My bp died!

[wolfy-hound]

If the lab did not find anything, then it's up to finding out what husbandry issues may exist. What is your complete set up?

What type of heat? If a bulb, what size bulb? What size cage? How many hides? What kind of substrate? What cleaners do you use?

With two BPs in one tank, it could even have been some injury caused by them wrestling over a spot(they don't "cuddle", it's a dominance thing. It could have been something brought in from outside that he caught. It could have been the last prey item he ate wasn't completely defrosted, or had some bad bacteria and he just held out a long time before passing away.

None of what you described seems like IBD to me. Generally ball pythons die pretty quickly after exposure too, so I doubt that's it, in addition to the lab saying they found no signs.

It's always sad to lose a pet. People sometimes say "well, it's just a snake" but it's still a beloved pet and extremely sad, just like any pet. Sometimes pythons just "roll over and die" for what seems like no reason at all. But it's always best to double-check all the parameters, just in case there's something to change.

[Zincubus]

Compaction maybe ??


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[NJ Balls]

Thank you all for your comments. I do know where I went wrong in some ways but what I'm really wondering is what killed him, because I got him tested and everything... Nothing came up and by his symptoms, i can find nothing relatable. I appreciate everyone's concern on my first go around with a mystery bp death but all I really wanna know is if anyone knows what in the world it could have been. I do want another but not for a long time of finding a good dealer etc etc

Sorry for your lose. Maybe it was something he ate.

What where you feeding your snake? Live or F/T?

I'm qurious if you were using the individual frozen mice they also sell at petsmart.

[Regius_049]

They called me back 2 weeks later (just the other day) and told me his cultures came back all normal. There was absolutely no sign of IBD. Wth killed my buddy??? Their husbandry was a lil more humid because Vega went through a shed but Dexter stayed in the drier part and I specifically asked the vet who did the physical exam if he showed any signs of a RI... nothing.
Vega is alone, I had to take all their 'furniture' out until I got his results back but kept her warm and cozy.. we moved, she just went through a shed. Now she's not wanting to eat. It is the starts of cold weather so it could be a number of things. My bps are and were very social, nothing has changed with Vega's want for love but I'm worried about her because she's not eating and that's how it began with Dexter! Any thoughts? Please someone tell me they had some kinda problem like this! Thank you!!

What exactly did they check in the necropsy? It seems odd for me to hear a vet doing a culture on a single dead snake. From the symptoms you describe, it doesn't sound like a case of IBD, though it can manifest atypically. It would still be pretty likely to observe inclusion bodies in for example, the liver if the disease was advanced enough to kill the snake. As much as many of us (myself included) fear IBD, it is pretty rare to see snakes die from it. Ophidian paramyxovirus would be more likely, if the culprit were a pathogen, though I would expect your other BP to have also been exposed (no guarantee there however).

Given your description, it sounds like an obstruction to me, but you would expect that to be fairly obvious from a necropsy.

[zina10]

Very sorry for your loss.

I do see a few red signs, as have the others. You got VERY young Ball Pythons. They weren't kept in optimal husbandry. Even if heat and humidity was correct and you did have snug hides, the fact that 2 snakes had to compete for certain areas in the tank can spell disaster.

You talk a lot about how "sweet" and cuddly they were and how the remaining snake still has a "want" for love. What looks like sweet and cuddly, is a submissive and shy animal. Handling to much in the beginning and while they are so young can really stress the snakes and stress has a detrimental effect on the general health and immune system. That actually goes for any animal and even humans.

Its stress on them to compete for the best spot in the tank, its stressful to be removed for feeding, its stressful to be handled to much.

What exactly happened ? Not sure, but to me it sounds like something went wrong with digestion. These are cold blooded animals. After a meal they need to seek out a certain temperature during digestion, to make sure everything moves out quick enough. If a snake gets to "cold" during that process, the digestion moves to slow and the food begins to "rot" inside the body.

Even though it was 3 1/2 weeks after a feeding that the snake died, it could have still been food items that didn't digest correctly. Even though the snake still "pooped" , doesn't mean there wasn't a problem further up in the system. (meaning the spoiling food item was behind the poop that was expelled)

Perhaps this snake couldn't get on the "prime" hot spot, meaning hot AND safe (hot side hide). Perhaps the other snake was more dominant and wouldn't move. Even if this just happened for part of the time, it could have been just enough to cause disruption in the digestion and the problem started. Gasses could have formed and internal issues with the gut. It could also explain the "bloating".

This might have gotten missed during necropsy because partly digested food items are often found in the system, there is no way to know for the doctor if that item should have been more digested then it was, at that point. Unless there was severe damage to the gut.

