Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hello, I posted here a while ago about my female garter snake refusing her food. I waited the two weeks before feeding her and was about to give her a warm bath this morning when I found that she was no longer alive.

She wasn't eating and was very sleepy- I assumed this had everything to do with getting ready to hibernate. She had a swelling just before her vent, though, and hadn't defecated in some time. Again, I assumed this was because she hadn't eaten and there was nothing to expel. In that case, though, why would there be a swelling?

She never got horribly lethargic or weak. She was a little weak last night but I just took that as a sign that it was time to turn off the heat today!

I have no idea why she died. If anybody has had something similar happpen, please enlighten me as to what could have occurred here.

Thank you.
~Samantha

The only thing that I can think of is that the swelling was indicative of some kind of infection. Maybe she ingested something that perforated her bowel and that is what caused the area to swell. A systemic infection could also explain the lethargy. I'm sorry for your loss.

-Alice

It sounds like your snake may have developed fecoliths and/or an obstructed GI tract. Are you using an under-tank heater, and if so, what is the temperature of the glass at the bottom of the pen? If an under-tank heater gets too warm, it can "cook" and harden the feces inside the snake, leading to a GI blockage.

What substrate are you using? Could your snake have swallowed some non-digestable material? That would have also led to an obstructed GI tract and swelling in front of the vent.