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SarahScales

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I have lost a member of my snake family this morning, much to my despair. Whilst I am devastated about losing him, I am very curious as to what could have happened for him to die so suddenly.

  • There was no loss of condition
  • No repository issues
  • He was a larger snake 5ft+ with no injuries
  • No slow-down in eating
  • No shakiness, head-shaking or neurological appearing issues
He was a well conditioned, active and an extremely healthy animal. His only issue recently was a little difficulty with the last shed but that was my fault for not keeping him humid enough which was rectified immediately following.

He showed no signs of being unwell or 'coming down' with anything.

My tank is a converted display cabinet which is divided in two horizontally. There is a hole connecting the heated top from the cold bottom half.

I found him this morning, half way between the two parts of the enclosure heading upwards: However he was bent back over on his back with his mouth wide open. It appears like he fell back on his head but I doubt with a snakes muscular strength that would be the case.

I'm completely at a loss as to what could have happened and of course, very worried about the rest of my collection spontaneously dying. I am unable to get the animal autopsied until Friday so I was wondering if anyone had any ideas as to what could have happened?
 
Nope! Nothing and all the animals around him were fine. He just dropped off completely unexpectedly.
 
Sorry mate, that doesn't sound like a very nice thing to find. Sorry for your pet as well. I can't help with possible reasons. Sounds quite weird.
 
sorry to hear about your loss
maybe you could take the snake to the vet for an autopsy or something?
 
I had the same thing happen to my spotted python, I found him too late to get a necropsy done but he appeared to have broken his back. He was half way behind his hide/background thing. I am thinking he got stuck and thrashed around and injured himself badly.
 
Thats so sad, I am so sorry for your loss :(
It does sound weird and hope the necropsy will determine something on Friday.
Such a shame when something like this happens.
 
Sometimes they just turn up their heels. I've lost a couple here and there, seemingly 100% healthy and then wham!! Dead as a dodo! It's frustrating when it happens, and incredibly disheartening.
 
Sorry to hear about the loss of your MD, I hope you are okay and that you get some answers about what might have caused this terrible tragedy.
 
It could have been some sort of congenital condition. Quite often you don't see them as they can be asymptomatic but are a ticking time bomb. Sorry about your snake :(
 
I lost my childrens python on wendnesday, seemed healthy and fine to me up until wednesday morning, it just happens i guess, sorry for your loss :(

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I am sorry for your loss. While I haven't lost any of my snakes, I know how devastating it can be for an animal to die so unexpectedly. :cry:

I remember on here ssssnakeman posted about one of his tiger snakes that died suddenly from a rupture. And Venomous_RBB recently lost her BHP from multiple tumors. Sometimes these things just happen and it has nothing to do with husbandry. Hopefully an autopsy will provide some answers. :(
 
Sorry for your loss.....I lost a 5 year old Carpet 18 mths ago , It literary dropped off the branch in front of me and died ,it was devastating. No signs of any sickness at all . The only change of behaviour was she favoured the warmer spots and seemed to stay there a bit longer than usual.
 
I had a Cal King that was about 12 yrs old. He was cruising his tank at night, I woke in the morning and he had died. Very odd and very strange.

Just know that it happens and try to not be so hard on yourself.

So sorry for your loss

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Sorry for your loss :( be sure to let us know what caused it when you find out
 
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