sad snake death

Wanting to hear some thoughts on this situation:

Last September I bought a spider BP from a recognized breeder who got the snake from one of his partners (was not produced by him). It was a beauitful snake, but didn't eat all winter and was getting thin (from 691g to 540g on its fast).

The snake was active, alert, and just a little thin until its shed three days ago, but then the next day blisters appeared on its lower body. It died yesterday before I could get it to a vet. First of all, has anyone encountered such a rapidly progresing illness? If so, are any of my other snakes at risk? The spider was kept separate from all the other snakes for months, and then placed in the rack with the others. It hadn't eaten since September, and there was no outward evidence of illness (other than being underweight) until two days before it died.

Secondly, I realize I've had this snake in my possession for ~9 months... and its care was no longer under the control of the person who sold it to me. At the same time, I have a long record of correspondence between me and the vendor about the skittishness and fasting of this snake and how worried I was about it starting months ago. The death seems to have come from some internal infection... and since it hadn't eaten for me and has been kept under identical conditions to my other 20+ BPs who are all healthy and growing, I'm wondering what your thoughts are on where the problem lies that resulted in this snake dying. I'm not trying to say the breeder sent me a sick snake and I want a refund, but I did receive a snake that was not eating and died of a disease that did not come from improper husbandry.

Sorry to see the girl go... she was beautiful :(

Hi,


Did you take it to the vet to get a necropsy done? I think knowing exactly what killed it would give you a clearer idea of how to proceed.


dr del

Quote:

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Originally Posted by SamsSnakes

Wanting to hear some thoughts on this situation:

Last September I bought a spider BP from a recognized breeder who got the snake from one of his partners (was not produced by him). It was a beauitful snake, but didn't eat all winter and was getting thin (from 691g to 540g on its fast).

The snake was active, alert, and just a little thin until its shed three days ago, but then the next day blisters appeared on its lower body. It died yesterday before I could get it to a vet. First of all, has anyone encountered such a rapidly progresing illness? If so, are any of my other snakes at risk? The spider was kept separate from all the other snakes for months, and then placed in the rack with the others. It hadn't eaten since September, and there was no outward evidence of illness (other than being underweight) until two days before it died.

Secondly, I realize I've had this snake in my possession for ~9 months... and its care was no longer under the control of the person who sold it to me. At the same time, I have a long record of correspondence between me and the vendor about the skittishness and fasting of this snake and how worried I was about it starting months ago. The death seems to have come from some internal infection... and since it hadn't eaten for me and has been kept under identical conditions to my other 20+ BPs who are all healthy and growing, I'm wondering what your thoughts are on where the problem lies that resulted in this snake dying. I'm not trying to say the breeder sent me a sick snake and I want a refund, but I did receive a snake that was not eating and died of a disease that did not come from improper husbandry.

Sorry to see the girl go... she was beautiful :(

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First off sorry to hear it died on ya.Now you said the whole time it was in your care it never once ate for you.What did the seller tell you during this 9 months? When you bought it was it guarenteed to be eating and healthy? I have never heard of a snake just getting blisters suddenly.You say it died from some internal infection,is this what the vet found or suspects? Now that the snake has died on you have you contacted the person you bought it from? If so what was his/her reaction?

I agree with Joe.

What kind of substrate did you have your snake on? Did your animal regurgitate at any time any food item? Was your heat source regulated by a dependable thermostat? All of these things can cause death or promote infection that will cause death

Very sorry to hear about your snake. :( What I wondered, when reading your post...was if you took it in to the vet at any time during its extended fasting period to search for a reason it may be fasting. (ie: parasites or other internal infection)


Assuming all your husbandry has been correct throughout the life of the snake, and assuming it did, indeed die of some "internal infection"....then my point of view is this: The seller might be partially responsible if they knowingly sent you a sick animal...but you, as its current keeper are far more responsible for getting proper veterinary treatment before it was too late. Over a nine month span of fasting, for a young snake that should be eating well and was obviously losing more weight than is healthy...I would have been to the vet multiple times for complete checks of fecal swabs, blood tests, and whatever else they could have looked for.

Failing that, I see no hint of responsibility falling back to the original seller. Also, if you DID take it to a vet and the vet could find nothing wrong with it...then how would the original seller know it was sick either? It obviously had been eating well at some point to have reached 690g of weight.

Anyhow, that's my answer to your question about where my thoughts lie on why the snake may have died. I truly am sorry for your loss...and if its not too late, I concur with the other gentlemen who suggested a necropsy.