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Well, my 5 year old albino corn snake just died. I came home from work to find his mouth open and coughing up blood everywhere. The he stopped for a while and then started bleeding out of his nose. Then after a while he started twisting and convulsing and spewed blood everywhere until he finally passed away. It was so sudden, I'm so confused as to what went wrong. I called the vet and he said that most likely it was a genetic disease/disorder passed down since with albino snakes, most breeders inbreed them and that passes down disorders and such. He stopped eating a little over a month ago, but before that he was a perfect little angel with eating. 2 mice every 2 weeks. Then he just, stopped. I don't know what went wrong. Do you guys think the vet is most likely correct? Or maybe there was something else? I couldn't find any symptoms of snake diseases with his behavior. No mites, parasites, ticks, nada. No phlegm, mucous, nothing. Just stopped eating and then started bleeding. It couldn't have been an obstruction in his stomach since I feed him in a separate plastic container. I just want to know some opinions. Thanks.

That must have been a horrible experience for your precious snake, and for you watching helplessly. I've never heard of anything like this so am no help with answers. My vet does free Necropsies on pets. Did you save or bury your snake? If he's in the freezer then call the vet back and ask. If you buried him then too late. Hopefully someone here can offer you some ideas, and hopefully it was not anything contagious.
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Lyns Lair
Frogwatch USA
WNY Herpetological Society

0.1 Cat (Mia)
4.2 Ferrets (Wolf, Shadow, Verdell, Sullivan, Boo, Peach)
1.0 Carpet Python (Bear)
1.0 Malagasy Blonde Hognose Snake (Wilbur)
1.0 Yellow / Everglades Rat Snake (Pumpkin)
1.0 Russian Sand Boa (Fang)
0.1 Normal Corn Snake (Mysty)
1.0 Anery Corn Snakes (Suezo)
1.0 Banded Water Snake (Ripley)
0.1 Golden Greek Tortoise (Sunshine)
0.2 Mississippi Mud Turtles (working on names)
1.0 Green Iguana (Norbert)
1.0 Whites Tree Frog (Trevor)
2.0 Solomon Island Eyelash Frogs (Chompy & Gimli)
1.0 AFT Gecko (Cocoa)
5.5 Leopard Geckos (Trouble, Scooter, Simba, Firenze, Teddy, Mystique, Freckles, Dotty, Zipper, Twister)

I lost my second snake very suddenly and know it isn't easy to accept not knowing what caused it.

Wayne

>>Well, my 5 year old albino corn snake just died. I came home from work to find his mouth open and coughing up blood everywhere. The he stopped for a while and then started bleeding out of his nose. Then after a while he started twisting and convulsing and spewed blood everywhere until he finally passed away. It was so sudden, I'm so confused as to what went wrong. I called the vet and he said that most likely it was a genetic disease/disorder passed down since with albino snakes, most breeders inbreed them and that passes down disorders and such. He stopped eating a little over a month ago, but before that he was a perfect little angel with eating. 2 mice every 2 weeks. Then he just, stopped. I don't know what went wrong. Do you guys think the vet is most likely correct? Or maybe there was something else? I couldn't find any symptoms of snake diseases with his behavior. No mites, parasites, ticks, nada. No phlegm, mucous, nothing. Just stopped eating and then started bleeding. It couldn't have been an obstruction in his stomach since I feed him in a separate plastic container. I just want to know some opinions. Thanks.

Sounds like signs of cancer to me... either of the stomach or digestive organs.

-cat
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My collection and herp photography

www.lowergroundreptiles.net

i don't know what could have happened with your snake, but i can bet that your vet doesn't work with snakes much. Most corn breeders wouldn't bother to inbreed albinos becuase of such high availability for outcrossing. also, for a genetic anomoly/defect, it is not that weak. however, your vet's conclusion would fit very well if they were dealing with an albino mammal. Just a thought I know there's not many vets out there who are well versed in herps, simply because there is not a percieved demand for them, however it would still be nice if there were more. Well, enough of my rambling, I'm very sorry for your loss, i can't imagine how i would feel if that happened to me, you have my greatest sympathies.
-katie & elliot (pogona)
0.4 Columbian Red-Tails
1.1 Dumeril's Boas
1.1 Kenyan Sand Boas(1 anery)
3.0 Ball Pythons
0.1 Albino Burmese Python
1.0 Albino Prairie King
0.1 Nelson's Milksnakes
1.1 Cal King
10.14 Corn Snake(Various Morphs)
1.0 Box Turtles
0.0.2 Leopard Tortoises
0.3 Red-Eared Sliders
0.0.1 Soft-Shell Turtle
1.4.1 Leopard Geckos
0.1 Fat-Tail Gecko
4.4 Bearded Dragons
1.0 Green Iguana
0.1 Veiled Chameleons
2.0 Savanna Monitors
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0.1 Dog(Pekingese, Suzy)