My Pythons have passed away, need help figuring out the cause

[Corinne44]

I was cleaning today and discovered a very strong smell from my Python's enclosure. I opened it to find that both of them were deceased. The previous week, they were both healthy and moving around, neither of them showed symptoms of being ill. The adult was Shierkon(about 8 years old) and the young one was William Snakespeare(less than a year old). Shierkon has been eating frozen/thawed since I got her, as do my other snakes. However the little one refused to eat anything other than live. I'm worried that he may have gotten some sort of infection that spread to Shierkon. I have never dealt with this situation before and am a bit distraught at the moment. They both had blood coming out of their noses, and the adult also had blood from her anus. Their bellies were a yellow/purple color. I can't afford to have them looked at to find out the cause and am honestly too sad to take them back out of the box they are in for any reason. Any information/help would be very much appreciated.

[rlditmars]

I'm sorry for your loss. Excuse me if this sounds presumptuous but do you only look in on them once a week? This is how your post sounds. For there to be a strong smell they had to have been deceased at least a couple days or more. The discoloration is likely just the blood settling postmortem. If you don't take them in for a necropsy then you can't know the problem. If you don't know the problem the you can't know how to prevent it. If you don't have the funds for a necropsy then I would suggest you don't get any more animals because you can't afford their care. Also I would suggest you dispose of or disinfect anything to do with the snakes. Again, I am sorry for your loss.

[Stewart_Reptiles]

I can't afford to have them looked at to find out the cause

Than you will never know, people can throw theories here and there but unless you have a necropsy done no one can tell you what happened, sorry.

[Corinne44]

Thank you, but you're mistaken by that assumption. We were recently on vacation and had a house sitter. They were fine when we left and fine when we got back three days ago. My pets are very well taken care of, and I posted this as I'm baffled by their sudden passing and I also find the smell odd because they were okay when I checked on them. Normally I would be able to afford the necropsy, but I don't get paid until next week and don't have money at the moment as we were just visiting family for Christmas, and I don't plan on keeping them in the house longer than needed.

[bcr229]

Were they cohabitated?

How long have you had the younger one? Did you quarantine him for three months when you brought him home?

Are your other snakes in the same room?

[redshepherd]

Sorry for your loss.

I think this is a good time to reiterate that cohabiting ball pythons (keeping more than one in the same enclosure) is not okay- if even just because if one gets ill, they both get ill.

[LittleTreeGuy]

Were they cohabitated?

How long have you had the younger one? Did you quarantine him for three months when you brought him home?

Are your other snakes in the same room?

Exactly what I was going to ask... very possible there was an issue with the young one that it brought to the older one.


Either way, very sorry for your loss...

[wolfy-hound]

It doesn't take "days" for a snake to begin smelling and swelling. Remember that we keep them with heat sources and that can accelerate the process. I have had snakes pass away and within a couple hours, they're swollen and gross. It all depends on what the temps are where they died.

To the OP, you had two snakes in the same cage? And one was significantly smaller? There's way too many things that could have killed the snake(s). If one got sick or was sick, the other one was instantly exposed.

Without a lot of information it's impossible to even make an educated guess at a cause of death. A necropsy would have helped, but from your description of the state of the bodies, I doubt that a vet would be able to find anything even if you took them in right away. The leakage from nose/mouth and cloaca are most likely the decomposition process and had/have little to do with the cause.

I'm sorry for your loss. I agree, you should disinfect everything, throw out anything made of wood, shavings, etc. Strip it to bare plastic and bleach it, rinse it, scrub it and then use a good disinfectant. Then rinse and clean it one more time, before drying it.

[Corinne44]

@wolfy-hound; Yes they were in the same cage. That's what I was thinking, that the younger one had gotten some sort of infection. I've never had a problem before with keeping Balls in the same space, but I will definitely remember for next time. Thank you for your reply and help.

@bcr229; The younger one was, yes. We had him for about 7 months. And they were together, yes. I have two other snakes, but not in the same room.

Everything had been cleaned and disinfected. Thank you all for your help and condolences.

[Albert Clark]

So sorry for your loss. We all do the best we can with the resources we have. You must learn from your experiences both good and bad and try not to make the same mistakes again. Stay in peace and not pieces!