Possible cause of death - with pics of deceased snake

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by RoyaLoveRay

At one point I was concerned I may have slipped up, and didn't rinse his hide thoroughly enough after cleaning it with 10% bleach solution, as I always do, and it simply slipped my mind. Though I think that occurred after the initial signs that had me worried. It pains me to think I may have overlooked something so basic. Could this have been the cause???

---

I wouldn't have thought that a bleach solution would have caused this kind of damage in a gradual manner; usually you would expect to see burn type injuries occurring very quickly after exposure, rather than building over a period of days, as I understand happened here? Possibly it was an allergic reaction to the bleach? I'm no expert though and those are just musings on the subject. Unfortunately it will likely never be possible to find out since an autopsy is not possible.

I would like to point out that a necropsy doesn't always give a result. I had a dog die very suddenly and we ordered a necropsy. The results were inconclusive. They said it's not uncommon and that's a with a dog. A species vets know A LOT more about than a ball python. Just saying, either way you will probably never know for sure.

Again, sorry for your loss

I had a bearded dragon who was going downhill, and the vet treated him but he continued his decline. The vet said he thought it was liver related, since his liver was huge when he palpitated it and the symptoms all pointed to liver failure. After he died the vet did a necropsy, and found the liver was huge and grossly deformed. He said it was something he was born with, nothing to do with my husbandry and nothing contagious. That news was worth every penny spent on the necropsy.

Sorry for your loss. I got my girl little over a month ago and i feel like i watch over get like a mom does with her kids. Sucks that stuff like this happens and hope the guilt passes for you

Sent from my SM-G920P using Tapatalk

Was he red like that before he died or did it intensify after death? Reptiles decompose very fast and often will get red, purple like that rather quickly. If he was not red like that before he died, my guess is that he aspirated some water during the soak. Red spots like that before death, welp, he should have seen a vet because that looks terrible. Burn, scale rot......

If I'm reading right, he had these pink/red marks before death? This to me would indicate a possible massive/septic infection. I've seen snakes before look similar after suffering infections. However, without a necropsy from the vet it would be impossible to say for sure.

Sent from my SM-S975L using Tapatalk

I'm sorry you had to go through this with your snake but thank you for posting about it. I know this information will help someone down the road and hope you can take comfort in that. This is an eye opener for me, especially with my bel.