My bp died!

[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..