I have had at least one poop a pair of desiccated feet and a tail. It was the same snake that regurged after 7 days, he’s got some digestion issues.
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Good info, @noodlehaus. Nature is indeed weird.
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I was going to say this as well. Most of the ones I’ve experienced I can smell as soon as I walk in the room (even if it’s just a pinkie!). But I’ve had one or two that had no noticeable scent whatsoever. They mummified before being smelly, or something.
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Ditto to all the above…but wow! A non-smelly regurge is a new concept for me. I’ve only had 3 total in all my years of keeping snakes, and they were definitely noticeable from a distance. Good to know there are other things to watch for.
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@caryl Well, I just got a nasty update: I looked over at his cage and what was waiting there for me than the largely digested body of one of the two 4g mice I fed him 6 days ago… The carcass didn’t even stay together when I picked up the bowl - I just threw it away with the water so I didn’t smell it. I looked everywhere in his cage to see if he also regurged the other one but apparently not, or not yet, or maybe he hid it (he does like burrowing in that aspen).
So, yeah - looks like the first one was regurge too, and I messed up bad by giving him that second meal. I guess its good that I’m taking him to the vet tomorrow - though I don’t like how much I’m going to have to jostle him to take him there…
Yeah… this sucks.
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First off, don’t feel too bad about the mess up, it happens. I’ve done the same thing, I’m sure there are plenty of others who have, too. You’ve already got a vet appointment, you’re good. I will say, if they prescribe more antibiotics (and even if they don’t), consider investing in some NutriBAC probiotics to help with gut flora. Lightly dust the mouse at your next feed in 2-2.5 weeks.
Since I didn’t read/respond to anything above the regurg or poop bit, I will say this about that feeding chart since I use it as well: I don’t ever go up until the snake is 10-20g above the threshold weight and holding there. I also ignore the age & length. You’re better off feeding one fuzzy at the shorter interval than trying to feed two to equal the larger meal size. Just keep an eye on weight every couple of weeks to make sure they’re still maintaining and growing. For example, I’ve got a bunch of snakes that I only just switched to medium mice, despite the fact that they’re almost 24 months and several are well over the 100g mark. Sometimes slow is the way to go.
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Aww, shucks. Too bad about the partial regurge. Maybe he’ll keep the other one down. I’ve had that happen with mine. Don’t be too hard on yourself. You are doing your best by the snake, and you’re getting him vet care. You’re doing fine.
I completely agree with growing them slowly and steadily. The feeding chart was developed long ago to maximize growth in order to breed them as soon as possible. It’s not considered best practices for their health now, if it ever was.
I heartily endorse NutriBac probiotic. Mine all get it monthly regardless, with additional applications of it if they move up in prey size or have a stressor.
Good luck tomorrow. Oh, if the vet’s office is chilly or you expect the trip/wait to be long, consider taking a hot water bottle or something similar to keep the snake comfortably warm. Let us know how it goes.
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I’m so sorry about the next regurge. He must not be feeling well at all, and it’s probably related to the RI. Keep us posted. Poor guy. This is a bummer introduction to corn snakes. I promise they’re not all this hard.
@caryl good to know about the history of who developed the growth charts. I’ve seen so many versions out there, and never had a problem…until I did…and it has certainly made me skittish. I’ve determined, like @noodlehaus, to wait until they’re well past the threshold to go up in size.
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Forgot about this one last night, but that is an older version of the feeding chart. I’m not in the CS:AH group on Facebook (because no thank you to FB groups) but I’ve got this one saved:
As you’ll notice, it no longer has weights listed for feeding anything over 23g. They’ve also added a note saying it’s a guideline only and may need to be deviated from. There’s a solid illustration of feeder to body size ratios, and some of body conditions. I suggest using this instead of the old one as it doesn’t prompt upsizing at any certain threshold.
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Ok - so I got back from the vet and she thinks that perhaps we didn’t keep up the antibiotics for long enough. This makes some sense as there was a stretch (maybe on the 6th shot) that he did seem a little better before he got worse again. So we are basically going to try the same regime for 10 shots instead of 7 - but keeping an eye on him to see how he is doing. I asked her to look at his nostrils - which she did under magnification and said they looked fine.
About the regurge - she said its not likely that the antibiotics would affect his gut fauna but the stress from the RI might have been enough to cause it. The plan for that is to feed him one 4g fuzzy 2 weeks from now.
@noodlehaus @caryl I asked her about the NutriBac, she said she doesn’t know if it does any good, but it probably doesn’t do any harm, which is good enough for me: I’ll try it. My question is: how do you guys actually apply it to the mice? Dipping them in there seems a bit unsanitary over time?
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The deformity I mentioned is the nostril of my blood python. He whistles when in shed. Looking at his shed skin there is a small mis-alignment in a scale.
I can’t see that in yours.
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I use a spoon and sprinkle a small amount over the mouse before feeding it off. You don’t need a ton, the mouse doesn’t need to be fully coated or anything. Definitely don’t dip into the container. You can also put a little bit in a dish and dip into that.
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@gabonica1 Oh ok, about the nostrils I thought you meant in the first picture I put up - which didn’t really make sense to me. At any rate, still glad the vet specifically checked that.
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And thank you all for helping me take care of Vulcan (the roman god of the forge, not the Start Trek species!). I had a cat growing up, but since then this has been my first pet, I’m really quite attached to the little guy. More than I thought I’d be, actually. So this has been a bit stressful and y’all made it easier, I really appreciate it.
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I know your guy is pretty tiny…so I’m not sure what the best course of action would be. It may be hard to get a good size sample swab…but getting a culture of the bacteria or fungus so you can find out if the medication is going to continue working may help more.
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@armiyana The vet said getting swabs/tests would be the next step if this doesn’t work.
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Glad you were able to get Vulcan to the vet. Hopefully he’s on the way to recovery now.
I know Jess already answered this, but I do pretty much the same thing to apply NutriBac. Either sprinkle some onto wax paper then dip the rear end of the intended meal into the NutriBac, or sprinkle the powder onto the mouse. I’ve never had one reject a meal because of it, even one with health concerns. They don’t seem to care at all.
The product was developed for lizards rather than snakes. There have been no actual veterinary studies of which I know on snakes. That said, I’ve heard a lot of anecdotal success stories. That includes my own when I had a youngster who got overheated, regurging several times despite my following regurge protocol. I was afraid he was going to die. He surely might have. Kathy Love suggested I try NutriBac. Thankfully, that was the end of his regurges and he grew up and lived a long and happy life.
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That’s a great success story!
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