Unexplained Passing.....Any Thoughts??

[zina10]

Well, he's the only one of my 4 snakes to have the shedding issue and all temps are checked with a temp gun, water is provided in one of those stone corner bowls, bedding varies between pine shavings and paper towels, which ever I have the most of at the time. Cage was a 30 gallon. He was fed outside of cage to avoid eating any subrate. Vet also mentioned parasites as a potential cause but never took a fecal to my knowledge. Bath water was also always checked with temp gun too. He didn't start out as a bad eater either, nor did he totally have shed issues in the beginning (He did have a handful of good sheds). We did move from Alabma to West Virginia and shortly before that is when he began to show signs of being picky (wouldn't eat rats and mice had to be white. Wouldn't touch a colored mouse for some reason.) Could the move, roughly a year and half into owning him, have effected him in some way? I don't have a humidity gauge of any kind at the moment, but it is notably humid in the room and they do get misted. It's just baffling that she didn't see anything. I mean if it was husbandry related, wouldn't his body have shown visible signs of some kind of stress or immune problems? Like if he was too hot or cold or dehydrated, wouldn't his organs/body have been deformed/shown some signs or this?? I mean, maybe not, I'm no vet or expert, but I would think something would have been visible.

Husbandry not being spot on may not show in a necropsy. Unless the snake was grossly neglected, which it wasn't. It sounds to me like he simply wasn't a very healthy or thriving snake, with his ongoing issues. As to why? There aren't always good answers. He was probably smaller then average, perhaps somewhat "stunted". But not something very obvious to a vet.

It sounds as if you will not get any satisfying answers through the necropsy, I'm afraid

Ball Pythons stress easy. Stress is bad for health. We do know that much. Whether that was a factor in his death is you will probably not find out for sure, though.

How did you heat the enclosure ? Many people use heat lamps or ceramic heat emitters for glass tanks. They dry the air in the tank out completely, regardless of the humidity in the room. Pine shavings or paper also do not hold any humidity and easily mold if kept "wet" (misted). Substrates such as that work better if you can keep the humidity up without constant misting. (like in a tub)

I believe that may have something to do with the shedding issues. Even if the other snakes do better, some are just not as robust as others or as forgiving with less then ideal parameters.

Changing substrates often adds to stress. Ball Pythons don't like changes in routine. It "can" stress them. Also, paper or pine is quite different from one another. One can have more dust and a thicker layer over a heat source then the other. I would try to stick with one method and adjust husbandry (heat etc) to that method.

Removing the snake to another container to eat can also add stress. Again, some do fine with it. Others...not so much. In the wild a snake is most vulnerable while eating. It cannot defend itself during that time and it cannot get away from danger. Most BP want to feel "safe" before they will eat. Moving them can make the more shy ones reluctant to eat. Its also not ideal to handle one right after eating, which you have to do to move them back into their enclosure.

I am not meaning to criticize you or your snake keeping, please understand that. Its simply that Ball Pythons are shy snakes that often stress easy. And some husbandry methods stress more then others. Some snakes will be fine with that, others not. Whether that factored into his death, you may never know, though.

IBD kills fast (in Ball Pythons). Most other fatal diseases have definite symptoms. Such as severe respiratory issues, which you would have noticed before passing. There seems no obvious deformed organs or heart failure, as the vet would have seen during necropsy. There didn't seem to be a obvious infection or "wounds" to the snake. So..honestly, "I" would go with "weak, failing to thrive". Unless something happened during that last bath. Perhaps accidental breathing in of water? Not sure if that can happen with a snake. Can happen with most other animals and it would explain death a few hours later, as drowning can happen hours after being in the water. Not sure if the vet would have gone so far as to check for water in the lungs, or if that would even be obvious..

Again, sorry for your loss.