Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Has anyone encountered this in chondro babies? I have lost 4 out of 5 CH babies right after they eat. They were all well started. They were all between 5 and 8 months old. I'm afraid to feed them. They die within a few hours of eating. I have been feeding them frozen / thawed about every 10 days.

I'd look into where you're getting your frozn rodents from. I know of too many keepers who have lost animals due to bad frozen rodents. Besides, a frozen rodent starts too loose nutritional value after 2 months in the freezer. I raise all my own rodents so they are always fresh and I know what I feed them. Never had a problem with any animal.

Make that USA CB. They still call imports CB if they were bred in overseas farms and exported. I think they should start using the USA CB designation to differentiate between the two so you know what you are getting. Imported farmed CB or USA CB.

They are bred and hatched here in Florida. I have had them since December. I have fed them mice I have raised and mice I have purchased. I know how to thaw mice. These took the mouse off foreceps and the next morning they were dead on the bottom. They didn't all do it the same day. It's been ongoing for several months. The first one I thought it just a fluke. Now, I'm wondering why they drop dead.

I might be wrong here but I would guess more then 90% of all reptile imports come in through Florida...
With Chondro's I know a good majority of them come into Colorado... And I would guess whatever doesn't comes into Florida...

If the animals were produced in Florida from an actual breeder I would expect you to have a linage on the animal, and pictures of the parents... Granted some people broker out clutches, but I don't think the majority of Chondro breeders broker out animals they have hatched themselves to someone at a low price to sell for them...

You might consider the possibility that the person might have lied to you to make a sale... I can't even count how many times someone comes on this very website asking questions about their US CB animals being sick and having parasites...

Just something to think about...
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Shiloh Hawkesworth
kansas
(Midwest Serpents)

I'm not sure I would call that SIDS...
By CH I assume you mean Captive Hatched... Based on that I might also assume these are imports being sold as Captive Hatched?
There is several possible explanations for the death after a meal... Considering your are batting 4 for 4 I would wonder how you are thawing your meals and where they came from... If the meal was too hot I can see it causing problems and if it were still frozen on the inside I could see a problem... "Captive Hatched" and imports are notorious for dropping dead unexpectedly with no warning or obvious reason, heck Captive Bred animals can do the same thing... How long did you have these in your care before this happened? It might be that all 4 had an RI and chowing a meal was the final straw...

If these came from an actual breeder I would expect they would make it right with you, but it sounds like they came from a broker and I only know one of that that I would trust...

I would suggest contacting the person that sold them to you and trying to work something out and consider buying Captive Bred babies from someone that is willing to stand by their animals on the next go around...

Good Luck
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Shiloh Hawkesworth
kansas
(Midwest Serpents)

My guess would be that it is not food related. However....I would put that food on hold and get some food from another source and see if the trend continues. It's an easy test.

A lot of neonates with problems do die soon after feeding. Feeding is a stressor on the body that will often be just enough to kill an animal with other problems. In other words, your babies may have some health issue, and feeding taxes their bodies to the breaking point.

Is it possible that the food items were too large? Thanks Robin

I never overfeed. The mouse was about the size of the girth of the snake.

It was a question not an accusation. I have quite a few 6 month old GTP's that are just now eating fuzzies. I tend to err on the small side with food for GTP's unlike other snakes since they are prone to hair and urate impaction and prolapse. It is also important to record defecations.I have necropsied several youngsters that were impacted or ate something to large for them. Robin

I forgot to mention hydration is critical for avoiding impaction,prolapse and SIDS. Robin

We'll know soon enough. He's in for a necropsy and histology

.
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Shiloh Hawkesworth
kansas
(Midwest Serpents)