corner of the cool side (although "cool" is still pretty warm since I'm in LA), and not in either of her two usual hides or the humid hide.

Should I pull her out even though she's just eaten, and swap the aspen out for paper towel again? I really don't want to wake up tomorrow to a regurged pinkie and a stressed-out snake.

:headbang:
 
At this point it is probably too late. If she is going to regurge, she will. If not, then good. For future reference, it is HIGHLY advised to not feed while in shed!!! That is a huge risk for regurge.
 
Oh, crap. I'd never heard that being blue was a regurge risk; I just thought snakes sometimes didn't like to eat when they couldn't see what they were eating. This is gonna be one long, stressful night for me, then. :( The corn I used to have years ago always ate for me, blue or not, and never once regurged. Gawd, I hope this one's just as hardy. The good news is she made her way back to her usual hide and is just chilling in there. I'm not even gonna be mad that she's not using the humid hide.

Thanks! And next time, I'm skipping feeding day if she's blue.


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I wouldn't worry about the environment thing - I rearrange my snake's enclosures every month when I do a big cleaning anyways, because I like the visuals. They have their same hides, but I can't imagine the life of a snake is all that interesting so whatever entertainment I can give them... but I digress.
I believe that regurges during shed can be a higher risk for colubrids like corns is because of the size of prey we feed them in comparison to their bodies. For example, we often feed about 1.5x the width of the largest part of their bodies, compared to boas or pythons which are usual fed to the same width of their bodies. Their skin is doing all kinds of stuff in preparation for the shed, and as such cannot stretch to its usual potential.

That being said, I have a habit of offering my snakes food when they are in blue, because I typically don't notice right away. But, mine are adults (and in general have less chance of a regurge but can definitely still happen!) and pretty much refuse when in shed anyways.

Try not to stress yourself too much. Regurge is definitely a serious issue, but if it hasn't happened then what else is there to do? Now you know for next time :)

Best of luck!
 
You mean she's near-blind because she's blue? She can find her way around just fine. I'd leave her alone. She isn't going to move much since she's blue. I try very hard not to feed while blue, especially babies. I fed my adult females (and a few younger males) last week. Four refused. Of those four, two have shed now, two weeks later, so they were blue, and two are now obviously blue. Some snakes _will_ eat when blue, but obviously it is against their nature to do so. I couldn't tell any of those four were blue yet when I fed.
 
in the wild animals move from place to place so new places to hide and hang out are natural and as far as feeding while in blue i never skip feedings when mine are in blue and my oldest who is over 5 maybe 7 has never vomited
 
I didn't notice a trend, either, Nick, until I was feeding 50-150 snakes. Then the relationship between feeding while blue and regurgitation became quite obvious.
 
I guess it works in my favor, then, that my LPS only had the world's smallest pinkies this time.

And yeah, she's near-blind because she's blue. She's (presumably) normal-sighted otherwise.

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I generally do not offer food when they are in any phase of the shed cycle. Typically, (what I have found) is many refuse while in blue, so it's a waste of food.

I've not had any regurge while in the opaque/blue phase, but I have had some regurge while in the clear phase, right before shedding. From what I gathered, they started shedding, and could not get the skin past the food lump, and they regurge to finish shedding.

I agree with Nanci, you tend to see more of the trends when you have a larger number of animals.
 
I wouldn't worry. I offer mine food even if they're blue and they either eat or refuse. I also usually do cage maintenance when they are being fed, so dont worry they will go where they want to. sometimes I miss knowing they've been blue, feed, and then wake up to a fresh shed in the morning.

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