Uluru Woma Death ( warning graphic pics)

[snakecharma]

Sadly i have started this thread to tell the story of my dead adult uluru woma.

She was purchased off a breader in south aust as an adult breeder, was told that she had layed 8 good eggs and 2 slugs last season, she has been in my collection since January and not only was she one of my best pythons to handle but i had come very attached to her.

In early Autumn i begun to cool her as i have also 2 great male urulu's from SXR that i was going to put over her and was very excited about the outcome, the mating process was heading down the right trace with me seeing tails locked on several occasions.

A week ago i went for a weekend away in melbourne on my way out the door i did my usual enclosure checks, but wasnt to stressed as the male i had in there had been there for over a week now and was planning on swapping them over once i got back, to me she looked fine with no signs of ill health.

Well you can imagine my surprize on my return from melboure when i went to swap them over and found her in a very very scarey way. Now due to my haste to get her to a local vet (after hours) i didnt have time to get pics of her in the enclosure as i found her, believe me i almost fell over.

On getting to the vets he told me he knew a little about reps and snakes from himself owning them but was in no way an expert. At that stage any help was good as i was distraught. So he gave her 3 shots and some oral saline as she was extreemly dihidrated (i do have all the info at home and will update when i get there with exactly what he gave her) on my request 2 swabs were takin as i was going to drive to melb the next day to get her seen by someone else (800km round trip)

shots from the vets











As you can see by the shots she had a large amount of swelling around the face and head area, her body has very limp and squishy due to dehydration, she was reluctant to move much but she still had abit of go in her, she had a light brown/yellow discharge from her cloaca and some mucus around her face.

The vet offered to take her home and keep an eye on here during the night and hoefully get some more liquid into her. I was happy with that and was going to pick her up at 8am the next morning for my drive to melbourne. On returning home i made a few phone calls and to those who helped me thank you very much, your help was what got me through the night.

Unfortunatly at 7am the following morning i got the phone call that no one wants to get, unfortunatly she had died during the night. The vet had checked on her last at about 12am (top quality service). After a lengthy conversation the vet informed me that he would like to do an autopsy on her to try and figure out the cause of death i was greatly happy with this as sending her to melb was not an option money wise and time wise and i wanted a definate answer as i had 2 males in with her and a whole room full of other animals that could be at risk of anything viral.

Autopsy Pictures






The autopsy was preformed that day and the cause of death was a septic retained ovum from the last years season. So basicly the poor girl was a ticking time bomb as soon as that ovum broke in her there was a very short amount of time and even then there would have been no garuantee she would have come through any better than she did.

A massive loss for me but a lesson learned hard, if you buy any reptile that has bred befor then as soon as it gets into your possession get an xray or ultrasound to make sure there was no retained ovums or you will more than likely be going down this same path unfortunatly.

Just thought i would pass on a very costly and hard lesson learned

[Renagade]

far out. i have to say, that after the first 3 shots i thought she looked septic. like the result of a staff infection. interesting thread, thanks for posting this horrid process. sorry obout the outcome.
ren

[andyscott]

Hi Brent,
Thanks for sharing this with us all. I know losing this girl was hard for you.
Im sure this info will be useful in helping someone down the track.
As I told you last week, its tragic to hear and Im sorry you lost this stunning girl.
Andy.

[juliedamian]

ohhh!! that is soo sad! i am sorry for your loss.. and thanks for the warning. she was a beautiful woma

[richardsc]

sorry for your loss mate,but great post,i had a similar issue with a young darwin,but mine happened over night,and died as it got to the vets,which was 30 mins after finding it in the morning,had an autopsy performed by shane simpson and a blood disease was found to be the cause,one never found in reptiles before,and not contagious thank god,but that was my first ever python,and i sure miss the little beast,it was the worst biting python ive ever had,it never missed,and alway caused blood,lol,but was a great snake,and excellent feeder

[snake_boy]

so sad for you. what a great loss!

[hozy6]

sorry to hear about that mate hard lesson learned alright i take it ur going back to the bredder with this because it was a problem before u had gotten her hence not being ur fault

[itbites]

Oh my goodness thats such a terrible thing to have happen! Sorry for your loss mate

[MissJane]

Wow, so sorry for your loss.

[Jaydens-Pythons]

Sorry about that mate. Beautiful WOMA!

[Timmo]

Sorry for the loss mate. She was one stunning snake.

[reptile32]

sorry for your loss mate, and thanks for shareing it will make a lot of people think when they bye a snake that has bred before to get it checked by a reptile vet , so sorry for your loss

[antaresia_boy]

sorry to hear it mate, she is an absolute stunner.

[mrmikk]

Mate, I am so sorry about your loss, that must be gut wrenching.

[cracksinthepitch]

Very sad news indeed,my condolences. Thank-you for providing education and experience with the less informed like me. Thanks for the advice and once again sorry for your loss.