Julius Ebenezer Squeezers just died

[daddiojones73]

Not sure what happened but my sons bp seemed ok 3 hrs ago and just found him upside down dead. Looks like either regurgitation or vomit beside him. He's in a fairly large terrarium but heat tape set at 90 on thermostat. Fogger maintaining between 55-70 depending on where you check it. Temps at 88-90 and 76-80. Only had him 3 weeks and he ate great first two feedings. Hopper week 1. Got it down in like 5 minutes. We weighed him and he was only 99g so that seemed a little low. Decided that since he did so well on hopper to try a slightly larger feeder. Small small adult. Only slightly larger than week 1. Took him longer but he got it down and no issues. Same on week 3. Fed this past Thursday and he acted really odd. Almost like he decided he didn't want it after he started. He did get it down and everything seemed good. We did notice he looked as though he may have been getting ready to go into shed. His head was turning slightly pink and eyes had a gray color instead of red. Was told if he ate then fine and if not then fine. No poop yet from 3 and now I have to tell my 7 year old that his birthday present died out of nowhere. Using eco earth as substrate and spring water changed almost daily. We have been constantly monitoring everything in hopes of having him for a long time. Did we do something wrong and if so what? We will definitely be getting another and don't want the same thing to happen again. Please help us figure this out. My son is going to be heartbroken on Valentines Day.

[StillBP]

Sorry for your and his loss. Pictures tell a thousand words. The only sure way to know is to take to the vet for a necroscropsy (spelling)

[tttaylorrr]

i am so sorry for your and your son's loss. this is never something easy and you seemed to be doing everything right for him.
like the previous post says: husbandry pictures always help, but we can't diagnose anything from here; a necropsy will help if you need the peace of mind.
again, i'm so sorry for your loss. it's never an easy thing.

[CALM Pythons]

It sounds like you did everything right... The only thing id ask you is , where did you buy it?
Chain Pet Stores are selling some terriblely unhealthy reptiles. I read post after post about them dying within a month.. If thats so and you got him at Petsmart or somewhere then Id go with a reputal breeder instead. There are several on here. If im wrong and you bought from a reputable reptile breeder Id say sometimes we just dont know they are sick in someway. Especially when their young. Better luck.

[daddiojones73]

We did research before hand and learned quickly to stay away from petsmart and places like that. Found a local breeder that has been raising snakes for around 40 years. I plan on giving him a call and see if he has any ideas. Gonna skip the vet and go back to a clean slate. Clean everything very good and try again. Just bummed. Thanks for the condolences.

[Craiga 01453]

So sorry to hear this, both for the animal as well as you and your son. I would definitely talk to the breeder. And I'm glad you decided to clean everything and try again.

[Reinz]

Sorry for y'all's loss.

Hopefully the breeder can help with answers and or good deal on a new snake too.

[daddiojones73]

Spoke with the breeder and he thinks we fed to large a mouse. He handled hopper mice easily so 2 feedings ago got a small adult and he got it down with a little difficulty but did ok. I'd say just slightly larger diameter than largest part of body. Everything seemed ok so last feeding got the same about 8 days apart. He was going into shed and I was a little reluctant to feed but my understanding was that he might eat and might not so I thought I'd let him decide. This time it almost looked like he wanted to eat and changed his mind about a 1/3 of the way down. Started coiling around and I think he was trying to back out of the deal. He did eventually get it down and 3 nights later it came back up and 10 minutes later he was dead. I will never attempt a feeding while they are in the blue again. So we are cleaning everything today and have some f10 in route. Going to sanitize thoroughly and get reset. Breeder has several 2 and 3 gene morphs that he was going to keep for himself that are no longer juveniles. Enchi pastel and lesser pastel are 2 he spoke of specifically and said he would make it right. Don't know for sure exactly what that means but he's definitely trying to help out. Hopefully this will give us another shot at a long time friend for my kiddo. I will try and post pics of habitat once we get everything set back up so that I can get suggestions or critiques and make changes if warranted.

[predatorkeeper87]

Spoke with the breeder and he thinks we fed to large a mouse. He handled hopper mice easily so 2 feedings ago got a small adult and he got it down with a little difficulty but did ok. I'd say just slightly larger diameter than largest part of body. Everything seemed ok so last feeding got the same about 8 days apart. He was going into shed and I was a little reluctant to feed but my understanding was that he might eat and might not so I thought I'd let him decide. This time it almost looked like he wanted to eat and changed his mind about a 1/3 of the way down. Started coiling around and I think he was trying to back out of the deal. He did eventually get it down and 3 nights later it came back up and 10 minutes later he was dead. I will never attempt a feeding while they are in the blue again. So we are cleaning everything today and have some f10 in route. Going to sanitize thoroughly and get reset. Breeder has several 2 and 3 gene morphs that he was going to keep for himself that are no longer juveniles. Enchi pastel and lesser pastel are 2 he spoke of specifically and said he would make it right. Don't know for sure exactly what that means but he's definitely trying to help out. Hopefully this will give us another shot at a long time friend for my kiddo. I will try and post pics of habitat once we get everything set back up so that I can get suggestions or critiques and make changes if warranted.

make it right generally means they'll replace the animal or refund the money if yal can't agree on a new replacement.

[Craiga 01453]

Glad to hear the breeder wants to help you out.