why do ball pythons die on their backs

just wondering. i had one of my baby normals die a couple weeks ago...came home and he was on his back, quite quite dead. just wondering why they flip over, what purpose it serves, or if they are just writhing everywhere and end up there.

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Originally Posted by hypersomniacjoo

just wondering. i had one of my baby normals die a couple weeks ago...came home and he was on his back, quite quite dead. just wondering why they flip over, what purpose it serves, or if they are just writhing everywhere and end up there.

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Sorry for your loss. Not sure why yours ended up on his back. I've had hatchlings in the past that died on their stomachs. These were babies that failed to thrive.

yeah he was a late (december) 2011 hatchling...i always hear of people coming home to finding their snakes on their backs dead. i also heard of someone coming home to find their snake dead with its tail in its mouth. they sure are mysterious creatures sometimes.

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Originally Posted by hypersomniacjoo

i also heard of someone coming home to find their snake dead with its tail in its mouth.

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Never heard this one before.

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Originally Posted by Slim

Never heard this one before.

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There are pics of it around, it happens every once in a while, usually boas, getting very aggressive with feeding and trying to eat their own tails...quite sad

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Originally Posted by BigJ

There are pics of it around, it happens every once in a while, usually boas, getting very aggressive with feeding and trying to eat their own tails...quite sad

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Wow, I had no idea. :(

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Originally Posted by Slim

Wow, I had no idea. :(

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Yea if you google it you can see pics, I just hate posting stuff like that!

I just Googled to see why snakes die on their backs and there was nothing.

There was, however, some other "interesting" questions people were asking.

"Will a snake grow its tail back?"
"Will a snake kill itself with its own venom?"
"How do old snakes die?"
"Will a spider bite kill a snake?"

and my favorite:

"Will a snake die after it bites?"

Welp, i got my laugh for the night, off to bed.

I once had a desert king snake that developed a huge tumor, the vet removed the tumor and sewed her up, but when she came out of the anesthetic she started biting the incision, just clamped right down on it and wouldn't let go. The vet thought that she was attacking the thing that was causing her pain.

I suspect that pain is also why some snakes wind up on their backs. Just like females will flip over when they're full of eggs in order to relieve the pressure, I think it's a good bet that snakes that are dying and probably in pain will flip over in order to relieve the pain.