My beautiful ball has passed away suddenly - please please help

[soapdog]

Hi everyone. Yesterday was one of the worst days of my life. When I woke up and checked on my little buddy first thing like I do every day, he was gone. I was absolutely shocked and cried for five straight hours. I need help. I can't do anything to bring him back but I need peace of mind so please help me.

He was a baby, but I don't know his exact birth date. I had him for three months almost to the day. As you would see from my other posts here, I was obsessed even before I got him making sure everything was perfect and he would be happy and healthy. My major problem all along was that I never got him to eat. Everyone assured me that balls can be really fussy and go months without food but I still offered regularly, last time being a week ago. The first day I had him he pooped for me so I know that he had eaten before I had him and I fed him the exact same thing he used to eat. He hid like a normal ball should, moving enough that he didn't seem lethargic, but not overly active like he was stressed. I weighed him at 100 grams about a month ago and around a week and a half he was at 98-99 so there was no major weight loss and for a baby I was told 100 grams was a bit low but not unhealthy. The skin around his belly was a bit loose so that he was kind of bell shaped rather than the triangle shape I've often heard about with thin balls, however his muscles were strong and he had a good grip when held. Please help me to confirm that all this information goes against him having starved.

His temps were 75-82 cool side at any given time day or night and 90-92 warm side. Humidity always 50-65. Full fresh water bowl changed daily. Skin never showed signs of significant wrinkling or dryness. Warm and cool hides which he used regularly back and forth to thermoregulate. No sign of mites or infections. Aspen bedding, no pine or cedar anywhere in sight. Our house gets sprayed for bugs but he's not near any spray sites and has been fine before and it's been several weeks since the last time they sprayed. No cause of death I have read about has had symptoms demonstrated in my beautiful little buddy.

He had a few flakes of aspen in his mouth when I found him, but he obviously hadn't choked during feeding because he hadn't eaten. I was told this is common as they open their mouths during death throes. Jesus that's so sad. Other than these things I can't think of any other relevant information. Sorry the post is so long but I wanted to be completely thorough. If anyone can think of anything that would explain this terrible tragedy it would mean the world to me. Thank you.

[soapdog]

One other detail I just remembered is that he was in a normal position when I found him. He had his little face sticking out the hide box door and was curled up comfortably inside. Didn't even realize he wasn't okay until he didn't react to my touch.

[Skiploder]

Put the body in a plastic bag.

Put the bag with the body in it in the refrigerator.

Take both to a qualified reptile vet and ask them to perform a necropsy.

That is the only way you are going to know what happened.

Now brace yourself for the probable onslaught of armchair vets who will give you their $0.02...which will be incidentally worth less that $0.02.

Vet. Necropsy. Only way you are going to know what happened.

[C2tcardin]

Wow sorry to hear this. It sounds like your husbandry was not the issue so it was likely due to something medical or starvation. Only way to know for sure will be to pay for a necropsy at a local herp vet.

Skiploder just beat me to it.

[Darkbird]

Sorry to hear this, you have my sympathy for what little its worth. And I agree with the above, necropsy. Anything anyone says here would just be guesswork.

[BCS]

Too bad you did not know his exact birth date. Most breeders wait to sell a hatchling usually after it has eaten at least twice for them and has shed. Some are not like this and new owners end up with sick babies. I'm not saying this is the reason but it is a possibility. 100 grams and weight loss on a small hatchling like that is a big deal. What were you feeding the snake? Some breeders feed their hatchlings live, tell the buyer they are on F/T to make the sale as most people prefer F/T eaters. Usually, with a snake that small, after a month of not eating it may have been a good idea to have offered a different food type like ASF ot live or taken him to a vet. Losing 1 or 2 grams a week may not seem like a big deal but that is four grams a month. For hatchling, that would be like you losing 10 pounds a week. It really is a big deal. It would not surprise me if the snake died from starvation and dehydration but the starvation and dehydration could have been caused from some kind of underlying condition that was not visible.

You could take it to a vet if it is really important to you to find out what happened. Sorry about your snake. This kind of stuff happens and is all a part of life. It is never fun to witness it or have to live through it but time heals and you will be okay.

[BrianDallek]

Sorry to hear about your snake. Sounds like you were doing everything right so kudos to you for being a responsible owner!! Sometimes a snake just has an underlying issue unrelated to your care. While a necropsy is the only way to truly know, unless you need closure or something I would put that money toward another ball python instead. For every great BP breeder there are 2 crappy ones, so if you need help finding a good breeder that will get you a healthy snake that is eating just let us know what your looking for and we can point you in the right direction. Definitely take this time without a ball to properly disinfect everything for the next one.

[BenzieBox]

...While a necropsy is the only way to truly know, unless you need closure or something I would put that money toward another ball python instead.

This was my mindset for my leopard gecko I just put down recently. I spoke with my herp vet and he said the same thing. If it's just closure I'm looking for he'll do it, but I should really just mend myself and then put that money and effort towards a new baby to take care of. Petry was old so I'm just going with the idea that he lived a long life with his previous owners and then me and it was just his time to go.

OP go for the necropsy if that's what you want but it honestly sounds like this snake just had it's own issues that weren't visible. Doesn't sound like it was anything you did. I hope you find some peace of mind in whatever form works for you and I'm very sorry for your loss. It's never easy to lose a pet.

[DVirginiana]

Necropsy is the only way to know for sure, but I personally wouldn't put the money toward it. It sounds like he just had an underlying condition that got the best of him, because your husbandry was on point. I mainly work with garters, and with those large litters you always have a few failure-to-thrive babies. There doesn't seem to be anything wrong with them, and some will even eat a few times, but they'll suddenly die for what appears to be no reason. I'd chalk this up to a failure-to-thrive and put the money toward a new snake.

Just to be safe, it might be a good idea to clean all the cage decor and replace bedding before putting anything new in the enclosure.

[soapdog]

Thanks for the input everyone. I really appreciate you all offering your help.

As for the necropsy, we actually already buried him the same day he passed. We left him some of his favorite little things. I feel like showing him the love and respect of giving him proper rest is more important than having my answers.

In reference to one specific post above, I did not realize how significant his one gram weight loss could be. I wish I'd have known I was looking for that small of a difference. But actually the way the feelings went was like this: first I offered f/t mice about the size of the largest part of his body, very standard. I would leave them overnight with him and often find him in the morning staring at them but never eating them. Wiggling them did not help. Next I actually did try to feed him one live mouse of the same size. However he showed absolutely no interest in this either. Finally, tried f/t again but offered a smaller mouse in case he had been intimidated by the size before and that's why he only stared. No dice. At this point I was ready to take him to the vet but was saving money to make sure I had enough money since I didn't know how much it would cost. God, if only I'd have known. But I'm trying not to blame myself. I can wish wish wish the day away but in the end I think I did a good job for a first time owner trying to know everything I could about how to help.