..and I have no idea why.
Last time I checked him was on Wednesday. He was perfectly fine, active and zooming around like always.
He lived in my 12 slot shoebox rack which has flexwatt back heat set to 94 degrees on a johnson thermostat. There are 6 other snakes in the rack, all perfectly healthy.
He had newspaper bedding with crumpled up balls of newspaper to hide under and burrow in and a fresh bowl of water given in disposable water dishes.
I have had him for four months. He has shown no sign of being unhealthy in any way. He has been a bit of a picky eater from the start.. he was a very nervous baby (tail rattling and defensive posture were normal) The last two weeks in a row he didn't eat, but the week before that he did. I always offered him F/T pinkies. Nothing remotely too big for him or anything.
So, I opened his drawer today, and peeked under his hide. I saw him sitting halfway upside down (head and first third of body) I had a little panic attack.. it's obviously a bad sign.
So I picked him up and he was very weak feeling and quite limp. He moved feebly around, and couldn't seem to keep his balance.. so I'm thinking something neurological. I put him in a small container with a paper towel soaked in water. He drank a couple mouthfuls, and moved around a little. If put on his back, he couldn't right himself very well. Every minute or so he'd have a little convulsion.. his head would go around upside down and he'd spaz.. his mouth opened up a few times. It was very strange.
He got weaker and weaker as the minutes went by, and now he's dead. I am stumped and sad.. I love my little Helaku.
My ONLY guess is that he couldn't figure out how to get to the water in his bowl to drink. About three weeks ago I switched to disposable water dishes for added cleanliness. The problem is they are clear. I don't know how long a snake can go without water.. but it doesn't make sense that he was perfectly fine three days ago, and today he's dead. Also the other snakes with the same water bowls (also baby colubrids) are fine.
Just in case, I put all the water bowls inside another waterbowl with a paper towel set in the bottom and up the sides of the dry one to act as a visual barrier so if that was the problem it can't harm any of my other babies.
I'm sorry this is so long.. I just want to know if anyone has any insight into this.