Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I woke up to find my male butter corn dead. His mouth was askew and a chip of supstrate was in there, but not stuck or anything. He had just shed and showed no unusual health signs previously. Should I be concerned about parasites? This particular snake ate live mice (from a reputable source) while all my other snakes eat frozen. My cages are fairly close together, what are the chances of something passing on? I'm a bit shaken up right now and nervous. Please advise...

Any super runny,smelly stools?Acting strange?Just make sure you wash your hands between handling.The only way to find out how it died is a necropsy.And that might not tell anything.Im sorry for your loss but it happens.I had a heating mat with a rheostat that fried out on me last week and I lost a male hypo.It really doesnt make me feel any better knowing what caused it.I do check all my mats on a weekly basis and the mat was fine the day before.Some things just happen we cant control.If your the adventures type like me do the necropsy yourself.You can rule out impactions,choked to death on substrate,and check the liver for spots,or abnormal growths...Paul

Everything seemed fine, I thought of doing a necropsy but assumed I'd learn little (about the cause of death that is). Truth is it's been years since I dissected a snake and was a bit turned off by operating on an unprepared one. For future referrence, does one have to let rigomortise set in first, or prepare the specimen in formaldihyde? or can one just get the scalpel and pins ready and go in? How much bodily fluid escapes during such an operation? Please share your experience. Thank you.

On one of my burmese I let her freeze first outside,then I thawed her laid her on sheet of plywood sitting on 3 sawhorses.I started cutting from the rectum on up careful not to cut any insides.It's pretty much the same as gutting a deer.I thought she may have been eggbound but she had large black,dark blood looking liver that I assumed killed her.

You could dissect like you did in school with the pins and the pan.Corns arent going to make a big mess unless you cut into organs.