A few days ago I lost one of my prized adult female eastern indigos, “Rebecca”
She was very obviously gravid, and had bred several times.

The snake has given me 3 good clutches, she was 7 years old, and upon measuring her after death, was 6’10” long. In 2002, she laid a stunning 16 eggs, 15 of which hatched into perfect babies.

I felt I needed to pass this on:

In 2003, she became swollen but did not lay eggs, and upon examination at the vet through ultrasound, we found one small, underdeveloped egg. This was removed using only a tiny incision.
My vet felt as if she would be fine to breed again.

I gave her 2004 off, and bred her again this fall and winter…so she would have been due to lay in April of 2005. She didn’t make it.

I don’t know if it was the breeding that killed her…looks like she was on the way out anyway.
Here are the Necropsy results as submitted to me:

RIP Rebecca

Abnormal liver with raised, yellowish-whitish spots all over.
One firm nodular mass in the pancreas, appeared caseous upon incision - hardened abscess.
Multiple follicles of various sizes. The entire oviduct and uterus were adhered to the peritoneum, and appeared bloody. More caseous material found in the fat bodies.
One nodular structure which may possibly be an egg yolk - was hard upon palpation and appeared caseous upon incision.

Possible cause of death: Cardiovascular failure due to sepsis due to (egg yolk) peritonitis.

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