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This morning, as I went to my outbuilding to load my male Burmese for a couple of presentations, I found my female albino dead in her cage. This caught me by surprise, as I had been out there with them at 8:00 last night and everything was fine (sort of -- more on that in a minute). Both snakes were acting fine. However, after I removed the female from her holding container after cleaning the cage, I noticed a thick, clear liquid/discharge in the bottom of the container. I think much about because neither snake was acting odd. I found her dead at 6:00 this morning, ten hours after leaving them for the evening. She hadn't eaten in a little over a week, and had just recently shed her skin (just prior to eating). She passed her meal normally. Everything was in check. Just wondering if any of you out there have had any similar experiences. I don't have a lot of snakes coming in and going out of care -- I only have the two Burms and an Everglades rat snake, and it's been that way for some time. I am taking the carcass to a nearby lab for an autopsy to see if they can determine the cause of death. Just looking for answers.

It is a sad day indeed. That albino was 10 years old, 16 1/2 feet long and pushing 180 pounds. She was incredibly tame, and was a great ambassador for the serpent world. On her last public outing, she lay still while kids poked and prodded and petted her nonstop for over an hour. She never flinched, and she never acted agitated. She was an incredible snake. She will be missed.

RP

Sorry to hear that man. Really, I am. I know how sad it is to lose a pet. Especially one that you have had so long. This sounds like asphyxiation from the mucus generated from a severe respitory infection. A pair of adult ceylonese that I bought a year and a half ago died shortly after getting them back home. The female died in just a few days, after spewing the milky/clear mucus. The male a month or so later. The breeder, (who shall remain nameless) whom I trusted at that time, replaced these with a pair of malaysian bloods and some jungle carpets. The female blood began spewing the same thick mucus a few days after her arival. I told the breeder about it and even sent him a video so he could see it. I got no response. He either didn't care, or thought I was making it up. I treated her with baytril and homeopathic methods. She pulled through, but the male died. He had something else entirely. He lost all function and power in his lower body and developed extreme kinks in his spine. The jungle carpets turned out to be the ugliest brown jungles I have ever seen. I swear, I thought they were coastals. Not sure really who originally produced them, but I was told they came from a black and yellow pair. (yeah right, and I am Robert Deniro). I am not going to bother breeding these junk jungles and instead have gotten some nice looking ones to breed. Anyway, I know I strayed from the original point, but I guess what I am saying is that nothing good seems to come of sick and dying snakes and those who sell them. (or broker them)

Again,... my condolences on your loss.

>>This morning, as I went to my outbuilding to load my male Burmese for a couple of presentations, I found my female albino dead in her cage. This caught me by surprise, as I had been out there with them at 8:00 last night and everything was fine (sort of -- more on that in a minute). Both snakes were acting fine. However, after I removed the female from her holding container after cleaning the cage, I noticed a thick, clear liquid/discharge in the bottom of the container. I think much about because neither snake was acting odd. I found her dead at 6:00 this morning, ten hours after leaving them for the evening. She hadn't eaten in a little over a week, and had just recently shed her skin (just prior to eating). She passed her meal normally. Everything was in check. Just wondering if any of you out there have had any similar experiences. I don't have a lot of snakes coming in and going out of care -- I only have the two Burms and an Everglades rat snake, and it's been that way for some time. I am taking the carcass to a nearby lab for an autopsy to see if they can determine the cause of death. Just looking for answers.
>>
>>It is a sad day indeed. That albino was 10 years old, 16 1/2 feet long and pushing 180 pounds. She was incredibly tame, and was a great ambassador for the serpent world. On her last public outing, she lay still while kids poked and prodded and petted her nonstop for over an hour. She never flinched, and she never acted agitated. She was an incredible snake. She will be missed.
>>
>>RP
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Human "progress" equates to nature's demise.

Im very sorry to hear of your loss. Im sure it was natural as she was obviously well taken care of. There will be more Im sure. I know how it feels.

I don't think it was a respiratory infection. I've dealt with respiratory infections before, and she gave no signs of having any illness. Had I noticed something wrong with her, I would have sought veterinary advice immediately. As I type this, she is on her way to the lab, so I hope in a few days I'll have a cause of death. She was eating normally, and was very active when I opened the door of the cage. It is very puzzling.

RP

I just read you post above explaining about the egg impaction. I was going to say yesterday that it was odd that she didn't exhibit a few weeks or more of coughing and wheezing. I had never witnessed a snake with an RI not show symptoms before, but the puddle of goo and the sudden death did sound like it. A big albino Labyrinth I got a couple of years ago came in very sick with a severe RI and I took her to my vet, had cultures done and the whole 9 yards. I spent over 700 dollars on the visit, cultures and about 8 bottles of Baytril. But the night I got her back from the vets, and before I could even get the antibiotics into her, she up and died. She was a very strong and otherwise healthy snake too, aside from the RI. She shouldn't have died like that. But she did. I only had her for two days and it killed me to find her dead. I have a very deep love for snakes and all animals, you see. So it really doesn't matter if I have had them for a long time or not. Or even at all. When I read about your girl dieing I was instantly saddened as if she were my own. I wish things like this didn't happen. I wish all snakes could live out their entire natural lifespans. They rarely do though. I feel that we all (herpers in general) have a lot to learn about them and a long way to go before we can provide the best care possible for them.

I wish I had an extra albino baby to give you. I would if I did, but I don't right now. Maybe you can check with some of the bigger breeders if they have some cheap extras laying around. I hear some of them actually sell their surplus pythons to overseas meat industries. This sickens me, but after all the other stuff I have heard lately I tend to believe it completely.

>>I don't think it was a respiratory infection. I've dealt with respiratory infections before, and she gave no signs of having any illness. Had I noticed something wrong with her, I would have sought veterinary advice immediately. As I type this, she is on her way to the lab, so I hope in a few days I'll have a cause of death. She was eating normally, and was very active when I opened the door of the cage. It is very puzzling.
>>
>>RP
-----
Human "progress" equates to nature's demise.

Thanks for your kind words. My wife and I have an 11 month old son, and I really wanted him to grow up helping me tend to Alberta. I also hoped to have a successful breeding this year; I wanted her bloodline to live on. She was an incredible snake. I'm not sure what I'm going to do. I would like to get another baby snake. And I'm also toying with the idea of buying a larger female for breeding with my male next season. At first I was turned off to getting another Burm; I had my mind set on getting a baby retic (I've been wanting another retic for a while now; it's been over five years since I had one). But I could be persuaded to get another baby Burm -- definitely another albino. I'm still deciding. My immediate concern is getting my outbuilding finished and getting Murray into his new cage. After I pay the bill for getting my yard fenced in and getting my snake building finished, I'll take inventory of my cash flow and see where to go from there. I thought albinos would be cheaper than I've seen them advertised recently!

RP

Sorry to hear about your loss, it sounds like she was quite a snake. I agree with Brian about the respiratory infection idea, a friend of mine had a baby Burm show the same symptoms(he bought her from another seller who will remain nameless). We saved the snake from that problem, but he lost her to other problems. Again, sorry for your loss, please let us know what the cause was if you find out.

How very, very sad. My condolences.