Unexpexted

My fiance had 2 Ball Pythons that he has been raising for 11 years, one male and one female. The male since the day he found him tossed out in a dumpster he didn't think was going to live but he did, now after 11 years he started to have bad sheds and regurgitated his meals both times, finally his skin split. The tank always had fresh water was at the right temp and clean (thank to me) but he still got sicker and sicker until about 2 weeks ago when the skin split happened my fiance ran into the bedroom and rushed him to the bath we changed the tank again and removed the female. But he sadly didn't make it through the night. We looked it up and it appeared that we had done everything right. We don't know what happened someone told us it was worms that killed him another person said that it might have been something different. I cried my eyes out because he was always such a loving snake, unlike his mate who was always nasty towards us. My fiance cried and again after we cleaned the tank and changed the water and redid it all, she is now hiding in one of the hide aways and she bit my fiance really good. We are at such a loss on what happened... Kha has been missed daily and the tank just looks so empty without him.

Welcome to the site. I'm sorry it's on such bad terms though.

Keep a very close eye on your other BP, hopefully she didn't get what he had. This is one of the reasons why it isn't recommended to house 2 BP in the same cage.

Sorry for your loss.

It sounds like he was in a loving home and had a better life than a lot of reptiles. I'm sorry for your loss

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I'm sorry for your loss, I hope your other snake is alright....
this sounds goofy, but, if your two snakes were togther and they bonded, dont be shocked if your girl stops eating... it's just mourning, like a human would..... people dont think snakes (or reptiles) can form bonds with people or other reptiles, even other animals.... but they can, and do... I'm probably just preaching to the choir here, but, thought i'd throw in my 2 cents.
I hope your girl is healthy, but keep a real close eye on her for any strange behavior.

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Originally Posted by valhalha30

I'm sorry for your loss, I hope your other snake is alright....
this sounds goofy, but, if your two snakes were togther and they bonded, dont be shocked if your girl stops eating... it's just mourning, like a human would..... people dont think snakes (or reptiles) can form bonds with people or other reptiles, even other animals.... but they can, and do... I'm probably just preaching to the choir here, but, thought i'd throw in my 2 cents.
I hope your girl is healthy, but keep a real close eye on her for any strange behavior.

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She has been acting weird, she bit my fiance and was attacking the tank anytime someone would walk by. A lot of people are saying that snakes don't form bonds but from what I can tell seeing as they have been together since day 1... Set and Kah were both from horrible backgrounds. He was tossed out because the person who had him didn't think he was going to live and my fiance proved them wrong. And her, well he found her in the hands of some crack heads who had her in a fish bowl and were trying to burn her, he nursed her back to health and those two have been together since she has acted so strange since the tank was changed around and we removed him. Its sad to see and she has started to come around, looks like she is about to shed though. She was out last night drinking water and then went right on back to her hide.

Just keep an eye on your female for any signs of the parasite/illness taking her too... As far as the two of them bonding, well, snakes normally haven't been shown to do that, but there are exceptions to every rule. In fact, now that she's not housed with the male, you may see her begin to calm down; she may have been acting territorially while he was still around because there was another creature already in her space.

My condolences on your male.

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Originally Posted by Archimedes

Just keep an eye on your female for any signs of the parasite/illness taking her too... As far as the two of them bonding, well, snakes normally haven't been shown to do that, but there are exceptions to every rule. In fact, now that she's not housed with the male, you may see her begin to calm down; she may have been acting territorially while he was still around because there was another creature already in her space.

My condolences on your male.

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Set won't even go onto the side of the tank where Kah was at last. She went over to get water and then went back into hiding. She hasn't calmed she has actually gotten a lot worse with her temper. My fiance doesn't know what to do with her. She seems worse without Kah... They have been together since they were little I mean they were/are 11 years old. I don't want to put Kah's hide away into the tank because 1 she is too big for it and 2, it just seems wrong to use hid hide away with her... I might get my fiance to go out and bury it where he buried Kah. I still can't talk about this without crying... Kah was so mellow...

time for another friend :)
no but hopefully she calms down for you soon and you can form a better bond with her.

I'm sorry for your loss. :(

Welcome to our community, like others have said sorry to have you join on such a loss. 11 years is a long time for a a BP and it seems like he had a good home and was rescued by some lucky people.

Definitely don't house Balls together, they aren't social animals. In the wild they find a hole crawl in it and pretty much stay in it by them selves...until mating. Hopefully your female stays strong and healthy. Just make sure that tank was scrubbed down with dawn, warm water, and then bleached and rinsed off again.

She is out and about right now roaming the tank, she seems to be getting back to normal. I just miss how they used to lay together and drink together. They were never aggressive with one another and got along just fine, I just worry about her sheds now because of what happened with Kah. My fiance still hasn't come to terms with it and won't even look at the tank anymore because it is such a big tank and it looks so empty now without both of them in there. She seems to be fine and ate and didn't get sick her shed is the only think I'm worrying about at this time but I'll just ave to wait and see. My fiance said no more reptiles after this, he's done and doesn't want to go through this again and I can't blame him I don't either.

I'm SO SO sorry. This is truly heartbreaking and must be so hard on you. Like previously mentioned I'll just keep an eye on your girl and see how she is health wise. My heart goes out to you and your fiance.

If you are having problems with sheds the. Your humidity is to low and should be bumped up

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Originally Posted by frostysBP

If you are having problems with sheds the. Your humidity is to low and should be bumped up

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I think you may have missed something in the OP? They had him for 11 years, and only recently had his sheds been bad (which may have been indicative of his later problems and death.) This doesn't seem to be a simple husbandry issue, and a bad shed or two would not have been a cause of death on their own.


OP, I'm sorry for your loss. Your female may be a bit more nervous or on-edge if you rearranged her cage furniture; she should settled down as she gets used to it. You may want to consider getting a fecal test done to ensure she is healthy and doesn't need dewormer, if worms were suspected in the male's case. It was good of you guys to take them in and care for them. They lived much longer than they would have without intervention, and I wish you many more happy years together - with each other and your female.

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Originally Posted by frostysBP

If you are having problems with sheds the. Your humidity is to low and should be bumped up

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This was for a different thread...not to the op...dont know how it got here...

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That is a very touching story. When humans learn to love an animal it opens something in their soul. To love a reptile has a touch more magic to it. Let your fiance know it's ok to mourn, cry, grieve. And after that consider another snake, separate housing this time. It takes time. Thanks to him for rescuing those two snakes and thanks to you for keeping their environment clean. Best of luck to Set, to adjust to the loss of her friend Kha.