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Q: Regurge & QT
Posted By:

kellymack515

I've got a pair of boas that I've battled regurging with. Both are still in quarantine at this point. I've basically decided that neither likes rats as that has been the majority of regurges. One of the snakes (Saffron) has never regurged after a mouse and has kept down 16 straight feedings over the past 8 months. I'm fairly confident that she can be moved out of isolation. My question lies with the other boa, Rayden. He's kept down his last 6 feedings over the past 4 months but has regurged mice in the past and has regurged after a string of 8 feedings before. Should I base my decision to take him out of isolation based on the number of feedings he's kept down or the length of time since his last regurge?


Points: 100
Topics: General Health , Feeding , Regurge
Tags: Boa, Quarantine, Regurge
Administrative: Show/Hide

Member Comment 2/5/2011 11:38:39 AM

FyreFocks

Even with their current, decent track records of keeping meals down, id wait to pull either of them until a vet had a look at them. Thats of course assuming that a good vet is an option.

 
Member Comment 2/5/2011 12:34:39 PM

Sonja K. Reptiles

I'd keep them where they are still.

From your tracking on them, I see you are using Nix with them. Are you treating them with that because there have been mites present? If so, I'd keep them right where they are even if they weren't regurging until you are fully confident that the mite cycle has been broken.

 
Author Comment 2/5/2011 12:51:48 PM

kellymack515

The best herp vet in the area is my boss. And I can tell you exactly what he'd tell me. "If they're eating, shedding, and defecating normally, go ahead and take them out of quarantine."

I'm using Nix on everyone. A few of my snakes (in a separate quarantine area) have a mild infestation but when I see one mite I blanket treat everyone. The two snakes in question have never had mites.

 
Accepted Answer 2/5/2011 2:23:06 PM

gfx

I had a look at your tracking and IMO your prey items may have been too big for them when they started to regurge. I also think you're feeding too soon and too large after a regurge. I usually wait 3 weeks after a regurge before I feed again. In that time I'll make sure the animal is well hydrated and I'll give its body a chance to regroup after the regurge. Your first prey item should be very small and very digestable, something like a pink rat would be just fine. If that stays down, offer a few pink rats the next week. If that stays down, great, go up to a rat fuzzy and slice the sides so its easy to digest. Your male looks like he's in a sort of regurge cycle, you should really baby his GI tract and feed him easy to digest and smaller prey items for a few months so he can regroup. The female looks ok, but be careful of big prey items with her, especially in the weeks after you move. To make things easier to digest, you can slice the skin of the prey item in several places, it helps with the pukers when they're under stress.

Also, be careful of that mite spray. Reptile metabolism takes a long time to clear things out of the system and that stuff will build up in the kidneys and liver causing problems down the road. Your treatments seem pretty spread out from one another. 2 area treatments 12 days apart will catch any eggs, a 3rd area treatment would be about as much as I'd want to do. Soak the snake for a few hours while the cage is drying and you should drown just about all of the mites present. Mite treatment is something you can definitely overdo.

 
Member Comment 2/5/2011 7:35:56 PM

Miss Andrea

+1 gfx

 

I would keep them where they are. Moving them could stress them out enough for them to start regurging again, depending on how different the two areas are. And for snakes that have had a regurge problem, it's more likely to return. That's about all I could think to add to gfx- she about covered everything I could think of!

 
Member Comment 2/5/2011 8:02:45 PM

bsharrah

I would keep them both in isolation.  Has Rayden been examined by a vet following its string of 8 regurges?  If not, it needs to be.  Have you been getting fecals done?  Both smears and floats?  You say both are in isolation but how much are they isolated from each other?  If both are in the same room, my opinion is they stay put until both have gone at least a year with no regurge and clean bill of health by a vet to include multiple fecals.  Some may say a year is extreme and I would agree if it were only precautionary but these animals have shown signs of potential problems, so a year would be the bare minimum for me.

 
Member Comment 2/5/2011 8:07:40 PM

bsharrah

I am also concerned about the use of the Nix.  If the animals in question never had mites, and are isolated from the rest of the collection, why treat them?  If they are at risk of getting mites from your other animals, then it would appear they are not isolated far enough.

 
Member Comment 5/28/2012 1:24:29 PM

abi21491

This question has had no activity for 14 days and will be closed by an administrator unless the original poster takes action.

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