RSP drowned itself?

[V1p3R]

Hi all,
I’m a bit devastated.
This morning I checked on my juvi Rough scaled python and found her entire body in her small water bowl with her head upside down under her body. She drowned.
She was a really great python with great temperament and showed no signs of anything wrong. Always took feeds etc.
It stumps me as to how and why this happened.

Has anyone seen this happen before and why would it happen?

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[kittycat17]

Wow I’m so sorry to hear of that
I’ve never heard of a snake drowning rip little one


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[EllieSkyline]

I do not have any usefull input, but just wanted to say that I am so sorry that happened to your baby. How horrible

I was forced to put down a gorgeous little spotted python a few days ago, I found it in the middle of my drive way, it had been dropped by a bird and most of his insides had left the side of his body, but was still alive, we swiftly put him out of his misery, I was balling.

Don't blame yourself sometimes horrible thing's happen

 

[Prof_Moreliarty]

Poor little bugger perhaps there was an undetected issue with the snakes heart or something and it just happened to be in the water when it died?

 

[Stompsy]

How awful

So sorry for your loss.

Unfortunately I cannot provide any answers, but maybe someone here has had the same thing happen and might be able to shed some light.

RIP.

 

[Foozil]

Thats horrible. so very sorry for your loss

 

[Yellowtail]

Absolutely awful, I've lost birds unexpectedly and while you are devastated it's not your fault, as Prof_Moreliarty said it was probably some unknown defect and just coincidence that it was in the water bowl or maybe it had an issue and was reacting by trying to cool down. I've heard of this happening with seizures in jags with neuro problems but RSP's are generally very healthy.

 

[Jonesy1990]

Oh no! [emoji33] Sorry for your loss. [emoji17]

I tend to agree that there may have been an underlying issue. It seems very strange for a snake to drown in such a small amount of water.

 

[V1p3R]

Thanks everyone for the well wishes and comments. It means a lot.
And I'm sorry to hear about all the other animals that people have lost. Very sad.

 

[pinefamily]

Sorry to hear of your loss. It is always a case of "have I done anything wrong?" As has been said, sometimes it is an underlying problem that happens even in the best setups.
Is the enclosure anywhere near ducted heating/cooling?

 

[Yellowtail]

One thing that can cause seizures in snakes is Pyrethrum insect spray but they usually need to come into contact with it.

 

[V1p3R]

Sorry to hear of your loss. It is always a case of "have I done anything wrong?" As has been said, sometimes it is an underlying problem that happens even in the best setups.
Is the enclosure anywhere near ducted heating/cooling?

I have my snakes in their own spare room which stays a fairly consistent temp with no heating or cooling in there apart from their lamps, which were off.
Possibly there was some sort of underlying issue that caused it, I cant think of anything else.

One thing that can cause seizures in snakes is Pyrethrum insect spray but they usually need to come into contact with it.

Thanks for that, I purposely keep any chemicals far away from my animals so if it was a seizure it was probably something that she has always had.

 

[Pauls_Pythons]

Only way to confirm if it was a drowning or not would be an autopsy though personally I very much doubt it.
Anyone's guess what cause of death is without it being confirmed medically.

 

[Buggster]

:/ really sucks.

The only thing I can think of is that perhaps he got a bit tangled up in his water bowl, panicked and didn’t get out in time. In which case, perhaps the very small water bowl would have contributed to this.
Alternatively, if he did have a seizure/some kind of episode, he would have drowned regardless of the size of the bowl and in only a few mls deep of water.

Could anything have contaminated the water or air? Perhaps something got on your hands prior to handling? Maybe he just got seriously unlucky, or maybe there was an underlying issue.

But in all- there wasn’t anything you could do. He needed water, and it was just extremely unfortunate he drowned. Don’t beat yourself up, it wasn’t your fault at all

 

[Bl69aze]

I’m sorry to hear this reminds me of my bird, waking up to find a lifeless animal that u grew up with (

To me it looks like he got tangled up, put his head in an area it shouldn’t have gone and then since snakes can’t go backwards (to an extent) he couldn’t pull his head out because the rest of his body was in the bowl. I only say this because when handling my snake she likes to put her head between her body and my hand and she struggles (not badly) to get out and maybe ur rsp didn’t have the “turning circle” space

Definitely not your fault and
Please don’t blame yourself! No one can see these things coming

 

[SpottedPythons]

It's not pleasant, and it's not nice, but death is a part of keeping animals - sometimes they die, and it's not your fault. It may possibly have been an unforeseen neurological issue possibly caused by lack of genetic diversity - all Rough-scaled Pythons in captivity branch from the same founder specimens due to their natural rarity and the inaccessibility of their habitat. RSPs have been bred in captivity for many years, and it is to be expected that the lack of genetic diversity would eventually cause problems even amongst the best bred animals. Kind of reminds me of the Jag gene in carpets - some babies look fine, then as they grow something "clicks" and they go too bonkers to survive... most snakes will keep their head above water naturally, even when soaked.

 

[Pauls_Pythons]

Snakes regularly submerge and can be capable of of staying underwater for up to 30mins.
As many other animals snakes will often take to water when in pain as the buoyancy effect of water can help to relieve pain. I say again the probability is slim that the snake drowned.

 

[Wally]

What a bummer. My condolences.