My BP died suddenly?

[JadeSisson]

Hi, so I'm new to this and snakes. I had my little guy for alsmot 7 months, and everything was fine until July. Out of the 7 months that I had him he only shed once. I talked to many vets and breeders and everyone kept telling me it was fine, just wait it out. I fed him pinkies once a week. Anyways, about 3 weeks ago I noticed that he started to get red spots on his body, I thought it was scale rot, so I took slayer to the vet. She told me it wasn't scale rot that he was just dehydrated and I needed to up the humidity, so I did. Well 3 days ago I noticed that a piece of his scale actually came off so I called the vet again. She told me he couldn't come in until Monday and told me to get some antibiotic cream and soak him in betadine. I did that this morning, I put him in a clear tub with warm water and put just a little bit of it in there and let him soak for 15 minutes. I dried him off and put him back in his terrarium and he was fine. I came back maybe an hour later to check on him, and noticed that he had water bubbles coming out his nose, I took him back out and dried him again. I honestly didn't know what to do. So then he opened his mouth and it started coming out of it also. He then acted normal. I handled him for a few minutes and then left to go to the store. When I came home, I found him dead. Did I cause this? I feel so bad. He was so sweet and he made me fall in love with snakes. Is there any way I could have prevented this?

[StillBP]

First off I am sorry for the loss of Slayer
what were your temps hot and cold side?
what was the humidity level at?
pinky mice or rats?
was your vet a reptile vet or just a normal vet?
was the antibiotic cream pain relief?
was your heat source regulated?
in order to find the cause we are going to need every piece of information you can think of and then some tho red spots under the scales and bubbles out the mouth and nose makes me think of a respiratory infection

[JadeSisson]

First off I am sorry for the loss of Slayer
what were your temps hot and cold side?
what was the humidity level at?
pinky mice or rats?
was your vet a reptile vet or just a normal vet?
was the antibiotic cream pain relief?
was your heat source regulated?
in order to find the cause we are going to need every piece of information you can think of and then some tho red spots under the scales and bubbles out the mouth and nose makes me think of a respiratory infection

Cold side was between 70-75, hot 80-85 sometimes higher because it really cool in my room.
Humidity was between 65-75
pink mice
No, just triple antibiotic.
I had a fluorescent light and a heat lamp on. 12 hours on 12 hours off. And for night a infrared bulb
also, I noticed that he hadn't used the bathroom in awhile. I hadn't had problems with feeding for awhile until 2 weeks ago he didn't eat those two weeks or this week. I'm pretty sure it was a regular vet, but they told me to bring him anyways, I live in a really small town and every vet I called wouldn't see a snake, so when they said to bring him in i just took it.

[Jhill001]

Is a 7 month old ball python still going to be eating pinkies?

[JadeSisson]

Is a 7 month old ball python still going to be eating pinkies?

As I said, this was my first snake, and I didn't know much about them. I tried to do as much research as I could before I got him. The vet told me it was fine. Clearly she and I were wrong? But I'll take as much advice as possible, because I'd like to get another. I was going to live feed, but I didn't know what size to get him...

[StillBP]

Is a 7 month old ball python still going to be eating pinkies?

unless you have a 40 or 50 gram hatchling no ball python should eat pinkey mice they are just too small

humidity was higher than i keep mine and temps were so so
my guess is upper respiratory infection but I am no vet
60% humidity temps 85 with a 90+ hotspot are needed
the small food items is why he only shed once for you
did you have a hotspot?
aquarium or tub?
did you have a under the tank heater?
also if you do intend on getting a new snake
do study up a bit more and find a good herp vet
get a under the tank heater and get rid of the lights
make sure the heater is hooked to a good thermostat
just about everyone here will help you do not be afraid to ask any questions

[JadeSisson]

unless you have a 40 or 50 gram hatchling no ball python should eat pinkey mice they are just too small

humidity was higher than i keep mine and temps were so so
my guess is upper respiratory infection but I am no vet
60% humidity temps 85 with a 90+ hotspot are needed
the small food items is why he only shed once for you
did you have a hotspot?
aquarium or tub?
did you have a under the tank heater?
also if you do intend on getting a new snake
do study up a bit more and find a good herp vet
get a under the tank heater and get rid of the lights
make sure the heater is hooked to a good thermostat
just about everyone here will help you do not be afraid to ask any questions

aquarium. But it's not like a regular rectangle one.
no hotspot. I guess? I probably sound like an idiot because I don't know what you mean by that.
i do have a UTH.
One of my biggest problems was keeping the humidity up. I'd have to keep misting so often because of the heat lamp, it would get to down to 40% every 30 minutes.

[bcr229]

A UTH provides a hot spot. Did you have a thermostat regulating it and one regulating the heat lamp so your snake wouldn't overheat?

Mouse pinkies would be way too small, ball python hatchlings typically start on hoppers and by six or seven months old should be up to rat weanlings. That's likely the reason he wasn't defecating, he was way underfed.

Heat lamp + tank + no cover = crappy humidity and a dehydrated snake. You either need to make a cover for the tank or toss it and use a tub + UTH.

Bubbles sounds like an upper respiratory infection which can take hold when the environment is too dry.

[JadeSisson]

A UTH provides a hot spot. Did you have a thermostat regulating it and one regulating the heat lamp so your snake wouldn't overheat?

Mouse pinkies would be way too small, ball python hatchlings typically start on hoppers and by six or seven months old should be up to rat weanlings. That's likely the reason he wasn't defecating, he was way underfed.

Heat lamp + tank + no cover = crappy humidity and a dehydrated snake. You either need to make a cover for the tank or toss it and use a tub + UTH.

Bubbles sounds like an upper respiratory infection which can take hold when the environment is too dry.

No I only had a thermostat for the heat lamp. I only turned the UTH on a night to keep it warm when the heat lamp was off.
sorry for not being educated on this stuff, but what is a hopper? So if I were to get another, just get a frozen rat?
So getting something other than the "screen" lid that I have?

[Dave Green]

I'm not a vet but I would guess he was malnourished. I feed babies out of the egg a meal much larger than a pinkie mouse. A pinkie mouse is way way to small. By seven months he should be eating adult mice or weanling rats.