Worst news ever :-(

[Ash]

My friend's first ball python, an '09 spider female from J Kobylka, died last night. As far as we could tell it was 100% healthy when we got her in. The hot spot was 90, the cool spot 75, the ambient temperature was 80. She was misted every day, the humidity bounced around from 70% to 45% right before misting. My friend loved this animal and her care was meticulous, this really shouldn't have happened.

She was showing obvious signs of an RI for the past week or so, so my friend took her to the vet 3 days ago and spent over 400 bucks for tests and the medicine. My friend was told to soak her for 20 minutes every day and inject the antibiotics every 72 hours. The next day she got a call from the vet who said the anti-biotic was the right one and the snake's future looked good.

Last night while soaking her, the snake started convulsing, wheezing, and emptying the contents of its stomach. She went limp and stopped breathing, but came back again. My friend made me come over because she was so traumatized. I told her I'd read about another person's snake doing the same thing because of constipation, but I wasn't sure because I hadn't seen it happen. I left and a few hours later, the snake was dead.

She only had her for about 6 months. I feel so guilty because I encouraged her to get a snake in the first place and introduced her to ball pythons. RIP Spiffy :'-(

[AaronP]

Has your friend contacted Justin?

[Ash]

Has your friend contacted Justin?

No, I actually just found out about 10 minutes ago myself.

[2kdime]

6 months after a sale I wouldnt expect a breeder to offer up any compensation.

She said it had an RI that was more than likely induced under her care.

Terrible news to say the least.

[AaronP]

No, I actually just found out about 10 minutes ago myself.

Well I should have been more specific I meant did she contacted him at all during the whole situation to get Justin's advice?

6 months after a sale I wouldnt expect a breeder to offer up any compensation.

She said it had an RI that was more than likely induced under her care.

Terrible news to say the least.

To be clear I wasn't suggesting any form of compensation was due, especially after 6 months. I am just curious to know if she attempted to contact the breeder at any point when she noticed something was 'off'.

I agree that is Terrible news and I send my condolences to your friend. I've lost snakes before, it isn't any fun.

[rabernet]

Oh I'm so sorry to hear this! Is she interested at all in getting a necropsy done to find out the cause of her death? I wonder if she was having a negative reaction to the prescribed treatment?

[dr del]

That's a horrible thing for anyone to go through.

Are they going to have a necropsy done?

Only things I can think of is to ask about what the anti-biotic was and how was it injected. Just in case it was supposed to be intramuscular but when your friend injected they either hit a vein or went through to the body cavity or internal organ ( not as far fetched as you think with a tiny 09 ).

Only other question is what temp was the water she used for soaking?


dr del

[2kdime]

Sounds as if it was an Aminoglycoside, which in my experience is well tolerated, but can lead to renal toxicity if not well hydrated. It is however now supposed to be used on animals under a year of age.

SOUNDS to me as if the animal was too far along and essentially drowned in its own fluids, or was able to inhale some water while soaking due to being weak.

Oh I'm so sorry to hear this! Is she interested at all in getting a necropsy done to find out the cause of her death? I wonder if she was having a negative reaction to the prescribed treatment?

[boasandballs]

I'm so sorry to hear of your friends loss.

I can tell you from my experience that spiders sometimes have a harder time dealing with RI. I think it's due to the neurological problems they have.

Snakes have a slow metabolism, and it sounds like he just didn't have enough time on the antibiotic for it to start helping.

[BPelizabeth]

OMg....that is terrible....I am so sorry that happened to her.