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Regurge right before shed

L

LazyLemming

New member
Hi folks,

Igneous has been a great eater and a great snake since we picked him up 6 weeks ago. Last Sunday we fed him a single large mouse for his usual dinner and he ate it no problem. Unfortunately we didn't notice that his belly had started to pale and there was a slight hazing to his eyes until we put him back into his tank. He was JUST starting to go into blue that night.

Tonight we did a full cleaning of his tank while he soaked in a bath and found he had regurged the mouse under the bedding. He's in the blue now, his eyes are completely cloudy and he's dark as heck.

I'm guessing the regurge was because he was starting to blue? Should I wait until after the shed is complete and try to resume his normal feeding?

Temperatures in his tank are maintained 79-83 degrees hot side with a thermostat and he successfully digested larger meals (two large mice) previously.
 
I would wait at least two weeks to offer him food again. When you give him food, I would do a hopper with the skin slit open to help digestion take place easier. Nutribac always is helpful, but I think one regurge is not at the danger point and requiring it. I also would bump the hot spot up several degrees. 79 is basically what my cold side is most of the time. I'd rather see the hot spot between 85 and 88.
 
AliCat37 said:
I would wait at least two weeks to offer him food again. When you give him food, I would do a hopper with the skin slit open to help digestion take place easier. Nutribac always is helpful, but I think one regurge is not at the danger point and requiring it. I also would bump the hot spot up several degrees. 79 is basically what my cold side is most of the time. I'd rather see the hot spot between 85 and 88.
Click to expand...

Okay, that's about what I figured to, so that's good to hear. I doubt he'll finish his shed by this weekend, so his normal feeding time would be the following Sunday exactly two weeks after the last feed :) Should I really go all the way down to a hopper though? He's a pretty big guy and his usual feeding is 1-2 large mice alternating every Sunday.

If the hopper mouse goes okay, should I go back to a large the following week?


I was using a 75 watt heat lamp on constantly when I first got him which kept the temp at 84-85 degrees and he would NEVER go to the hot side. So I switched it to a 50 watt, which hit 80-82 and that seemed to be the sweet spot for him. He started spending about half his time on the hot side and half on the cold. So when I got a thermostat that's what I set it for.

Part of the cleaning tonight is we dumped the heat lamp and put in a UTH with a Rheostat and the thermostat. I'll bump the temp setting up a couple of degrees and see how he likes that.

Thanks!
 
This is why I don't feed when the snake is blue- I don't know why, but it often ends up in regurge, especially in young snakes. The rule of thumb is feed a meal half the size of what was regurged, then increase size gradually. Use Nutribac if at all possible. Slitting the first few meals is recommended.
 
Good news update:

Iggy fed on Wednesday, 10 days after the last feed and we've got a good poop today. He was all over his cage looking for food as soon as the shed was over so we fed him 2 days later. He took it quick and looks like he's digested it well.

Thanks folks!
 
I try to avoid feeding in blue, as well, if I note the snake is in blue. Unless your viv/tub is on the humid side, the diminished elasticity of a drying shed being shed...seems to have difficulty sloughing smoothly over the lump of the recent meal.

Imagine a lady trying to take off her hose _after_ her ankle has swollen to the size of a watermelon.
I've witnessed the predicament with a snake, and before I could intervene with moisture for the halted-bound-up shed, up came the last meal.
But then, I've had snakes that I think would eat every two days if I just offered it.
 
We didn't mean to, his eyes weren't really blue yet but we noticed the fading on his belly as he went back in the Viv. Thankfully I know better what to watch for next time and won't make that mistake again.
 
Don't beat yourself up. As a shedding approaches, bluing of the eyes is only apparent for a day or two, before and after which the eyes are not blue.
 
It can happen to anyone. Besides noticing your snake is visibly "blue," you may also notice that he isn't out and about as is his normal routine, for a few days- that means he may be blue. Or, you get him out and do a pre-feed weigh-in, and he has gained MUCH more weight than you'd expect. This means he hasn't pooped, and is most likely blue (because he's been hiding away, not out being active, and pooping).
 
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