RIP Guin

[CloudtheBoa]

Unfortunately it seems that Guin never healed from her regurgitation, or whatever went wrong didn't clear up. I found her dead when I came home from work. She was loosely coiled up on her hot side and and had bitten her tongue. One eye was like normal and the eye facing up was deflated and clouded over. She was stiff when I found her, but slightly limber, so she had to been dead 5-6 hours, she had to have died soon after I left for work.

She was acting perfectly normal when I left, showing no signs of being uncomfortable and reacted normally to my touch, I tried not to bother her too much but I needed to at least check on her since she'd recently regurged. She hasn't shown any signs of being adverse to her hot side, I've seen her switch between sides like a normal snake. Never seen her in her water dish or wrapped around it.

I can only guess it was a sudden spike in temperature, judging by how she appeared to have contorted, which may have caused her regurge in the first place. When I came home, her thermostat was reading 80F and currently sending power to her heat tape and the surface of her tub was right around 79F. Unfortunately, Hydrofarms do not record low and high temps so I was unable to tell if there had been any spikes in temperature during the day.

I had her thermostat set to 82F for a target range of 78-80F, which should have been within parameters even if the tub's floor was reaching the thermostat's set temperature.

I had her heat tape set up the exact same way everyone else's is: with the probe in the middle of the heat tape in between the bottom of the tub and the heat tape. Secured in place with aluminum tape and completely covered with the tape.

As far as the regurge incident here is a re-cap:

Her first meal was a fuzzy-sized hopper, which she passed perfectly about a week later. No regurges and normal stool, wasn't smelly or anything.

Her second meal was a normal-sized hopper, which I was hesitant about feeding but figured since she was already on hoppers just give her the smallest one of the bunch. 3 days later she had a small regurge that seemed to be the mouse's skin but no fur judging by the white color and gummy texture. 4 days after that she had a very unusual stool that appeared to be underdigested. It was dark in color, with fur mixed in but no distinguishable shapes. I assumed I had just not provided enough heat for her to digest the larger meal and bumped her thermostat up by one degree.

I still have that stool sample, but it's dried out on some paper towel. Will they still be able to use it for testing?

In hindsight, I probably should have taken her to the vet the following day after that weird stool, but I made assumptions and she paid for it. This is Day 5 after that weird stool, and 12 days since her last meal.

I plan on getting a necropsy done if possible. I will be going out to the vet on Monday to see about getting a necropsy done. She's currently in the fridge so hopefully her body is still usable.

She's been in quarantine in a separate area, and I've tried to handle her last when I do. So everyone else should be ok if it was some sort of disease that killed her, and no one is acting unusual as of right now. Everyone has passed normal urates and stool over the past several days.

RIP Guin.

(I did find a worm in her urates when I looked through her tub, but I'm not sure if it was from her or the bedding. The closest thing I could find on Google was a gnat larvae, but regardless I'll be taking her urate in for testing as well just in case.)

[StillBP]

so sorry for your loss

[AbsoluteApril]

I'm sorry for your loss.
The dried stool is probably useless but you might as well take it in when you bring her for necropsy.
I hope they can tell you what happened, the worst part is when they can't find anything. She was still a baby, sometimes they just don't make it.
My sympathies.

[bcr229]

I'm so sorry.

[Reinz]

So sorry.

[distaff]

Cloudtheboa, I am so sorry.

Your detailed records should help the vet determine the cause. I'm wondering if perhaps it was a bacterial infection? (Cryptosporidium comes to mind, but I don't remember any of the details.) Maybe its not too late for the vet to get a culture.

I use Hydrofarms too. Never gave any thought to spikes. I tend to think our snakes aren't all THAT delicate, and it's not like nature always provides a perfectly steady temp either. Not sure what to think there.

Please let us know what the vet says.
Hugs.
Distaff

[CloudtheBoa]

I called the vet and they told me to take her to the local Vet Disease Center. I wrote down what I could on the report and they told me to call them later today to see if they've gotten to her yet. Apparently they've got a lot of animals to look at so they may not start until tomorrow.


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[gaitedappy]

I hope you get this solved and you can at least get that closure. I'm sorry for your loss of your baby


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[CloudtheBoa]

Thanks everyone this was a sudden and terrible loss. At this point all I can hope is nobody else is affected. Her tub has been removed and will be very deeply cleaned, but kept for any emergency housing or anything like that. Nymeria was in quarantine with her so I will be keeping a close eye on her. She would be coming out of quarantine now, but I'll have to wait for the results. If they don't turn up any communicable diseases I'll go ahead and take her out of quarantine.


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[PitOnTheProwl]

Sorry...