Found my ball dead tonight =( What happened?

[Aquat1cF1sh]

So I went to go feed my young ball python tonight and found him dead and want to know what went wrong?

I'm a first time ball python owner and got a hatchling from LLL Reptile back in mid March. Everything was fine up until the beginning of last week when I noticed some mucus coming out of his nose and mouth and a popping noise happening everytime he breathed so I called and made a vet appointment immediately. The vet told me he likely did have an RI and to give him .03 mLs of enrofloxacin a day orally which I've been doing. She also said he was just sick and it didn't seem like anything was fatal yet (this was last Thursday the 22nd). Today marks four weeks from the last time he ate so apparently he hasn't been feeling good for a while (I was feeding him small frozen-thawed mice, the size above pinkies, once every five days).

It's my fault for setting something in his tank up wrong, but where did I go wrong? I thought I did all the research in the world and then some before getting him. =( He was in a rubber bin about a foot and eight inches long and about a foot wide with plenty of holes in it, around the same number of holes that were in the rubber tank tutorial on this website. It also had a snap-on lid. The vet said I should get rid of it and put a screen or something on top so he gets more airflow but I've never seen anyone on here do this with a rubber bin...? Did my snake really just not have enough ventilation? It might be worth noting that the tank is also taller than most rubber bins that people keep their ball pythons in. His tank is around a foot tall maybe?

As far as heating stuff goes I have two UTHs attached to thermostats on different sides of the tank. One was at around 80-82 and the other around 90-92. I had no heating lamp but from what I read they don't really need one, correct? That's why he had two UTHs, to make sure one side was always around 80 even if my bedroom temp (where the tank is) dropped slightly. It's always at 78-80 degrees, and it ~occassionally~ drops to 76 but not often but that doesn't seem like it would be a major issue, or would it? The humidity was always from 50-60%, occassionally higher but I took the water bowl out when that happened. For reference I was using the usual thermometer/hygrometer recommended here from Walmart that displays two temperatures and the humidity; I had the thermometer probe right on top of the heating pad inside the tank. He had a hide on each side of the tank and I was using aspen until the vet told me aspen can potentially cause respiratory issues due to its smell so paper towels were used instead.

Over the past few days I noticed him hanging off his hides at weird angles and not really moving around much. Were his conditions too cold and/or did his tank basically suffocate him to death with stagnant air? These are the things the vet suggested I change but what should I change them to? Should plastic lids really be ditched?

Thanks to any suggestions any of you might have. Poor little guy. =( It's a little heart breaking to deal with, not sure if getting another one is likely but if so I don't want this to happen again.

[BrianDallek]

Your setup and temps/humidity sounds great, but without seeing it in person it is hard to tell if it was your husbandry. (BTW: your humidity can be above 50-60, don't ever take out the water bowl. just drill a few holes in the lid.) It definitely sounds like a RI that took his life. It sucks, but this stuff happens. Don't get down on yourself, from what i read above you did what you could and are informed. As for that vet...find a new one. Just my guess: Mid March to NY the package went through some cold weather on it's way to you which started the RI. You probably missed some earlier signs such as bubbles before the mucus. The RI kept developing. That combined with the poor advice from your vet eventually led to his death. Just my two cent guess though. Don't give up!! Contact LLL and see if they will replace. If not go with reputable breeder and look for a ball in the 300+ gram range that is more established.

[Daybreaker]

Put the body in the fridge, not the freezer, and schedule a necropsy asap with an exotics vet if you want to know exactly the cause of death. Everything else is speculation.

[Reinz]

Sorry man, so sorry.

Please don't let this turn you off these cool snakes.

[vangarret2000]

You can get a vet to do a necropsy to find out the cause.

[BrianDallek]

A necropsy can be expensive. With the clear signs of a RI, I don't see the point. Unless this was an expensive snake and you wish to prove that you deserve a refund, but i don't see LLL selling expensive snakes. Because of the time between receiving and vet diagnosis I'm thinking your just gonna have to eat the loss. If i was you i would post some pics of your setup and make sure its dialed in and then like i said before get a healthy snake from a really good breeder. Check the Board of Inquiry over on fauna first.

[Stewart_Reptiles]

With the clear signs of a RI, I don't see the point.

What if it was something else? You are aware that respiratory issues can be the sign of more serious illnesses right? The animal could have also died of a completely unrelated issue as well.

A necropsy give peace of mind regardless of the animal's price tag, I know that if I had a newly acquired animal die, I would want to know the cause.

Unless a necropsy is done everything else is just speculations and won't bring a definite answer.

[BrianDallek]

What if it was something else? You are aware that respiratory issues can be the sign of more serious illnesses right? The animal could have also died of a completely unrelated issue as well.

A necropsy give peace of mind regardless of the animal's price tag, I know that if I had a newly acquired animal die, I would want to know the cause.

Unless a necropsy is done everything else is just speculations and won't bring a definite answer.

Of course I'm aware that it could be something else. But this was his only snake so risk of something spreading is not there. So I don't see how any necropsy result is going to achieve peace of mind, the snake is dead. And cost always has to be weighed in situations like this. Why in the world would you pay more to find out why a snake died then it actually cost in the first place? Unless you had more snakes that it could be passed to. If I had no other snakes I would be more concerned with getting my money back for the snake. Some situations like this do not need a definitive answer. Especially when in all likelihood it died from the RI.