I have a young female - 1100 grams who has regurgitated twice on me in the past. I have reduced the size of her rats from small to weaned and she has regurgitated 3 feedings in a row over the past 6 weeks now. I have a vet appointment that I made after the second recent regurgitate but unfortunately couldn’t get in till July 14. I’m going to try and get her in as an emergency today or Monday. Please tell me this is something they can treat! What will most likely happen?
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Tell us about your husbandry and your feeding.
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She’s is a rack. 5 story rack and all other snakes are fine and never had an issue. 6” belly heat set at 94 with 88 ambient on wam side 83-84 cool side. Reptichip substrate.
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Not sure this has to do with the regurgitation, but I’d turn the hot spot down. 94 is way too hot. Temps overall are too hot.
You want around 78-80 cool side, and 86-88 hot side at most. I wouldn’t want a hot spot or any temp in the enclosure over 90, you risk neuro issues when you start getting above that.
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Ok thanks. I was just doing what a local breeder and maker of the racks told me. I will drop temps a little.
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The “Snake Discovery” YouTube channel taught me that when they regurge stomach acid comes up with the rodent. The acid is so strong it burns the esophagus on the way up. It takes a week for scabs to form and another week for the wounds to heal and the scabs to fall off. If you feed before the two weeks you’ll rip those scabs off prematurely and cause more issues. Thanks, Emily.
From my understanding regurgitation is caused by one of two common things. First, the snake might not be able to find a warm enough spot to sit and digest. The heat actually aids in digestion. The snake would rather regurge than keep a non-digesting, rotting rodent in it, rightfully so. Second, handling the snake too much too soon after feeding. You should really not handle for a good 48 hours after feeding. You can move them to clean, change water, etc., that’s not considered handling, of course.
I don’t know if feeding the second and third time too soon and not allowing enough heal time since the last regurge will actually cause more regurging. I don’t know if you made that mistake. Even so what would have caused the first regurge? Can’t tell so far.
How much time elapsed between regurges? How long was this ball in your care before the first regurge? Is it possible the ball ingested some substrate along with the rodent? How long have you been keeping balls (just to get an idea of your experience level)?
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So I’ll try to answer all these questions. I have been keeping balls for 3-1/2 years so do t have a lot of experience but do have 7 total. She had her first regurge within 6 months of getting her as a baby. I’ve given probiotics in the past which I now think have helped. I have waited 2 weeks in the past and after every regurge to feed again. Maybe she needs more time now - a month or so? I was able to move my vet appt. up to 7/5 so I’ll keep my fingers crossed. I do not move to feed, or handle within 48 hours of feeding. If anything it sounds like her temps are on the higher side. No issues with any other snakes in her rack. This started before she was in the rack too.
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I’m really busy today. I’ll try to address this more later. Unless the snake is in very poor body condition, do not feed it for at least four weeks. As has been stated above the repetitive regurgitation is doing damage to it, esophagus, and the mucosal lining in its digestive system.
Post a picture of the snake from above if you can so that I can get an idea of his body condition.
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Is she eating live or f/t?
Has she passed any stools recently and if she has, what have they been like?
Is she obviously bloated looking anywhere?
Parasites or bacterial infections like Coccidia, giardia or salmonella can be a cause.
The downside is that there are a number of other issues that can cause it as well. Without a vet check possible parasite and viral testing and possible bloodwork, ultrasound and x-rays there’s not a surefire way to know.
If this started before the rack, I would have never put her in there until she was back to normal eating habits and extending the time she’s isolated. Especially with the viral or bacterial possibilities. Part of a good quarantine is watching for something like this.
I agree with what @ballornothing and @nswilkerson1 have already said.
I’m really hoping it’s something simple like a parasite you can medicate for or the heat issue…
Virals or organ issues would be terrible. In the case of a blockage, at least that can hopefully be caught early enough for a good surgical outcome.
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When you say regurg, do you mean a partially digested meal (as in its foul smelling and missing parts due to acid digestion) or did she just swallow and spit the rat out within an hour or so of consumption? Also, are you feeding live or frozen/thawed?
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She was fine when I put her in the rack. Previously when this happened I qt’d her and she went back to normal next feeding. The last time this happened was over a year ago but this time it has been multiple feedings. I had been thawing her rats in warm water and thought that might have been an issue with her but this last time I yawed in my fridge and heated with a heat lamp. Stools have been normal. I doubt it is impaction.
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It sounds to me like it was a bad rat, that’s why I asked if you were feeding frozen/thawed. I’ve had this before, it’s the snake equivalent of food poisoning. I agree with @ballornothing, I wouldn’t feed her for a month if her body condition is good to allow her digestive system a chance to recover. After that recovery period I would then offer a small meal, like a mouse, and I would offer a LIVE mouse just to make sure it’s fresh meat.
Snakes take a lot longer than mammals to heal, and the temperatures you had were too hot, so she was probably stressed and not healing very quickly. Now that you’ve fixed the temps, give her a chance to heal, and she should be good.
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Hmm… it could be a bad rat as @snowgyre said. But it seems odd to have only happened with her twice, but nothing abnormal with your others.
When it first happened, were you trying to size up her meals then as well? I wonder if maybe she has a congenital issue and can only handle a certain size meal due to something internal not quite being right, but enough for her to have a mostly normal life. I have one rescued male that has burn scars that make feeding him different. His scars basically work like a corset and his skin doesn’t stretch as well so he gets smaller meals to avoid regurge because of it.
Either way, I hope she improves soon and there’s nothing odd noticed with the vet either.
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Nothing more to be said other than hoping your vet will be able to give you a definitive diagnosis and I surely hope your fellow will get back to normal soon!
Best wishes to the both of you! 
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I would suggest waiting at minimum 2-3 weeks like you have any then going down two sizes when you feed and stick to that size for a few meals. I also have had success with switching to mice with one animal that had regurged a couple times following laying a clutch of slugs. It seemed like the mice were easier for her to digest, perhaps had something to do with the difference in the hair? I also rolled the prey item in Bene-Bac. I went slow with her and she’s back to medium rats again.
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All I can think to add is my wish for a speedy recovery for your snake.
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Thanks to everyone for their help and advice! I was able to get Daisy to the Vet today. We saw Dr. O’Brien (Algonquin, IL just in case anyone in this area needs a Vet - I highly recommend). She was diagnosed with a respiratory infection. Apparently the mucus can cause a gag reflex. Poor snake might have been fighting this for a while. She will be on meds for 3 weeks and I plan to try feeding her after that.
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Holy cow! I am so glad you got her in when you did! Now that she is being medically treated I am hoping that she will recover soon . Just don’t try to feed her too quickly. Since she weighs 1100 grams, or close to it, she will be fine for quite awhile. Give her time for her poor insides to completely heal.
Best wishes to you!!
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So glad that you were able to get Daisy seen. Prayers that hopefully she’ll recover thoroughly and eventfully. Thanks for the update.
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