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She had been ill. I had been treating her for stomatitis. Vet had found unidentified parasites in a bloody fecal sample.(Sample is off to the lab.)
She showed signs of improvement, then backslid, several times. Very frustrating.
My vet tried to help me all she could, but she just couldn't be saved. She was so bad this morning, I opted to euthanize.

The vet did a necropsy, which was inconclusive. (She allowed me to observe, and even participate. I found it very educational.)

I had her perscribe for all my snakes. I am so worried about something running rampant through my whole collection.

I know that stomatitis tends to be husbandry related, but I can't figure out for the life of me what I am doing wrong! Neither can my vet. Temps and humidity are good, I keep cages clean. Each snake has it's own feeding container and tools. Last fecals were clean. (2 years ago) I feed exclusively F/T rats from a reputable dealer.

The vet seems to think that I did nothing wrong, and it was just "one of those things." Unavoidable. However, I just can't rest thinking that whatever I did wrong, I am doing wrong with ALL my snakes! I am very worried.

I spent over $500 and many sleepless nights trying to save this snake, and it just tore me up to lose her. She was a captive bred female that I have had for about 8 years, and she the had always apeared healthy.

I cried all day at work. Just because they are not furry or fluffy, I still love each and every one of my snakes. Many folks simply can not understand that. There isn't much that I wouldn't do to ensure the health and comfort of every one of my animals.

Thanks for listening. Any ideas would be apreciated.

" Each snake has it's own feeding container and tools."

Were they all housed seperatly?
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www.NEWReptiles.com

Yes, all snakes housed separately.

The thing is, I keep all snakes envoronments as similar as possible. Therefore, I am worried that whatever I have done wrong, I am doing it with my other snakes, too.

She had not been in contact with another snake since 3 years ago. (Unsuccesful breeding attempt. Simply didn't breed that snake again.)

My vet insists that it was nothing I did wrong, but I just can't believe that.

R.I.P. Batman............

Sorry to hear about your lost. As long as you didn't share water bowls , handle other snakes without washing your hands, and didn't expose the others to her or her cage then I doubt you have anything "running through your collection".. If you use a substrate other than newspapers or paper towels it is possible that she had a piece of the substrate lodged in her mouth and that may be what caused the mouthrot you mentioned, this is why I opt to use only newspaper or paper towels as neither of those are have sharp pieces that can cause damage while the snake is trying to eat. Relax and calm down , if your going to keep reptiles (or any animal for that matter) you must be able to accept the fact that "things happen" and somtimes they die, it is sad but it is just life. Learn from this experience and once you know what may have caused this to happen do all you can to prevent it from happening again, that's all you can do at this point. Perhaps this experience will prevent you from a far worse loss someday like having a Pied, Albino, Spider , Pastel or whatever valuable, expensive, morph you may have die from a similiar situation. We all have lost snakes at one time or another, we try hard not to but no matter how much you try or spend on expensive setups it can and will happen to anyone , especially if your like some of us and have a fairly large collection. I think your other snakes will likely be fine if you keep things clean and seperate for awhile to make sure nothing has spread, just to be safe. Good luck , Anthony McCain-McCain's Reptiles.

Thank you.

This is most definitely not the first time I have lost a critter. I have over 30 animals in my home right now, almost all rescues. It is just devastating to try so hard, see improvement, then lose one. My vet bills in the last week total almost 3 months of my salary.

I try my best to provide the best possible home for each and ever one, and I relly feel like I have let somebody down when I fail.

Thanks for the words of encouragement. I was just really hoping to learn from this experience, and prevent anyone else from having to go through it.

When I get sad about it, I simply look at one of my "Miracle Critters" who didn't seem to have a chance, and see how happy they are now, and, yes, it's all worth it.

I can tell from your posts that you truely do care for them as well as possible, that's awesome, we need more people like you owning them, if you ever have any other questions feel free to email me directly @ mccainreptiles@Iowatelecom.net as I enjoy helping people like yourself who do this because they love working with reptiles, and don't just see it as $$$ like so many do. Take care, and good luck with your collection! Anthony McCain-McCain's Reptiles.