Reptile & Amphibian Forums

iam sad to say that two days ago my ball python died. he was suffering from a cold and from a bad shed. he choked...
i burried him under this huge nice shady willow tree.
be for he died i pushed everything away from me and tended to his needs, and made sure he felt comfortable. i would pick him up and hold him close to my chest and wishper to him. saying Kennan you hold on for a little bit longer. he would look up at me as if he was listening to what i was saying.
he was so weak that i had to take him to the tub and fill it up with a bit of water and lower his head down so he could drink. he loved it.
kennan and his girlfriend logan where my first ball pythons that i have ever owned. and i have never delt with a bad shed or sickness. i feel so horrible.
logan is depressed, they used to curl up around each other and drink at the same time, and when one was being held, the other would look around to see where they were at. im worried about logan now. i put her with another male named piper. she seems to be doing okay now, being with another male, and hes much bigger then her so ill see.
if i could give any advice or anything i would say that if you have a snake who looks like he or shes going through a bad shed, take care of it fast, because kennan choked to death while he was shedding. he was finally getting better but his skin was wraped around his chest and neck.
if i only heard him or woke up he would still be here, and i would still be holding him close to me.
kennan got his name from the lead singer of my favorite band. tool. maynard james kennan.
kennan baby you will never be forgotten. i feel your presence in me with every breath i take in. and i feel you crawling around my hands. from now on you are in consint peace forever.
in snake heaven, eat all your tummy can desire, and shed as many times as you wish to.
rest in piece my baby ball.
~mommy.

you shouldn't be keeping two juvenile balls together when one is male and the other is female. Even worse if the male is an adult. Secondly, balls don't get colds, they get repiratory infections that should be treated seriously by a vet, especially if you do not know what to do about it. You definitely should not keep snakes together when one has a RI and your other snake that was exposed to the snake with an RI should be kept away from other snakes until you are sure she is healthy. If your snake choked on its own skin while shedding, it was so weak that is was going to die no matter what, so you could not have saved it at that point. Treat RIs very seriously in the future and you might want to check you temps and consider lowering the humidity. Generally multiple balls in the same cage is not a good practice if you can avoid it.

Sorry to hear about your snake, from your posting anyone can tell that you really cared about and loved him!
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Bryan, Atlanta GA

1-0-0 Ball Python - Apep
1-1-0 Rats... no wait... ROTTEN Little Cats - Ra, Bastet
0-1-0 Little Angelic Kitten - Isis
1-0-0 Horse... whoops... BIG Golden Retriever - Jake
0-1-0 Wife
2-0-0 Kids

On how soon you want to read about how the next one died of an RI it caught from the first.

But hey, why try to save the snakes that are still alive right?

as soon as i found out kennan was ill (he did have an RI)... i took him out and put him in his own enclosure. and took logan out and bleached and cleaned out her tank very very well. i love her so much because she if my first and i would be lost if i lost her. i want to post a picture on the forum to show people what she looks like. shes very different looking. i dont know how to put a pic up though. (so if any body knows how to can they tell me? please?)
and yes, as soon as i read that i should not have her in the same tank as an older adult male i took her out. i treat her as if she is my child. she seemed to look a bit better knowing that im still here for her and im here to take care of her. i guess as long as she has me and my support she will be okay and happy, she loves this weather! i just moved down to NC from PA and shes glowing in the sunny weather!!! that i think should cheer her up a bit.
thank you for replying to me, i really do thank you all!!

Glad to hear it.
You have the right idea.Just keep reading.These forums are full of useful information.Alot of which is required for keeping a healthy bp.
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Charles Glaspie