You may never know for sure, but the combination of stressors lowering the immune system and less then ideal husbandry (heat) during digestion could have caused the issues.

What's done is done, though. I would now concentrate on the surviving snake and make sure to set it up as perfect as possible. The refusal to eat is most likely due to stress. Fix the husbandry. There is tons of help on here how to provide the perfect setup, temps and humidity. After that, make sure the snake feels SAFE. Meaning, provide perfect privacy and safety. Hides, Blacked out sides, back and top of tank. NO MORE HANDLING until the snake eats well again. Disturb only during maintenance and cleaning and to check on the snake.

I bet you that should be enough to fix the issue.

Please ask the vet if they checked for worms and protozoans (Giardia, etc). I think they would, but you never know..

[hmba2211]

Ok, I appreciate all the comments but once again this is not my first go around. What IS my first is my buddy dying the way he did. If anyone has actual info on his midbody being bloated n tail limp n 5 mins later dying, then please comment. Everyone handles their snakes differently but yes, I do love on mine and they love me back. They both wait in the front of their tank for me to get them so the comments on how I shouldn't be messing w them makes me laugh, u do what u want w urs but I know my pets. What I don't know is how he died n can find nothing on it. Thanks again tho

[artgecko]

hmba2211 I would suggest that you re-read Zina10's post. I agree with what she said. This sounds like a digestion issue gone wrong. This could be caused by: Bad feeder, not enough access to correct hot-side temps, parasites, and stress would compound those factors.

When you said that you had the snake "tested", what exactly do you mean by that? Did you have a vet preform a necropsy? Did you have the snake checked by a vet while still alive? Did they run a lab test for parasites, etc.?

Others have already covered quarantine, etc. so I won't retread that ground. I would stress that common practice with young snakes or new snakes is to not handle them until they have eaten well 3-4 times in a row. During that time period, you do not handle and only interact to change water, clean up waste, etc. Any time you have a food refusal, this process is repeated and you do not handle until the snake is eating well again.

If your current snake is still refusing food, I would do everything possible to limit its' stress and to make sure the temps. humidity, etc. are on point. I would also take it in to the vet to have a culture done for parasites (unless you already had that done on the deceased snake).

I understand that you are reacting defensively to people commenting about your situation and husbandry practices, but know that they are only trying to help you improve the situation for your current snake. These are knowledgeable keepers and breeders and are only trying to provide you with constructive criticism to help your current snake thrive, not to "bash" you. At this point, it is important to attempt to figure out what happened to your last snake and you are getting that feedback from people about that. If the feedback is different than what you expected, it is still important to consider it. Honestly, I don't see any signs of IBD from what you described in your original post, so I'd take that off the list.

[hmba2211]

I see what everyone is saying I'm not being defensive, I'm trying to get an answer... If anyone has come across this problem. Not can u help me find where I went wrong w my husbandry. Literally, that was n has been my question. Bash on if u feel lol but I'm only wondering what caused his belly/lungs to inflate w air and his tail limp. The necropsy came back all normal, death undetermined by lab testing. As I said before, the only difference in my husbandry at the time was a slight increase of humidity. Thank youuuuuu

[Albert Clark]

I see what everyone is saying I'm not being defensive, I'm trying to get an answer... If anyone has come across this problem. Not can u help me find where I went wrong w my husbandry. Literally, that was n has been my question. Bash on if u feel lol but I'm only wondering what caused his belly/lungs to inflate w air and his tail limp. The necropsy came back all normal, death undetermined by lab testing. As I said before, the only difference in my husbandry at the time was a slight increase of humidity. Thank youuuuuu

Hi again, even if one of us had a similar scenario of illness there would be so many variables that it would be impossble to know exactly. Maybe you didn't go wrong with the husbandry? Maybe it was the housing of the snakes together and bc of the difference in their flora and fauna a illness was contracted that got overlooked by the testing that was done? Listen, we have no control over the morbidity and mortality of these animals. All we can do is offer good care and husbandry along with proper quarantining. Sudden death is a reality with all living organisms. Maybe we will never know specifically what the etiology was. We may have to just learn from it and do things differently in the future to try and avoid a recurrence.

[tttaylorrr]

I'm trying to get an answer... If anyone has come across this problem. Not can u help me find where I went wrong w my husbandry.

husbandry and health go hand in hand; you can't ask a health-related question without husbandry being brought into the question. bad husbandry = bad health. the problem was bad husbandry, and the result was a dead snake. now we're providing you with info on how to avoid killing another snake.

start here, because you need to re-learn some basics:
caresheet
basic husbandry FAQs
the quarantine process