Regurgitation

Regurgitation

Postby Lachesis » Mon Oct 22, 2012 1:51 pm

My little male rhinoceros, keeps on regurging!

The female is perfectly fine, but he must have brought back up about 70% of all his meals in the past 6 months. He keeps it down for a good 6 days or so, and i just caught him in the act of bringing up.

Ambient temps are around 25degC, is it too low? But the female is perfect, and my friends pair are kept at 24degC and are also fine. Can i add a heat mat to his enclosure? Although i hear all over the place that Bitis do not like heating from underneath. I really don't want to loose this little guy!
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Re: Regurgitation

Postby Tyronen » Mon Oct 22, 2012 2:09 pm

I'd say your temps are on the low side. It's important to offer the snake a warm spot to hide after feeding. I like to place a low 11 watt heat pad on one side of the tank and place a normal small floor tile over the heat pad to even out the spread of the heat. The warm sides of my tanks are 30-32Deg C and the cold side is about 26-28 Deg C. Also keep the water bowl in the cool side.
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Re: Regurgitation

Postby Lachesis » Mon Oct 22, 2012 2:47 pm

Tyronen wrote:I'd say your temps are on the low side. It's important to offer the snake a warm spot to hide after feeding. I like to place a low 11 watt heat pad on one side of the tank and place a normal small floor tile over the heat pad to even out the spread of the heat. The warm sides of my tanks are 30-32Deg C and the cold side is about 26-28 Deg C. Also keep the water bowl in the cool side.


Hi, thanks for the reply!

Most people in Europe always discourage using heat mats with Bitis species..Not sure why.

But i will add a small heat mat to the 1/3 of the underside, I bathe my Gaboons by the way and they drink then.

I will try to feed him again, in a month or so, i don't want him to get into the habit of regurgitating again!
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Re: Regurgitation

Postby Qwerty » Mon Oct 22, 2012 3:23 pm

My Gabby prefers temps in the 22-25 degree range. She is almost never on the warm side of the cage.
I originally had the cage setup at 32 Deg on the warm side and 26 Deg on the cool side and she was regurging regularly and spent all her time on the cool side. The cage is set now at 28 Deg on the warm side and 22 Deg on the cool side and she spends most of her time in the middle to cooler side of the cage. Also she much prefers lying under the heat emitter, she avoided the heating pad so I no longer turn it on. Young Gabbys often regurge and it is often difficult to get them to stop. Wait about a month to allow him to recover and then feed him a very small meal, pinky to small fuzzy.
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Re: Regurgitation

Postby Tyronen » Mon Oct 22, 2012 3:29 pm

I find that my snakes digest a meal completely in about 4-5 days so if your snake is able to regurgitate it’s meal after 6 days then something is hampering the digestion process. My first guess would be the temperature – perhaps it’s dropping lower than you think overnight. Something else- it could be the prey size is a little on the large size – maybe try a smaller meal in combination with some extra heating.

Also could be some sort of bacterial infection so just keep a close eye.
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Re: Regurgitation

Postby Bushviper » Mon Oct 22, 2012 4:31 pm

B. rhinoceros do not like heat at all. If you have a really big cage you can warm up one area with a small spotlight (downlighter) to about 28 degrees. Anything above that is not good for them. Your temps seen fine to me. Give him lots of hiding place too. Some snakes stress far more than others.

I would get some probiotics / natural flora down his throat. If the female is not regurging under the same conditions then look at the specimen and see where the problem lies.
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Re: Regurgitation

Postby Lachesis » Mon Oct 22, 2012 4:54 pm

Thanks guys!

That was my thinking behind it, that if the female is fine in the same conditions it's odd the male isn't. My temps at night never go below 21degC, as the heating is always on in the house now as it's going into winter!

He had been regurgitating 'successfully' for multiple feeds with pinkies, for the first few months. So i left him for about a month or so, tried again and he managed to keep quite a few down before passing..i gave him a small fuzzy 4 weeks ago which he passed perfectly, and this time he regurgitated from his feed last Thursday.

Just weighed the two of them now, the female is 150g and he's still lingering at 71g. Somebody suggested that it could be down to him needing his second shed? where the skin is getting tight...

At the moment, he is just on aspen with a lot of leaf litter. But i will add an actual hide as that might make him feel more secure (if that's the problem).

What sort of pro biotic are we talking? Is it something i would get hold of through a vet?

Thanks!
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Re: Regurgitation

Postby Bushviper » Mon Oct 22, 2012 7:21 pm

Yeah your vet should be able to give you some probiotic and electrolyte solution which you must introduce via a tube into the stomach a few days before feeding him again.
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Re: Regurgitation

Postby Lachesis » Tue Oct 23, 2012 2:13 pm

Ok, thank you!
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Re: Regurgitation

Postby Lachesis » Sat Nov 17, 2012 5:01 pm

Just an update..

I fed him two days ago, and i also placed a heat mat on the side..saw him move over there and try to get as close to it as possible. So they next day i put a small heat mat on a 1/4 of the floor space. Everyday so far he comes out of his cave and goes to sit on it for an hour or two and then goes back into the cave. I will assume he 'enjoys' having the heat mat there, fingers crossed he keeps the small fluff down this time!
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