Dead spider bp =(

[Feylin]

Hello, sorry to say that what brings me here are questions about a dead snake...
I just got a young female spider bp last month, and she has been perfectly wonderful, eating well, active, defecating and all that properly. She was fine earlier today, and now she is dead. Her setup is pretty simple, 82f on the cool side and 89 on the warm side with the UTH. All she has in there is a hide and water dish and bedding. I found her probably pretty soon after she died, she was still completely limp and warm. She had what looked like bruises along the sides of her belly about midway down her body that were not there earlier today, but there is nothing in her cage she could have hurt herself on? She cant get up against the light and there is a piece of cage carpet and bedding between her and the under tank heater...Im really at a loss as to what could have happened, anyone have any ideas? Thank you for any help

[dr del]

Hi,

Unless she overheated the only way to be sure is to put her in the fridge ( not the freezer ) and get a necropsy done at a qualified vets.

The bruising look you describe is a normal part of decomp rather than a symptom of what resulted in her passing.

Sorry for your loss.

[Feylin]

Unfortunately I don't actually have access to a vet that can do that unless I want to drive 2+ hours (which is why its always been a matter of preventing issues for me so I'm really at a loss as to why she would just suddenly die)

Thank you, I didn't know about the bruising being part of them dying...haven't had a dead snake in a very long time....

[PitOnTheProwl]

Sorry for your loss, it sucks when you don't know what happened.

The bruising you are seeing is more than likely blood pooling because it is not circulating anymore.

[bcr229]

Unfortunately I don't actually have access to a vet that can do that unless I want to drive 2+ hours (which is why its always been a matter of preventing issues for me so I'm really at a loss as to why she would just suddenly die)

Thank you, I didn't know about the bruising being part of them dying...haven't had a dead snake in a very long time....

Unfortunately without a necropsy you can't rule out a disease or parasite that could potentially affect the rest of your collection if you have other snakes. As a breeder/seller I'd also want to know if a snake that I produced and subsequently sold passed away a month later, and why, so I could deal with any potential problems with my collection.

[KMG]

Its called livor mortis.

[Albert Clark]

Sad. Sorry for your loss. So many variables as to what caused the death. It sounds like you did all the right things husbandry wise. Necropsy is the way to go. We can speculate and opinionate the possible causes forever. I wouldn't purchase any animal from the place I got this bp from. Good luck. Stay in peace and not pieces.

[Feylin]

Thanks everyone, I do understand that a necropsy is the best way to go its just not really possible for me this time. I did contact the breeder and they are aware of what happened. They still have 2 of the clutch mates which are doing just fine but they will be watching them a bit more carefully now.

I do have one other bp but since she was still kinda new she was still in a quarantine routine, nothing crossing over between her set up and the other one at all, and disinfecting my hands and such before even touching the other set up.

[AnnaK231]

So sorry to hear about your loss.

[se7en]

as i've only had BPs for 6 1/2 yrs now, i do hope all my snakes outlive me