Possible cause of death - with pics of deceased snake

My beloved blue eyed Lucy boy died last week, at close to two years of age. I am posting four pictures here to see if anyone can help determine the cause of his death. He had not eaten in several months, but he did not starve. His decline was sudden. After his last shed, he had a splotchy pink coloration, I was finding condensation in his hide, and his eyes were clouded. However he was perfectly alert, active and strong. I posted here about my concerns, but the only reply that stood out was that a member told me his clouded eyes didn't look like a retained eyecap.

I found him somewhat sluggish one evening, and was worrying he might be stargazing, and his skin seemed a bit bunched. I did a lot of searching on this forum and elsewhere. I decided to give him a soak, and lower his warm hide temp to 89-90f, thinking he was dehydrated. The next morning he seemed to have improved significantly. I thought to see if his improvement continued, and if not to take him to a vet the next morning. When I came home that evening, I was pleased to find him under his hide, having lifted it up, because that would take strength. However when I lifted his hide, I was stunned to find him on the verge of death.

I regret not taking him to the vet right away. I would like to know if anyone could please offer an idea as to what killed him, from the following pictures, so I know if there's anything I could've done, and whether I did something wrong to cause it. And of course I need to know what to look out for in the future, and whether he had a contagious malady that might threaten my albino girl, who seems perfectly healthy days later.

Here is a closeup picture of his eye. Again, on another thread, I was told this did not look like a retained eye cap:
http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n...sxnqyeknl.jpeg
This is a closeup of his belly scales. They're reddened and a few look torn:
http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n...squ2fbwpo.jpeg
This is a bigger pic of his belly:
http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n...szkntsk5s.jpeg
This is a picture of his back. I didn't get a closeup, but there are dark red spots of various sizes along his spine:
http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n...szpkyjsm2.jpeg
I would truly appreciate if anyone would help give me an idea of what caused my beloved ball python's death!

I also have a couple of pics from soon before he died, on this thread: http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...ned-pink/page2

Complete stab in the dark based on (incomplete) knowledge about other animals, not snakes in particular, so don't take this is as fact...

That having been said, it rather resembles an auto-immune condition, where the body begins attacking part of itself, apparently in this case they eyes and skin (although the problems could of course go way deeper then the surface)

Alternatively could it perhaps be an allergic reaction? Did you introduce anything new, or use any new product (disinfectant, sealant) into the enclosure before you first noticed the symptoms? It could even be a new product on yourself (soap, hair products, laundry detergent... even something in your clothes), or in the air in your home (air freshener, scented candles). His food or something on it could also be a consideration. Otherwise, it could be an allergic reaction to a parasite, or to a non-parasitic bug that got in/around his enclosure.

Or I could be completely wrong. Only way to know for sure is to go to a vet for an autopsy, but sometimes even then a cause cannot be determined for definite.

And I'm very sorry for your loss

You need to take it to a vet....

Wow, what a shame. So sorry for the loss. I agree with taking him in to the vet for a necropsy to try and find out the cause.

A few years ago I had a corn snake that that got a mild skin infection that was never treated and then she went septic. She was a snow corn and looked pretty similar. She stopped eating and had open sores that popped up. She looked pretty similar to the photos you have above. I got her from a pet store and her initial infection was not noticed. She almost died. She was almost constantly dehydrated due to open sores and was too weak to get to water on her own. Twice a day I had to hold her over the water dish so she could drink. She almost died and required antibiotic injections every other day for 30 days.

She looked very similar but not as bad as those photos. Especially the bleeding around the scales. Even if you had gotten him to the vet he may not have made it. Snakes don't tend to show what is wrong until it is almost too late. I'm so sorry for your loss.

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Originally Posted by HVani

A few years ago I had a corn snake that that got a mild skin infection that was never treated and then she went septic. She was a snow corn and looked pretty similar. She stopped eating and had open sores that popped up. She looked pretty similar to the photos you have above. I got her from a pet store and her initial infection was not noticed. She almost died. She was almost constantly dehydrated due to open sores and was too weak to get to water on her own. Twice a day I had to hold her over the water dish so she could drink. She almost died and required antibiotic injections every other day for 30 days.

She looked very similar but not as bad as those photos. Especially the bleeding around the scales. Even if you had gotten him to the vet he may not have made it. Snakes don't tend to show what is wrong until it is almost too late. I'm so sorry for your loss.

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If this is what OPs snake had, it should be easily detectable by a vet taking swabs of the pink patches - all the more reason to get an autopsy done.

Wow I'm so sorry to hear that. :(

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I truly appreciate everyone's sympathies. Reading your posts reminded me of something I had nearly forgotten. 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 wish I could take him for an autopsy, but I've already buried him. I wanted to freeze him but my mother was against keeping him in the freezer. Once again, thank you all!

People can give you all kind of hypothesis and scenario and the bottom line is that NO ONE can either diagnose or or do a necropsy online, so it's too bad that you buried him before knowing, it would have at least give you a piece of mind in knowing weather husbandry issues or an underlying condition(s) were responsible for it's death.

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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???

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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

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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.

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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.