| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| n/a |
Posted - 26/05/2010 : 13:18:49
Meryl regurgitated the last fluff I gave her a couple of days ago. In hindsight, it was perhaps a little bit too much for her to manage, although the temperatures in my flat have been higher than normal recently, too, because of all the nice weather we've had. I need to get a couple of digital thermometers and a pulse proportional thermostat to replace the single dial thermometer and on/off 'stat that I'm using as a stop-gap at the moment to be absolutely sure that it was a combination of heat & size that caused it, though.
Anyway, my question is this - Meryl's due for her first full clean-out tonight (I've owned her a month now), but wisdom seems to be to leave a regurgitating snake well alone for 8-10 days, except to change their water bowl. In this instance, does the need for a full tank clean outweigh the need to leave her alone, or can the cleaning wait until after she's fully recovered?
Also, as a spin-off question, I've read a lot of people recommending feeding snakes in a separate RUB, so as to a) reduce risk of substrate ingestion, and b) disassociate the snake with your hand going in the tank and them being fed. But if you're not supposed to handle a snake after they've fed, how do you get them back in the tank? Is it OK to put them back immediately after the meal has 'settled' in their body, or should I keep her in the RUB until she's passed her waste, and only then return her to the tank?
Sorry if these two questions are slightly disjointed, but saves having to post two separate threads. Any advice would be very welcome. |
| 11 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| Kellog |
Posted - 27/05/2010 : 04:09:07
I think you have been given some different opinions here Mathew and you are going to need to decide which you think is best. I will add to it having had a snake that has had a regurge....
I know Meryl is due her full clean out, but leaving it for another couple of weeks is not going to make much difference....as long as you have made sure that when you cleaned out the regurge you removed any substrate around it as well. I know Mike has said that you are fine to handle her, clean her out etc - and he is definitely the more experienced - but I know that when Silvesta regurged I tried to avoid as much stress for him as possible.
I left him a few days before handling him and then I only handled him for short periods of time....and I left it for the 10 days before feeding him again. I also fed him the smallest medium mouse I had and only the one (he was eating two normally). I then waited very nervously with my breath held until I knew that he had kept that mouse down.... It is not a nice thing for your snake or you to go through, so I do understand how you are feeling....
As for your 2nd question regarding feeding your snake in a RUB, it is certainly something I would personally recommend. Kellog was fed in his viv by his old owner, but after joining here and doing some more research I learnt about the risks of him eating some of the substrate along with the mouse and the problems it can cause. As far as I am concerned - it is always better to be safe than sorry. So now both snakes are fed outside of their vivs.
Sta~ple has given you some very good advice about lifting her from the RUB using the kitchen roll and tipping the RUB to let her slide back in. Although you are not meant to handle your snake after it has eaten you can safely lift it from the RUB back into its tank....this is what I do with my two snakes. Just wait until the 'bump' is about half-way down and then lift her gently out of the RUB, supporting her on either side of the 'bump' and put her carefully back in her tank. You can put her back in her tank as soon as her meal has settled, which you can judge really by it being about half-way down her body....if I was to wait until mine had passed waste then they would be out of their vivs for 2 days  !
Dont worry about asking the 2 questions, even if they are slightly disjointed - they are both about feeding  ! You need as much info as you need and this is the best way to get it.
xxx
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| mikerichards |
Posted - 26/05/2010 : 23:08:00
Once the snake has regurged you are fine to handle, clean out, whatever really, just not to feed. Yes handling is generally stressful, but generally not to the point of regurgitating food. The reason they are left for the period of time is not for them to settle in themselves, but for their stomach to settle, allowing digestive flora to build back up again to the levels they were before regurging.
Always remove the reguritated mouse as soon as you can, for a start its already being digested, even outside of the snake due to the stoamch acids, and at a higher ambient temperature, i can assure you, it will peel wallpaper in no time!
The bacteria present on the mouse when regurgitated is not gonna harm the snake, but the odour of the mouse decaying is not pleasant, and they cant escape it, so that will cause a small amount of stress. |
| Sta~ple |
Posted - 26/05/2010 : 18:11:42
You would be surprised how long snakes can live without food. She might not be as active in the next few days but she will be perfectly fine. |
| n/a |
Posted - 26/05/2010 : 17:48:49
Thanks very much; I guess my only concern for her welfare is that she's only 9 months old, so I was a bit worried that leaving her 10-14 days without a feed would be risky, but I guess she's cold-blooded, so she'll be alright... right? |
| SexyBear77 |
Posted - 26/05/2010 : 17:26:25
quote:
Originally posted by SexyBear77
Right, if it were me I would forego the cleaning. The bacteria from a regurge will be no worse than what is left over after a simple spot clean. Probably less in fact.
I also would wait at LEAST 10 days before attempting to feed again, though personally I would be inclined to wait 14. One of mine regurges quite often for various reasons, but keeps his next meal down if left for 2 weeks.
I used to feed mine out of the viv, but after getting tagged a couple of times whilst trying to remove a snake from the feeding tub I gave up, and they now all get fed in the vivs without issue.
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| SexyBear77 |
Posted - 26/05/2010 : 17:24:12
Right, if it were me I would forego the cleaning. The bacteria from a regurge will be no worse than what is left over after a simple spot clean. Probably less in fact.
I also would wait at LEAST 10 days before attempting to feed again, though personally I would be inclined to wait 14. One of mine regurges quite often for various reasons, but keeps his next meal down if left for 2 weeks. |
| DannyBrown91 |
Posted - 26/05/2010 : 16:41:58
I would personally give a full clean as the regurge could cause alot of bacteria to build up. Meryl will be fine in a RUB whilst you do so. I would also leave her 10 days before the next feed rather than 8, just to be on the safe side and limit the chance of it happening again. |
| n/a |
Posted - 26/05/2010 : 13:34:40
Hi,
Thanks for the quick reply - yeah, I removed the mouse as soon as I saw it (regurg happened about 1.5 day after feeding, so food was only partially digested; still looked kinda like a mouse, albeit slimy).
Thanks for the tip on feeding, too - I'll try that in 8 days' time!  |
| Sta~ple |
Posted - 26/05/2010 : 13:33:09
I would clean her out. If you pop her in a RUB while cleaning and don't handle her much it will be fine. You probably want to clean after the regurgitation area anyway to get rid of the stink.
If you feed her in a RUB and when she's done you could lift the lid of the RUB if it has one and pop it in her viv and wait for her to get out of the RUB herself. Sometimes I quickly and careful pick mine up and lift them back to the viv and gently put them down and I've had no problems yet. I don't handle them until after they poo though once they are in the viv. |
| n/a |
Posted - 26/05/2010 : 13:32:53
im not sure about the cleaning but i was also unsure of feeding outside viv so we put kitchen towel down in the viv and feed on that. much less movement for snake and no substrate eaten. neither of ours strike unless its at a mouse could just be ours though |
| newsnakekeeper |
Posted - 26/05/2010 : 13:28:20
HI and welcome regarding the cleaning after the regurg am not to sure bout that but i would take out the bits of the mouse u can see.
As regarding the feeding of snake in a rub and then putting it back in viv. If you use kitchen roll on the bottom of the rub you can use this to carefully lift the snake back up and into the viv. The other thing u can do is carefully lift the rub up and tilt it slightly so that the snake can slither back out and into the viv at it own accord.
Hope this helps you. |
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