Odd regurge...

[d_virginiana]

So, I found what looked to be a regurgitated partly-digested mouse in the tank two of my males share a few days ago. They're both acting perfectly fine; active, tongue-flicking, energetic when held, but one refused food tonight. Since he's not going into shed or anything, I'm assuming he was probably the one who regurged.

He had eaten multiple mice, but only regurged the one. He did eat slightly more than normal last feeding. Have any of you ever had a snake regurge only part of a meal, and if so did it just seem to be a one-time thing where maybe they had eaten too much or something?

[BLUESIRTALIS]

This can be caused from over eating. Shouldn't be nothing to worry about, but i would offer a smaller meal next time.

[d_virginiana]

That's what I was thinking. The unexplained death of that female a few months back just kind of has me on edge. I don't believe it was anything contagious, but I've been watching those two males (both of them mated with her) like a hawk ever since.

[Albert Clark]

Lora, it certainly can be due to the recent over feeding but you have to be suspicious too! Parasites is what comes to mind with me. Of course it may not be but it has to be one of your differentials. I did have one of my albino female checkereds regurgitate a partially digested mouse about 1 year ago. She was gravid and ate the mouse two days before she delivered 23 scrubs! Not only does certain foods predispose snakes to parasitic overload but stress, captivity in general, and unsanitary conditions also. I know you are on top of all of that but just as a possibility. Hope this helped a bit.

[d_virginiana]

Oh, I had a big parasite scare a couple years ago. Turns out it was a typically mammalian parasite, and only got caught because I refused to let the vet treat for vitamin deficiency (I just knew it wasn't that, but it was a reasonable assumption for the vet to make) before doing a fecal. My best guess is that the store I was buying mice from wasn't freezing them long enough. Stopped buying from there immediately. Luckily it wasn't very contagious and none of my others got it; we were actually more worried about catching it ourselves considering it was mammalian!

If he regurges again I'll probably separate him out and get the vet to do a fecal. Since he's acting like he feels okay, I'm hoping this was just a one-time thing though.

[BLUESIRTALIS]

I might would go ahead and separate him for awhile until you can figure out what's going on. Make sure to keep him hydrated and feed him very small meals maybe a small pink or a nightcrawler for the first and then increase the next meal a little and after a couple of feedings you can go back to his normal feeding schedule. Certain parasites can cause regurgitation, but at this point i'm hoping this was a one time thing caused by over feeding. I have seen this alot due to over eating so it's probably nothing to worry about unless it keeps hapening and then you might need to see a vet. I would just monitor him for now and feed a few smaller meals. Hope this helps!

oh, i had a big parasite scare a couple years ago. Turns out it was a typically mammalian parasite, and only got caught because i refused to let the vet treat for vitamin deficiency (i just knew it wasn't that, but it was a reasonable assumption for the vet to make) before doing a fecal. My best guess is that the store i was buying mice from wasn't freezing them long enough. Stopped buying from there immediately. Luckily it wasn't very contagious and none of my others got it; we were actually more worried about catching it ourselves considering it was mammalian!

If he regurges again i'll probably separate him out and get the vet to do a fecal. Since he's acting like he feels okay, i'm hoping this was just a one-time thing though.

[d_virginiana]

I think another thing that points to him just eating too much is that he only regurged one mouse out of several that he ate. I would think a parasite or infection would cause a regurge of all or most of the meal. He's also my most skittish snake by a long shot, so his cagemate could have startled him and contributed to it as well.

I'm trying to keep handling to a minimum but I've been giving him a good check over about once a day since the regurge, and he seems to feel fine and is VERY energetic when held, which makes me feel better because with both of my females that died (the recent one and the one a couple years ago that never bounced back fully from the parasite issue) lethargy was the only real warning sign.

[Albert Clark]

Well, hopefully its just the overeating and not anything more. Good luck. Keep us updated on any changes.

[d_virginiana]

He ate fine tonight, seemed just as enthused about food as normal. Gave him a slightly smaller meal than usual. I guess I'll know in a day or two if this was a one-time deal or not.

[d_virginiana]

Well, unfortunately I went into my reptile room this morning to find he had regurged again. Again, he only regurged part of the meal, and it didn't seem to have been digested much at all...

I've separated out his cagemate (I felt it would be smarter to remove the healthy one so he wouldn't be exposed to anything any more than he already has), and I'm going to get a fecal done as soon as I can get a passable sample. If the fecal comes back negative and he regurges a third time I will get bloodwork done, but my vet has said that can be risky on something as small as a garter, so I want that to be a last resort.
I may wait a day or two and start just giving him small amounts of nightcrawler. That is easier to digest, and it would help me get a fecal sample sooner.

Considering he again only regurged part of his meal, I'm holding out hope that this is nothing serious and that I just gave him too much to eat right after a regurge. My next suspicion would be parasites (which shouldn't even really be a risk with him considering I get my mice from a reputable dealer). I don't think this is due to an infection either viral or bacterial, as he is still incredibly energetic, tongue flicking, ect. just like normal. If it were that, I'd expect to have noticed some lethargy and listlessness by now.

I am going to be beyond angry if this is something that he caught from the female he was with considering I did everything right in regards to quarantine.

EDIT: I think I may move him to a small 'hospital' setup later tonight with white paper towels as bedding so that I can be sure not to miss any discharge/poo/whatever.