salebrosus
Very Well-Known Member
I am after some opinions from experienced herpers, those who have kept many animals and the same ones for more than a couple of years.
The story..........
About two months ago my beautiful Cape York python had her first bad shed. The scales did not come off around her head and they didn't seem to budge. It stressed her out to try and remove them either by placing her in a damp pillow case or other methods so after discussing with other keeprs, it was decided to wait for them to come off in the next shed.
The weather got a bit cool and she went off her food. I thought the temps in her enclosure were warm enough for her to still be eating but again, after discussing with other keepers we put it down to the time of year. She seemed to be ok but about 3 weeks ago i was looking at those scales that would not come off and noticed it was slightly gooey around her gums. I took her straight to the vet who gave me two different anti-biotics and she received two injections every two days.
Her mouth seemed to clear up but thsoe scales would not budge. The lower end of her body appeared a little limp like she had lost condition and this greatly worried me. I returned her to the vet for her recheck on Monday night who removed her scales but also became alarmed at the rapid deterioration of the snake. She put her on oxygen and on antibiotics. By Tuesday she barely had a heartbeat and died yesterday at 2pm. I was completely stunned that she could've gone from what appeared to be "not so bad" to dead. I also freaked that what if it was a virus, bacteria etc etc. We requested an autopsy and after hearing the report back from the vet-i'm not sure if i feel any better.
The snake had no visible signs of anything being wrong other than those scales that would not come off. No lumps, etc etc she appeared perfect. The last poo sample had a small dark green bit in it but everything else appeared ok....solid etc. She was also wormed etc.
When the vet looked down her oesophagus there were lumps all down her throat (again not visible on the outside) and when cut open her liver and pancreas were yellow, not red or pink and when touched they broke apart. The vet said it was lymphatic sarcoma- basically she died from leukaemia. Her blood samples were sent to Taronga and we have been told it will take a couple of months to receive the report back.
I'm wanting to know if any other keepers have experienced this in snakes. The vet said she has seen this before but it is not common. I'm also wanting to know if it is hereditary- if it is in humans could it be so in snakes?
My father and I are so fussy about hygiene, she was never unhealthy until this so i guess i'm just looking to see if other breeders have experienced this and if there were any symptoms that they picked up on that i may have missed. Losing this girl hurts a great deal- she was my second snake and we've had her for over 4 years. She was 6.5 years ol when she died. I got her around the 2 year old mark as a resuce from some one who had mistreated her.
Regards,
Simone.
The story..........
About two months ago my beautiful Cape York python had her first bad shed. The scales did not come off around her head and they didn't seem to budge. It stressed her out to try and remove them either by placing her in a damp pillow case or other methods so after discussing with other keeprs, it was decided to wait for them to come off in the next shed.
The weather got a bit cool and she went off her food. I thought the temps in her enclosure were warm enough for her to still be eating but again, after discussing with other keepers we put it down to the time of year. She seemed to be ok but about 3 weeks ago i was looking at those scales that would not come off and noticed it was slightly gooey around her gums. I took her straight to the vet who gave me two different anti-biotics and she received two injections every two days.
Her mouth seemed to clear up but thsoe scales would not budge. The lower end of her body appeared a little limp like she had lost condition and this greatly worried me. I returned her to the vet for her recheck on Monday night who removed her scales but also became alarmed at the rapid deterioration of the snake. She put her on oxygen and on antibiotics. By Tuesday she barely had a heartbeat and died yesterday at 2pm. I was completely stunned that she could've gone from what appeared to be "not so bad" to dead. I also freaked that what if it was a virus, bacteria etc etc. We requested an autopsy and after hearing the report back from the vet-i'm not sure if i feel any better.
The snake had no visible signs of anything being wrong other than those scales that would not come off. No lumps, etc etc she appeared perfect. The last poo sample had a small dark green bit in it but everything else appeared ok....solid etc. She was also wormed etc.
When the vet looked down her oesophagus there were lumps all down her throat (again not visible on the outside) and when cut open her liver and pancreas were yellow, not red or pink and when touched they broke apart. The vet said it was lymphatic sarcoma- basically she died from leukaemia. Her blood samples were sent to Taronga and we have been told it will take a couple of months to receive the report back.
I'm wanting to know if any other keepers have experienced this in snakes. The vet said she has seen this before but it is not common. I'm also wanting to know if it is hereditary- if it is in humans could it be so in snakes?
My father and I are so fussy about hygiene, she was never unhealthy until this so i guess i'm just looking to see if other breeders have experienced this and if there were any symptoms that they picked up on that i may have missed. Losing this girl hurts a great deal- she was my second snake and we've had her for over 4 years. She was 6.5 years ol when she died. I got her around the 2 year old mark as a resuce from some one who had mistreated her.
Regards,
Simone.
