Snake passed away

[Lewis_A]

Alright so, not sure if this is the right section for the topic, anyways. I just found one of my snakes had passed away, my Bredli of 3 years.. I'm not necessarily freaking out but I am mortified and dono what to do, I guess I'll start with what I believe happened.

This saturday I fed my snakes, they all ate fine, including the one that passed, nothing wrong on sunday, on Monday I left at around midday to spend the night with my girlfriend, came back Tuesday (I live in Sweden so timezones aint the same) and filled their water bowls, it was very hot in their room due to a heatwave but nothing seemed abnormal and the water bowls weren't depleted, came back a couple of hours later to check on them and notice that the bredli isn't moving, that she looks awefully tense and has buried her head under the substrate which is odd, lift her up and I feel right away that she's in Rigor Mortis. Basically just go blank and sit down and stare at the wall until now, all the others are perfectly fine, I don't understand why she of all of them would be affected as she has been my most positive feeder and most active snake the last few months.

Anyways, now I'm just sitting here, I don't even know what to do, I feel like I don't deserve to have the other snakes, I feel like an absolute horrible owner. I realize that everything that lives also dies but 3 years and I'm supposed to be their caretaker, anyone who's gone through something similiar that has any advice on what to do about it? Like I said I don't even know if this is the right place for it but I just needed to get it all out and breathe.

 

[Bushman]

Don't be too hard on yourself. These things happen and it may be nothing to do with your husbandry practices.
Having said that, try and find out why she died, to perhaps prevent it happening again. You will probably have to take her to a vet (ideally a reptile specialist) for a necropsy to determine the cause of death.

 

[montysrainbow]

Firstly I am sorry for your loss, loosing a pet of any kind is hard and secondly don't beat yourself up over it! You didn't kill her and even if you dId you didn't mean it.
I'm not sure what your supposed to do re the formal side of things (I've never lost a reptile yet) but I think as far as how u r feeling u need to take a deep breath and realise these things happen sometimes and it's not your fault. I also would speak to a vet and maybe try finding out if she had any underlying issues that you weren't aware of....might make u feel better. Hopefully it isn't anything that can pass to your other snakes , but if they are housed separately I think the chances would be slim.

 

[beastcreature]

The heatwave may have had something to do with it. There are a few threads on aps you might want to investigate that touch on the dangers of heatwaves & why you should lay off feeding during one.

Really sorry, losing a pet is always a hard thing to go through.

 

[Lewis_A]

Thank you all for your words, I'll get her checked up tomarrow, as for feeding prior to a heatwave, as I live in Sweden and have had no issues with it before I didn't think much of it. I was wrong.

 

[Bushman]

When you say 'heatwave', how hot are we talking about?

 

[beastcreature]

Thank you all for your words, I'll get her checked up tomarrow, as for feeding prior to a heatwave, as I live in Sweden and have had no issues with it before I didn't think much of it. I was wrong.

Of course there is no way of knowing without a necropsy. Heatwaves are something Australian keepers, especially those in the hotter states have to be mindful of. I have no idea what kind of temperatures your animals experienced, that's why I suggest you investigate it further.

 

[Lewis_A]

Well in Sweden a heatwave in early june would be just shy of 25degrees celsius, if that heat got trapped in a room it could and probably would rise over time, a snake dying to natural heat in Sweden sounds odd but considering she ate 2 days prior it isn't impossible I suppose...

 

[beastcreature]

Well in Sweden a heatwave in early june would be just shy of 25degrees celsius, if that heat got trapped in a room it could and probably would rise over time, a snake dying to natural heat in Sweden sounds odd but considering she ate 2 days prior it isn't impossible I suppose...

25 degrees is definitely not a temperature to worry about.

 

[Lewis_A]

25 degrees is definitely not a temperature to worry about.

That's why I think it's weird, it was rather hot when I stepped inside the room though, I really don't know what else, the only other thing I noticed about her is that the back of her head looked rather bulged.

 

[Hamalicious]

What temperatures do you keep your enclosures? 25 degrees is a normal day here in Australia. Our heat waves get over 40 degrees.

 

[Varanoidea]

25 degrees makes me want to go for a surf. Unless your room temperature increased by another 17+ degrees I would call it unlikely the temperature is what has caused your snake to pass.

 

[salebrosus]

What substrate are you using? Autopsy should hopefully give you answers..... I've had an animal drop on me only to find it had a heart defect and the fact I had the animal for seven years was just good luck. It couldve died at anytime.....so dont be too hard on yourself. If autopsy results show something you have done to be the cause if its death then just put it down to experience.

 

[Pythoninfinite]

As others have said, otherwise healthy animals (and humans) sometimes die for no apparent reason, so I wouldn't feel guilty about an event like this. It sounds like you know what you're doing as far as husbandry goes, but I wondered if, given your cooler (bloody cold!) climate, whether you use thermostats? Your house would have central heating for winter I'm sure. If you don't use thermostats, it is possible that a warmer than usual day, coupled with uncontrolled heat sources, could cause a buildup of heat.

As others have suggested, in Oz it is unwise to offer food prior to, or during, a heatwave if the enclosure temperature is likely to get very high, but without knowing the actual conditions in your snake-room, it's difficult to suggest a likely cause. If the veterinary examination shows anything conclusive, please let us know!

Jamie

 

[adderboy]

If it wasn't excessive heat (and you're in the best position to know, but approx 25c deg is nothing to worry about), it's worth checking other things - like was the enclosure warm enough? Was the snake over-fed on this occasion? We there any contaminants in the cage or room?

Not saying any of these apply, just saying they are worth consideration.

Otherwise, as others have said, it could be just bad luck that the snake had a fatal abnormality. Which is hardly your fault.

S