Ball python struggling to swallow

[Bogertophis]

That would explain it, and it wouldn't surprise me given the store I got him from had habits of sending out injured or sick animals. (On the reviews a woman bought a bird only to find it was malnourished and had an underlying disease causing it to later die soon after it was brought home. While my friend got two rats from the the same branch which were both infested with mites, one of which also has a respiratory disease.)

To my knowledge there was no x rays done before or after.
The blueness of his throat I later found was bruising. The vets were one of the first to find out he had passed and offered their condolences saying we did the best we could.


Jörmun is being buried with his favourite hide and a necklace I bought that somewhat resembled him.

Thank yous so much

Pet stores are under a lot of pressure to keep prices reasonable, even though they have a "high overhead" (maintaining a "brick & mortar" store is expensive), so many do tend to buy in bulk from not always the best sources. That's why the best breeders sell their animals after they have a good feeding record, & why it's always less risk to buy "well-started" animals.

Even so, some things don't show up right away, & defects do happen when so many snakes are bred (& inbred) for fancy outward characteristics. I can remember hearing about a snake that had no cloacal opening- so it would eat, but ultimately couldn't expel waste, which was fatal. Some snakes are also prone to prolapses, strictures, or other various internal deviations that no one can see- some breeders & sellers, eager to just make money, may unfortunately just sell their animals anyway, letting the "chips fall where they may", continuing to breed animals whose bloodlines have a high mortality rate. They might not even know, if all they ever do is quickly wholesale their clutches to large distributers.

Anyway, Rest in Peace, Jormun.