Quote Originally Posted by Pwilliams58 View Post
Just got off the phone with the vet, they can't do it but they can sent it to Guelph for me and its $250. I've got $5 in the bank right now. Gotta borrow from mom and dad I guess...no bumblebee for me...
Peter, Guelph is a top notch place (are you sending the snake direct to the vet school there?). It's well worth the money to find out what killed this CH hatchling.

Until then I would completely seperate and strictly QT the CH group and any other snake showing any signs of illness. I would get busy with cleaning, disinfecting, buy disposable gloves, do not share prey or husbandry tools, etc. I would close the collection until you know better and put on temporary hold any incoming snakes (and of course, nothing going out). I would not go near other reptiles (shows, pet stores, etc.) nor allow anyone near yours until you know for sure what went on.

Peter to be quite honest what struck me in that hatchling that passed was the appearance that it had a severely concave belly. How big were these hatchlings when you got them in? If you only assist fed that one 4 times, and have had them for months - was it not eating before or had it started to eat after the 4 assists or had it only had those 4 meals into it? Did you get any information from this supplier as to whether these CH's were flipped and had never had a feeding yet or were properly hydrated and cared for before they were sold to you? Of the rest of that group, are they gaining weight appropriately or do others have this same look to them?

After you got in this CH group what other snakes have you brought into the collection?

I'm no expert on IBD but it does strike me as odd that a delicate and small hatchling would take this long to die of IBD. I, like others here, was under the impression that IBD was a far swifter killer of pythons. My gut instinct is that this little snake died of something else and I'll be very interested to read the findings coming back from Guelph.