My ball python died yesterday!!

I was letting my ball python Monty soak because he didn't poop in almost 2 weeks and I put him in a container with very little warm water and when I went in to check on him in 20 mins he was dead and he drowned!! But the only thing I can think of is why he drowned in 2 inches of water? Is this common? He didn't like water either! Melissa

I honestly don't think you should have let him soak. Most of the time soaking isn't needed-- especially in the case of "trying to get him to poop"... They'll poop on their own and going 2 weeks is not uncommon. One of my snakes goes almost a month without defecating!

Sorry about Monty though!

Don't leave your animals unattended in situations that can be fatal.

I'm sorry for your loss

I am sorry for your loss. ):
2 weeks isn't very long for not pooping (for ball pythons). Chances are he didn't need the soak, and even if he did, it probably didn't need to be more than 10 minutes. 2 inches is probably too much unless he was huuge. Usually you only use enough water to go halfway up the sides of the BP.
I have heard that ball pythons can hold their breath for a pretty long time.
Did you poke air holes in the container?

any idea how "warm" the water was? you may have cooked the poor thing

your snake will poop when it's ready

I have ball pythons that go up to a month and a half without defecating.

Pooping aside, he may have paniced, and inhaled water then.
Most ball pythons won't drown in 2 inches of water, so there may have been another issue. Was the water hot? Was he just a hatchling? Had he eaten for you?
Always supervise all pets, especially in unfamiliar situations. When I've soaked snakes, they are normally in the container right beside me at the computer, or I use wet towels, so they can't drown.
Sorry to hear about your pet, hugs!

sorry for your loss

i was talking with a guy this weekend that had a deli cup with the same amount of water with the lid on and a hole in it for the snake to get out and it drown.

im sorry for your loss.

First and foremost I am sorry to hear that your snake died.
People have to stop with all this nonsense regarding snakes defecating.
If the snake pooped once it will do it again.
Why force your will upon the snake?
I'm not sure if these people have realized but snakes have a MUCH slower metabolism than mammals. And since they don't eat nearly as often they WILL NOT defecate nearly as often.
To be brutally honest with you, you put the snake's well being in jeopardy and it ended badly.
Snakes will survive on their own as long as necessary requirements are met.
Assisting the animal with a bowel movement is NOT one of these requirements.
I am sorry these actions resulted in a loss of life that was not necessary.
For future reference, if you want a snake to defecate it is very simple:
Run a luke warm bath and put the snake in for a swim. SUPERVISE the entire time.
The warm water combined with the snake's urge to escape the water will almost definitely result in the desired action. But why force it?
This post is not meaning to belittle anyone or insult what happened, I am just clueless as to the need for these actions.
-Steven

Wow...just, Wow.

Hope this was a learning experience for you so the loss of your BP won't be in vain.

Sorry.

I hate that you guys have to be so nasty as this was a accident and I didn't do it on purpose but was told to as he was shedding too and I needed to get the left over shed off!! The temp in the water was only about 85 degrees wasn't very hot at all as I know better but yes I have learned my lesson in not keeping my snakes or any reptile unsupervised shedding!! Thanks for all the other inputs. Melissa

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Originally Posted by crazy4reptiles88

I hate that you guys have to be so nasty as this was a accident and I didn't do it on purpose but was told to as he was shedding too and I needed to get the left over shed off!! The temp in the water was only about 85 degrees wasn't very hot at all as I know better but yes I have learned my lesson in not keeping my snakes or any reptile unsupervised shedding!! Thanks for all the other inputs. Melissa

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I do not see any nastiness here. I do see people telling you to use common sense.


Were there air holes in the container?

How did you know the water was only 85 degrees? Just curious...I've grabbed things before and thought, "oh that feels slightly warm" and then it would tempgun at over 105 degrees.

The water should almost feel a bit cool to you being that are bodies are warmer

Sorry for your loss

I had one bp go for almost 2 months without goin. Started to worry me then he dropped about 1/5th his body wieght in one night if ya know what i mean. I am sorry I lost a boa about 2 years ago and its tough. Remember we are here for ya if you need to ask questions.

Yes there was airholes in the container and the water was coldish warm so it wasn't hot it was warm!! Melissa

I am sorry for your loss. If I have a snake that needs help sheding I will run some luke warm water in the tub. The first few min they are trying to excape, then they settle down. I never leave them unattended. Most of the time the first thing they do is poo.

I did have one bp that I needed to soak who would NOT settle down in the tub. I put him in a shoe box with water and paper towels so he could just relax and chill. There was only about 1 or 2" of water but most of the container was 1/2 to 2/3 full of paper towels so he couldn't really get his head underwater.

Again I am sorry for you loss.

Yeah I don't understand why people try and make their snakes poo either... Shoot sometimes I don't even go for two weeks... I mean the animal will go when it needs to... that's like someone "owning" you and sitting you on a toilet and telling you to go when you don't have to... I don't think you would appreciate it too much...

Anywho, sorry for the loss of your snake. And to prevent this from happening next time just put wet paper towels in a container with a hole in it and it will help get the stuck shed off. It never fails and your BP won't drown.

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Originally Posted by crazy4reptiles88

Yes there was airholes in the container and the water was coldish warm so it wasn't hot it was warm!! Melissa

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Again, warm to us, a warm blooded creature, is hot to a reptile.

The water would feel cool to you, not warm, just cool like room temp.

At least you know better now.

I'm sorry for your loss :tears:

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Originally Posted by Koolaid

Yeah I don't understand why people try and make their snakes poo either... Shoot sometimes I don't even go for two weeks... I mean the animal will go when it needs to... that's like someone "owning" you and sitting you on a toilet and telling you to go when you don't have to... I don't think you would appreciate it too much...

Anywho, sorry for the loss of your snake. And to prevent this from happening next time just put wet paper towels in a container with a hole in it and it will help get the stuck shed off. It never fails and your BP won't drown.

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i just take a snake bag. dampen it, insert snake, tie bag, an hour later you have no more shed

Awwww :( Very sorry for your loss :(

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Originally Posted by nixer

i was talking with a guy this weekend that had a deli cup with the same amount of water with the lid on and a hole in it for the snake to get out and it drown.

im sorry for your loss.

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You're freaking me out here... All my bp's water dish's are little tupperware containers with holes cut in the lids... There's atleast 1 1/2 inches of water in there... How can they drown when they can easily just lift their head?