Autopsy of snake completed

[horsesrule]

Last week i had another thread regarding a snake that died after 11 days of purchase.

http://www.aussiepythons.com/forum/australian-snakes/snake-died-within-11-days-of-purchase-94954


I got a call from the Vet today to discuss the autopsy results, it turns out the snake was ridden with worms and the worms had perforated part of the bowel causing an infection which untimately killed the snake.

The vet said he has rarely seen a snake infested with so many worms.

The seller has been notified and i am getting a replacement so thats all good. There was nothing i could have done to help the snake even had i have known it was infested, from what i was told as it was just to far infested and was at time of purchase.

However on another note i wondered the following

Has anyone had snakes die from worms before here?
Has anyone ever purchased snakes with worms and had to treat them or lost them due to worms a short time after?

 

[whiteyluvsrum]

make sure the replacement isn't infested too!

 

[missllama]

would all there other hatchys have worms aswel? and there other reps??

im sorry about whats happend

 

[SamNabz]

good to hear it wasnt ur fault mate...only reason i commented in the last thread was because i thought it was a little unfair for u to quickly blame the dealer without having any proof or reason at the time really...
so good luck with the next one

 

[horsesrule]

The snake wasnt a hatchy it was a yearling.

 

[horsesrule]

It is possible any snakes it was housed with would have worms as apperantly worms are spread in the faeces.

 

[missllama]

well would all the other snakes it was around have worms? im unsure how worms effect snakes but anything its had contact with out they have it?

 

[missllama]

sorry u posted as i was typing that out cool
so will u get ur new one tested straight away just in case?

 

[funcouple]

good to know the reason your snake died. i would be wormming the replacement as soon as you get it

 

[horsesrule]

I will be honest i am not an expert but from what i understand only snakes that come in contact with the faeces of an infected snake can catch them.

But im sure there is plenty of experts here who can clarify.

 

[Jason]

they can get worms from infected rodents...hence another reason not to feed live food! i would worm the whole collection horsesrule to be safe.

 

[Lewy]

Its very easy and cheep to worm a snake if u dont have the correct worming needle then just put the worming stuff in a food item and bobs your uncle

Lewy

 

[horsesrule]

Yeah your right they also get it from live food thats why i dont feed my snakes live food.

I am gonna worm all my snakes though to be on the safe side.

 

[serpenttongue]

Thats pretty bloody bad husbandry from the petshop, to have a snake riddled with worms to the point that the snake dies!! Bloody hell!! :shock::evil:

And for them to sell it.......:shock:

They must have known about this, too, as a worm infestation will cause regurgitation of food shortly after consumption. Even with small infestations. It would take one strong willed snake to hold a meal down while suffering from a worm infestation!

Worms feed on the meal that has been swallowed by the snake, but they also do damage to the gut wall, causing severe ulcers.

Yes, exposure to faeces is the most common way of spreading worms from one snake to another, but i have also heard that they can spread just buy touch (holding an infected snake and then holding a non-infected snake), but i'm not sure how true that one is?? In any case was your hands after handling infected animals.

Bloody pet shops!!

 

[colinandbec]

i got my autopsy today for my diamond which died yesterday, and the same was infested with worms prob through rodants and also infected the bowel which caused the death, such a horrible thing, i got my python through a private seller on herp trader 4 months ago

 

[horsesrule]

In fairness to the seller,

The seller only purchaed the snake from a breeder mid year this year.

It was then cooled over the winter months.

I think the fact the seller is prepared to cover the costs of the autopsy shows this seller is genuine about ensuring this doesnt occur again.

I have heard they can be passed on by touch to? I wasnt sure of that though. In that case i am 100% going to worm the entire collection.

 

[waruikazi]

It's a good idea if you worm yourself now too and anyone who lives in your house. Most worms aren't species specific.

 

[serpenttongue]

The seller only purchaed the snake from a breeder mid year this year.

It was then cooled over the winter months.

The seller should have played it safe and wormed the snake before being cooled.

 

[Kersten]

Thats pretty bloody bad husbandry from the petshop to have a snake riddled with worms to the point that the snake dies!! Bloody hell!! :shock::evil:

And for them to sell it.......:shock:

They must have known about this, too, as a worm infestation will cause regurgitation of food shortly after consumption. Even with small infestations.

Worms feed on the meal that has been swallowed by the snake, but they also do damage to the gut wall, causing severe ulcers.

Yes, exposure to faeces is the most common way of spreading worms from one snake to another, but i have also heard that they can spread just buy touch (holding an infected snake and then holding a non-infected snake), but i'm not sure how true that one is?? In any case was your hands after handling infected animals.

Bloody pet shops!!

I agree with what you've said with only one exception. I've seen a couple of cases of worms in which food has been eaten and processed normally and the worms have been identified through fecal samples. It seems that if they don't come out one end eventually they'll come out the other.

It's often the case that they go off their food, especially in pretty extreme cases such as the one horsesrule has described. In any case there should have been some outward sign that there was a problem, either the snake would have been regurgitating, not eating for extended periods or passing off looking faeces (you can sometimes actually see the worms with the naked eye).

I've also heard tht it can be passed by the handler in the way that you've described and I guess if that's the case it's something as simple as an infected animal crawling through it's faeces and then over substrate which takes off all but a few microscopic particles and then being handled and the handler not washing before handling the next animal.

I don't mean to sound patronising Horsesrule, but I'd suggest quarantining the next snake from this shop for a very long time and worming it even if it seems healthy.

 

[horsesrule]

It did deficate the day of death though (i believe maybe just before it died and i found it) as i noticed it when the snake had died. There was no worms visible in the faeces but to be honest i never examined it in great detail. I did however notice a stench that was not like normal snake faeces smell.

I am going to worm all new snakes immediatly from now on. Thing is i dont think in this case worming it immediatly would have saved it anyway based on what the vet said to me.