Two dead in two days.

[Colubrido]

I have...well had, a 6 month old trio of Golden Tree Snakes. There had been no problems with them before and one day I awoke to find one of them had died. The remaining two were as lively as ever. The next day as I prepared a feed, one seemed very limp, a big change from the previous day. He refused to eat and died within the hour. The largest of the three is all who remains and it has been a couple of weeks and he is thriving. These snakes, fed regulary with no hassle, never showed any signs of distress or health issues and temperatures were kept up to requirements in the enclosure, which was clean and in good condition. It's a real mystery but whats done is done. Just wondering if anyone on here has some ideas. I spoke to my old co-workers at the aquarium and they didnt have any idea just like I did. Last one standing is doing great though which is a highlight.

 

[Asharee133]

Kept together?

 

[Colubrido]

Yeah in a larger sized encloser, together for around six months or so. No issues up until now :/

 

[Asharee133]

They might've killed eachother?

 

[Colin]

Very hard to say what happened but it could be a possibility the larger one that's thriving was dominating the other two and stressing them out. What sex are/were they? Stress can cause all sorts of problems. Just a thought anyway. Keep us informed if you come up with any reason.

 

[Colubrido]

I thought about that but it just didnt seem that way for some reason, had to see if there was anything else. The way I saw the second one go from bouncy tree snake to limp worm seemed really odd. But yes, it's likely they might have but I guess its just a shock after they had done so well.

- - - Updated - - -

Yeah even though they were all very small, the larger one was noticably fatter and bigger so that does sound like it would be the case. I wasnt to keen on the idea that he had physically killed the others from how they had died, the whole limp and not eating thing, so those factors do sound like they could have been caused by stress.

 

[Colin]

Yes very hard to come up with answers. Sad situation losing any animals. Hope the one left continues to thrive.

 

[Colubrido]

He seems to be. Thanks

 

[Snake_Whisperer]

Sorry to hear that mate. IMO, (not having ever kept CTS or housed snakes together) all you can do now is watch and wait. If your last animal continues on as normal, then as others have said, likely a dominance/stress issue. Pure speculation on my part but not likely disease related if you end up with no health problems with the remaining animal. Hope it keeps kicking for ya, and if it does, perhaps try housing separately in the future. Good luck with it mate.

 

[Stuart]

Sorry to hear mate, never nice losing ones animals. It's been touched on that it may be stress which Tree Snakes tend to suffer from a bit easier than other snakes but just in case, do you have the opportunity of getting an autopsy on one of the other two?

 

[Blackdog]

Bad news mate, were you feeding live goldfish?

 

[geckodan]

Three words - POST MORTEM EXAMINATION

 

[stimigex]

Three words - POST MORTEM EXAMINATION

Agreed! another word- QUARANTINE.

If you are in a work environment that sells reptiles think very carefully about your
contact with the reptiles at your work place or any where else untill you know what killed yours!

 

[jairusthevirus21]

I used to keep certain animals together as well but i learnt my lesson and house them all separately now...(except for breeding pairs) Murphy's Law is prevalent in this hobby so i do what i can now to prevent any issues e.g 12 month quarantine. Don't feel too bad! Its all part of the learning process.

 

[crocodile_dan]

Just speculation but, any chance of contaminated food source (fish exposed to water treatments)?

 

[Colubrid]

Just speculation but, any chance of contaminated food source (fish exposed to water treatments)?

That was my question too. There have been many cases where this has been the cause of death.
A lot of aquarium products have some horrible chemicals in them which can even be harmful to humans so would have no problem killing a snake.

Sorry to hear about your snakes btw.

 

[Amazing Amazon]

Agree with above. What have you fed them in the last week?

 

[GeckoJosh]

Sorry to hijack, but are fish that have been exposed to meds no good forever or can you "quarantine" them?

 

[cheekabee]

Yeah the fish had probably been exposed to aquarium chemicals which are fatal to snakes, I have a aquarium free of chemicals where I breed chiclids to feed my golden so I have a never ending food source and I know the fish haven't been exposed to chemicals, if I ever need to buy feeder fish I leave them in a breeder box in the aquarium for a couple of days before I feed them to my golden tree snake just to be safe. BTW SEAN-C-K-N are your co-workers from upmarket aquariums at vic market.

 

[Colubrido]

I left my job at the aquarium mid year so its unlikely that it was picked up from another snake. I was feeding them live danios. they were too small for goldfish. It crossed my mind that the danios might have had a problem and passed it onto the snakes. There was no visible signs of health issues on the snakes, they looks fine as they always did. and honestly I wasnt prepared to perform an autopsy because, well really I wouldnt know what the hell I would be doing but yeah time will tell if stress was the cause if the last one left thrives and does well as he is now