Reptile & Amphibian Forums

my friends rough green snake has died and she doesn't know why. does anyone know why they would die all of a sudden? she had it in a 10 gallon tank with lots of vines for it to climb on, hiding spots on the bottom, water dish. she said it was doing fine and eating dusted crickets. my friend also said it looked like its back was mis-shaped or something like that.

it was small. i think the length of a persons finger tips to elbow. i was considering getting one but not sure since her's has died. my friend was going to take photos of it so i could see its back area. i'll try to post a photo when she sends me a photo.

I know that in lizards a sign of a calcium deficiency is a twisted "corkscrew" going from their tail all up the spine. I'm not 100% sure this applies to snakes, though I'm prone to believe it does. I saw that the crickets were dusted, but sometimes that isn't enough, especially if the problem was pre-existing. You can always take it to a vet to perform a necropsy, even though it's expensive, just for peace of mind.

That is adults size. If she didn't notice the cork screw back before, then it probably occured during death, a twisted back in a dead snake can be a sign of a painful death. These snakes generally only live 2-3 years, so when you get an adult you never know just how long they've got. It's like buying an adult Anole. What was she dusting with? not all suppliments are equal and some can even contribute to calcium deficiencies by containing phosphorus.

Ive recently had a perfectly healthy GTP die for no apparent reason. It wasnt until a week ago I read of a disease in snakes called stargazers. As crazy as this sounds, I read it in a medical herpetology book in a list of snake diseases. It seems to take place within less than 24 hours. The snake will start acting strange, rolling over onto its back and staring straight up. The snake dies within a matter of hours. Theres no known cause or cure for this. Im in the process of finding some more literature on the subject as well. Just a possibility on what happened with your friends snake.

Star gazing isn't a disease its a description of a painful death cause by any number of internal ailments. Repitory distress, poisoning, starvation, parasite damage etc.

for responding. i think my friend dusts her crickets with herpivite and repcal (although i'm not positive.) she uses the same dust for her dart frogs and fire belly toads. i haven't talked with her so don't know exactly how she found the snake. i'll have to let her know that she probably had an adult. could parasites cause a sudden death also?

Yes, by invading and shuting down organs, including the heart and respitory system.