I purchased a 7 foot boa this past June that never really seemed right. Her head looked very odd and she just appeared to be a very old snake (bulbous eyes and rough looking animal). Her stools have always been runny, never anything remotely similiar to a typical dog-style stool. She ate just fine and had good weight on her. Over the past month she had a slight foul odor to her. Nothing that was overbearing, you just noticed it when you would clean her cage. I really had not thought much about her stools as I have had boa's that had mostly loose stools in the past and she was acting fine. Anyways, last night I went to check on her and she opened her mouth as I approached the cage. Her mouth appeared normal and clean but this morning I awoke to a dead snake with her mouth fully opened.

So, here are my issues:

1) We do not have anyone local who specializes in this and who could do a necropsy.

2) I had my dh sunglow male in with her for several weeks about a month ago.

My questions regarding the above are:

1) In light of the fact that I do not have anyone available to perform a necropsy what do I do?

2) Since I had a $3000 animal in with her what do I do to ensure him as well as the rest of my collection are not affected?

3) Do you think this is something to be overly concerned with? Or do I simply keep a close eye on my male/other animals and go from there? He is acting/feeding just fine.

Any input is greatly appreciated!

Griz

[ Hide Replies ]

• Dead boa and not quite sure what the next step is........ - dutchoven, Thu Feb 2 11:27:45 2006
• Sorry about your snake - shot, Thu Feb 2 11:37:46 2006
• RE: Dead boa and not quite sure what the next step is........ - rainbowsrus, Thu Feb 2 12:58:09 2006
• RE: Dead boa and not quite sure what the next step is........ - dutchoven, Thu Feb 2 13:05:25 2006
• RE: Dead boa and not quite sure what the next step is........ - billstevenson, Thu Feb 2 18:08:54 2006
• RE: Dead boa and not quite sure what the next step is........ - wwreptiles, Thu Feb 2 21:03:45 2006