Re: Regurgitating Grey Rat

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Posted by MarkG on November 19, 1999 at 09:33:23:

In Reply to: Regurgitating Grey Rat posted by Cas on November 18, 1999 at 10:50:17:

: Well, I picked up a white oak phase grey rat about a week ago. Seems healthy and active, but there's a problem. The first time I fed it, I gave it 2 pinky mice (pet store said it was eating 2-3 a feeding). Then 2 days later, it regurgitated one of them. I thought maybe 2 at a time was too much, so I gave it a single pinky a few days later (yesterday). This morning I found the partially digested pinky in the cage. Any ideas why? I've got the cage in the high 70 - low 80's, paper towel for substrate, 2 hide boxes, and I don't think stress is a factor... Also, how long should I wait before attempting to feed it again?

You may want to give the snake a basking spot of about 84 deg, and leave it alone for about 5 days before attempting to feed. This sounds like a stress situation - even though you may be providing the animal with proper conditions, the move from the pet store may have caused some stress. In my experience, corn and rat snakes seem to do this initially much more than kings/milks. Also, if the snake was wild-caught, it could have parasites which get out of control in stressful situations. Anyway, if you do not want to take the snake to a vet right away, then step 1 is to not feed the snake for 5 days. After that, give it a small meal (just one). If the snake keeps that meal down, continue with a conservative feeding schedule until it is obvious that no more problems exist. If the snake continues to regurge after 5 days, see a vet.

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: : Well, I picked up a white oak phase grey rat about a week ago. Seems healthy and active, but there's a problem. The first time I fed it, I gave it 2 pinky mice (pet store said it was eating 2-3 a feeding). Then 2 days later, it regurgitated one of them. I thought maybe 2 at a time was too much, so I gave it a single pinky a few days later (yesterday). This morning I found the partially digested pinky in the cage. Any ideas why? I've got the cage in the high 70 - low 80's, paper towel for substrate, 2 hide boxes, and I don't think stress is a factor... Also, how long should I wait before attempting to feed it again? : You may want to give the snake a basking spot of about 84 deg, and leave it alone for about 5 days before attempting to feed. This sounds like a stress situation - even though you may be providing the animal with proper conditions, the move from the pet store may have caused some stress. In my experience, corn and rat snakes seem to do this initially much more than kings/milks. Also, if the snake was wild-caught, it could have parasites which get out of control in stressful situations. Anyway, if you do not want to take the snake to a vet right away, then step 1 is to not feed the snake for 5 days. After that, give it a small meal (just one). If the snake keeps that meal down, continue with a conservative feeding schedule until it is obvious that no more problems exist. If the snake continues to regurge after 5 days, see a vet.

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