Bloated rotten rat in click clack!

[KaotikJezta]

I fed my snakes on Thursday and my little het struck and grabbed the rat as normal. She then did not reappear from the hide so I thought all good. Today I noticed the click-clack was a bit foggy so I thought she'd excreted. Opened it up to clean and it stank. She was in the hide down the cool end and the rat I gave her was rotten in the other hide. I don't know if she didn't eat it at all or if she ate it and regurgitated it. It was pretty hot here yesterday. What I want to know is if she regurgitated it what could this mean. She seems fine, she is active and healthy looking. Could it have been due to the hot weather, should I leave it a while before feeding again, could the rat maybe have been a bit off? The other two little ones that ate rats from the same batch are fine. Any help appreciated.

 

[ad]

When you say it stank, you really mean it was the most hideous, disgusting, repulsive stench!

Too hot or Too Cold will cause a regurge, easy to adjust temps.
Too large a prey will have a regurge, nothing too drastic, they usually look 'half sucked' though, doesnt sound like this yours.
Feed at night time hey, they are nocturnal.

Anything else is a concern,
Cheers
Adam

 

[pythonmum]

A regurg after a day or so has no hair on it. I have only had me of those in 9 years, but it sure was memorable! If still furry and normal looking, but bloated, it probably didn't get eaten. Either way you can clean things well and try again next week. The only regurg I had was an obese mouse. If the rat looked fine, it is unlikely to be a problem, given that the others are eating from the same batch with no issues.

 

[KaotikJezta]

Yes, I think it was more of a case of her not eating it. They are velvet rats so a bit hard to judge the hair thing but it didn't look 'half sucked' though. They are really big for velvets so maybe the size coupled with the heat made put her off eating it. She has eaten them before no problems but I started with the smallest and worked up. She was fed at night time, they always are. I guess everything goes of its food at one time or another, like I said, she seems happy and active, she's cruising the click clack as we speak. I have never had a snake regurgitate either so wasn't sure what to look for, figured after such a short time it would look much the same as when it went in. I will just leave her until my next feeding session and try her again.

 

[Mister_Snakes]

Only matched by a regurgitated possum or cat in your hoop bag

 

[Snake_Whisperer]

Yeh, sounds like a "leave behind". Annoying as hell, you think they've done the deed, couple days later and it smells like something died in the snake room! One of the worst smells in herpetoculture I reckon, decomposing rat. I hate those mornings when you are between bedding changes and you catch that smell coming from the colonies.

 

[KaotikJezta]

Yes, I was surprised such a tiny thing could smell so bad.