HELP - Is my snake dead?!?

Ok, I really need advice/help. I just found my snake pretty much frozen on the cold side of his cage. He was completely unresponsive; when I moved him he was not pliable. I was thinking he was dead, but I'm not sure. His pupils are not dilated, his skin is pretty glossy (he was in the middle of shedding when I found him) but he does not move and is not flexible - He's literally rock solid.

He refused to eat last week and the week before (I thought it was a cold weather thing) and did not seem dehydrated. Before this, he spent the majority of his time in his hide with a UTH. He appears to have been passing the white stuff (snake urine?) before he froze and/or died. As for temps, I really try to keep the cool side at 70 and the warm side at at least 75, however, my parents are divorced, so I was not there to monitor it for the last few days as I was at the other house. We did have a couple of cold nights and my room does not have the best insulation if any at all.

Please help - and please don't hate, I'm upset enough as it is -

a ball python enclosure should never fall below 75° F. why were the temps allowed to get that low?

beeps handle colder temps better than hotter temps, so i doubt 70° F killed him; i'm sure he's alive??

pick the snake up. raise temps. care for them. don't post on the forum before figuring out if it's dead or not...

I'm sorry, but cold, hard and unresponsive sounds like your snake is dead.

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Originally Posted by craigafrechette

I'm sorry, but cold, hard and unresponsive sounds like your snake is dead.

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@OP: agreed, but 70° F alone shouldn't outright kill a beep. right???

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Originally Posted by tttaylorrr

a ball python enclosure should never fall below 75° F. why were the temps allowed to get that low?

beeps handle colder temps better than hotter temps, so i doubt 70° F killed him; i'm sure he's alive??

pick the snake up. raise temps. care for them. don't post on the forum before figuring out if it's dead or not...

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I think "frozen" in the OP means that rigor mortis has set in so the snake is stiff, not that the temperature is cold enough to freeze water.

If your snake has passed away then you will need a necropsy to determine cause of death and even those can be inconclusive. That said, if his hot side was only 75*F and his cold side was 70*F at most then he could easily have gotten sick and died, or perished because he was unable to digest food and it rotted inside of him.

Since you are not in control of your home's environment I would suggest not getting any exotic pets that require specific temperature and humidity ranges until after you have moved into your own place.

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Originally Posted by bcr229

I think "frozen" in the OP means that rigor mortis has set in so the snake is stiff, not that the temperature is cold enough to freeze water.

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i might have read this too optimistically; thanks for the clarity. this is sad. [emoji852] i'm so sorry OP.

Yeah, pretty sure he's dead. :( Thanks, anyways.

Was your UTH regulated by a thermostat? What was your humidity at?

Don’t worry buddy, he’ll loosen up and relax here in a bit....

It sounds like you are describing rigor mortis, in which case, your snake has passed. Is there a reason you “try” to keep the cool side at 70 and the warm side at 75? Do you have a heat source at all? From your post, it sounds like the temperature may have dropped even lower than that the last few days. Those temperatures are not suitable for a BP or any python I have heard of. That would also explain why he was refusing food. How long did you have him and was he always without a heat source?

I'm going to assume you're still a child (under 18), what has happened has happened. Not trying to give you a hard time but the snake probably died from bad practises and ownership. Divorce is extremely hard on a child and I could probably imagine you were always excited to go to the one parent's place to see your snake. Your situation however was not suitable for the caring of an exotic animal.

You live and you learn, sucks the snake had to get the bad end but nothing is going to bring it back.

Going forward I would probably avoid a pet, or maybe talk to that one parent about getting a pet that doesn't require special care or a pet they would look after and care for while you were away.

Don't give yourself too hard of a time, you're not the first this has happened too and definitely not the last. It's a lesson for everyone, 99% of the time its the animal that ends up suffering and its a topic for another day but pet ownership is not a joke or something to be taken lightly, its a lot of responsibility and unfortunately uninformed owners, money hungry pet shops and just ignorant people will continue to put animals at harm.

Have a good long weekend!

Dead. Cold and dead