Poor Python died... looking for a reason

[HellPenguin]

Hi there...

Just today, my ball python, Monty (see if you can find the thickly-disguised cultural reference there...), died.

Me and my girlfriend found the poor guy coiled up in a corner, stiff as a brick. We tried to see if we could revive him, just hoping that maybe this was some sort of "thing" python's do at a certain point... but alas, he never moved.

I'm posting this because I have no clue whatsoever as to why he died, and it would serve to our peace of mind if we at least knew WHY he passed away.

I know it sounds very deep and emotional for just being a python, but we'd had him for a year and grown quite fond of him.

Just to list some stats: He was about 15-18 inches, estimated. They told us he was a baby when the breeder gave him to us.

He was kept in a nice-sized, 30 gallon terrarium, with good mulch, a water bowl and a hidebox. A lamp heated one side up to a balmy 85 degrees (give or take) and the other side was kept cooler. We had everything set up the way in which we were instructed and according to everything we read about pythons. We fed it mice every ten days, pre-killed (save for few occasions when the mouse was deceptively knocked out and woke up).

There were absolutely NO abnormal signs other than the fact that he hadn't shed in a while... but nothing out of the ordinary. It must've been about a month or so since he last shed.

The only other outstanding fact here is that about a week and somewhat days ago, we fed him a small Hamster instead of his usual meal of mice, since the petshop had run out of mice. We did, however, make sure it wasn't too big or anything.

He ate it, pre-killed, and then went on to defecate it just a few days ago. Pretty much the usual routine.


We have looked and looked and asked and thought about it, and we still cannot come up with a valid explanation for his death.

It would mean alot to us if we could just figure out why it happened. I doubt we'll be getting another snake (or any pet, for that matter) any time soon... but we'd still like to have one, in the future, and if would help to know what kind of things can go wrong and unnoticed, like this.


Thanks

[Vomitore]

Necropsy at a local vet will give some answers. Also did he have an gurgling or weezing sounds? Any sort of dried mucus around the nostrils or constant yawning? Might have had RI. Also, for a BP you want his cool side at 84, and his basking hot side at 90. What sort of mulch was he on? Was it cedar chips by chance? If so that is very toxic to them cause of the oils. Also was is a CB or WC? Sorry to hear about you loss and nothing weird about feeling sad about losing a BP. BP's are pets just like a cat or dog. Except they don't bark at the back door or claw your couch

[Pork Chops N' Corn Bread]

Sorry to hear this. Its perfectally fine to feel sad when you lose a snake, like vomitore said, they are pets too.

I too would recomend taking him to a vet to look for a cause of death.

I wish you the best of luck of your next snake, just don't be discouraged.

[Kilo]

Good mulch? May I ask what this mulch consist of? What type of wood?

[elevatethis]

A lamp heated one side up to a balmy 85 degrees (give or take) and the other side was kept cooler.

Ball pythons need temps of around "92-94" on the warm side and 82-84 on the "cool" side.

What were you using to measure the temperature?

If your "warm" side was 84, your cool side would probably be no higher than 78 during the days and perhaps even colder at night. Ball pythons exposed to temperatures in the low 70s for prolonged periods of time can develop an upper respitory infection. Left untreated, it can be deadly.

Aside from that, nothing else in your description waves any red flags.

[Sausage]

Very sorry to hear about the loss.
The only thing that could have potentially been fatal was the temperature(many others have stated the same.)

[Adam_Wysocki]

I would guess that it was most likely related to the temps, but an alternate explanation may be the hamster ... if the hamster was large enough to have a thich full coat of hair and the ball python was on the small side, all of that hair could have caused an intestinal blockage that would have killed the animal within a couple of weeks ... I've seen it happen in the past.

Hope this helps.

-adam

[Uncle Festae]

... if the hamster was large enough to have a thick full coat of hair and the ball python was on the small side, all of that hair could have caused an intestinal blockage that would have killed the animal within a couple of weeks ... I've seen it happen in the past.

Hope this helps.

-adam

Interesting.... That's the first time I've heard that one.
Adam, would you say that those "Rex" rats pose the risk of what you stated above? Ive seen a few people breeding these for feeders, and was considering adding one or two into my colony. After having read this, Im reconsidering, as Ive never heard of too much hair posing digestion problems before.

Thanks for that tidbit

[elevatethis]

Go get a necropsy done if you really want to find out what happened.

[Adam_Wysocki]

Interesting.... That's the first time I've heard that one.
Adam, would you say that those "Rex" rats pose the risk of what you stated above? Ive seen a few people breeding these for feeders, and was considering adding one or two into my colony. After having read this, Im reconsidering, as Ive never heard of too much hair posing digestion problems before.

Thanks for that tidbit

It's really a matter of the amount of hair (or anything that could block a digestive passage) vs. the size of the animal ... if a hatchling ball python swallows a handfull of aspen for example, you're going to have problems ... but if a 4000 gram adult female swallows that much, she'll just pass it out.

-adam