Regurgitation

[carly689]

Does anyone know why snakes bring their food back up after it is half way down? My Murray Darling just did this with a thawed rat.

 

[Greebo]

Did you startle him while he was feeding?
I have snakes spit the mouse back out when I have checked on them to see if they have eaten yet.

 

[carly689]

Hi Greebo

We were watching him and hed eaten a mouse before that then I gave him the frozen rat and he regurgitated it and I thought I might have scared him but then he tried to eat it again and requrgitated it again and wouldnt go near it after that.

Thanks From Carly

 

[Fangs]

Could be a number of causes.How much bigger was the rat compared to the mouse?
Does the rat smell really bad?Was it warmed right through etc?
I would try and feed another rat just to see if it makes any difference.

cheers M.......

 

[carly689]

Is it all right to wait a few hours while the rat defrosts? and the only other one I have at the minute is heaps bigger. the one that I fed him after the mouse wasnt that much bigger and he normally swallows them easily

 

[Fangs]

Defrosting that way should be ok however we defrost ours faster by placing them in hot water.
Personally I wouldn't feed again till you normally would since he already took a mouse.
Maybe he just doesn't like rats or the mouse might of scratched his insides on the way down.Either way dont worry just see how he goes next time he is due for a feed.

cheers M...

 

[carly689]

Thanks for your help, he normally eats rats so it must have been the mouse it did go down a bit weird he took it head first but got his back leg as well so it was sort of twisted, thanks again

 

[Whaa]

Yeah Fangs, how hot is the hot water?
Everytime I try it the mouse pops open at the belly!

 

[Fangs]

Hot water right out of the tap Whaa.You must be using cheap mice prolly made in china or something.

 

[python_guy44]

If after the putting in warm water a good idea if the snake still doesnt take it is to blow em with a hair dryer, it just may get them to take it.

 

[Whaa]

I didn't see a 'made in china' sticker on the mouse's **** but I'll be sure to check next time!

 

[zoe]

i used to use hot water straight outta the tap but i had a couple split open and someone told me that u need to defrost em slower in kinda warm water but not too hot. for some reason the really hot water seems to thin their skin or something.
hey carly, make sure the rat/mouse is warmer than just room temperature so he can sense it's 'body heat' and knows it's edible!

 

[Brodie]

I use 'luke-warm' water.....hot but not hot enuf to burn ure hand...

 

[Alexahnder]

don't ever defrost mice in the microwave!!!

 

[luke]

yer luke warm water works for me iv never had one split open nor have i ever had trouble feeding if he dosnt take it strait away i just move it around and bang he on it like a sat gided missle and with feeding i have him in a clear bucket in the middle of my lounge room with the tv going and ppl moving around, no mater whats going on he Will eat frozen live what ever. as this is my first snake i could be doing things wrong but it works for me

 

[zoe]

that sounds like u got a pretty damn good feeder there luke! the one and only time my guy's had a feeble attempt at biting me was when he was little and i took most of the stuff outta his tank to give him some room to eat and after he ate he was very defensive cos he had nowhere to hide to protect himself from evil ol me. he's always looking around to make sure no one's there to kill him while he's eating lol

 

[pythonss]

thawing properly.

forgive me if i miss read the thread. but it would take longer than a few hour to defrost and get to at leat room temp before feeding..unless this was done maybe out side in the sun. If it wasnt warm in the middle as well the snake would soon pick this up and spit it back..after thawing genle squeeze it in your hand and after a few secounds you will feel either the heat or coolness radiating out from the in side.

there are many ways most fine to defrost food..

we use hot water but keep the rats/mice dry and this also stops the mouth and neck from filling with water. this is done by either putting inside a plastic bag and floating in hot water...or what we do is place all the food items in a plastic container then float that in hot water with a lid on.. this will gentle thaw the food like a enclosed oven, the hot air builds in the container and warms the food allround not just from the heat underneth. when they are ready to feed they are nice and dry/clean and slightly above room temp. the extra bit of heat will get better feeding results as well..

hope that helps

cheers paul.

 

[carly689]

Thank you every one I defrosted his food on top of his cage where it is really warm but ill try the hot water next week