Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Last night, Oreo passed away. When i went into her cage to see if she was ok, she wasn't breething with her mouth open. It's a very depressing day!

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-Emily: The snake gal

don't give up, some make it and some don't, there's plenty more availible.

Sorry to hear that

Looks like the ereason your snake went off food was because it was sick. Could have been a parasite or could have been something else. No way to tell unless you get a biopsy. Unless you have a large collection where other snakes could be infected it is not nessary to get one/

I'm sorry to hear about your loss, really sorry. But others were telling you to cool it, imagine what would have happened, It would be even more hungry (if it survived) But probably would still be wanting the same thing as it did before it was cool (i.e anoles,lizard tail,various other lizard or rodents). I'm sorry that this had to happen I guess kerby owes you a free snake as he said he would give you one if anything happened.
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0.0.1 Elaphe guttata (Blaze)
Yea I'm a N00b!

Jayson....
Where do you get off saying cooling is wrong.....
How many hatchlings have you had to get feeding in your years of experience????
Cooling a nonfeeding snake DOES work.

Also Jayson......If the snake was that far gone YOUR method certainly would not have worked either.....

Don't come on here saying you were right and we were wrong....That is not what this forum is about....at least that is how I take it.

Emily,
I am sorry you experienced such a loss....I am sure Kerby will help you out......

John Lassiter

How much experience do you actually have with snakes? You were right? About what? I can tell you this much, it is sad the snake died, but one pic and short please help me out post is not much to go by. She asked for advice, and got some very good input. It appears the snake had a serious ailment, which would very well change the advice we had to offer. The common "my snake won't eat" posts are usually not a big deal. That snake did not starve, it was sick. Do you think we had any way of knowing this? It is unfortunate, but honestly I would never have force fed the snake, and I would have looked a lot deeper into the situation. There's also no way I would have tried 27 different food items as you listed, sorry but that is just ridiculous. If the snake was healthy and set up properly it would have ate. I think Emily was just unlucky that she ended up with a sick snake from day 1...but I could be way off on that. The bottom line is this is just a forum for suggestions, this is why it is good to have a vet. Many of us who have been doing this for years all talk about things like her situation with a vet. Then together figure out ways to try and get things on track. Furthermore I have no idea how recent the pic she posted was, the snake in that pic looks perfect to me. Which is why most of us said not to worry. There's a lot of ways to inspect a snake you suspect is unhealthy. However since the snake appeared healthy in the pic the replies did not lean towards explaining this. Tom Stevens

I agree 100% Tom.......
John Lassiter

And mostly non-critical, too!

I can learn from you. I need to be less critical myself sometimes.

I will give her a FREE Cal King if she wants one. I stand behind what I say. PERIOD.

Are you still confused??

LOL

Kerby...

I am sorry about your loss. If you have not disposed of the snake please take many pics of it. Things I would like to know about are.
Was there bubbles, mucous, or anything near the nostrils or mouth including crust?
If you ran your finger down its belley did you feel anything solid in it?
Was the cloaca clean? No crust, discharge or anything?
Did you ever find blood in the cage?
What type of cleaner did you use to clean its cage?
Did you notice it drinking water regularly?
When it pooped was it odd looking or did it smell outrageously strong?
Did you ever hear any wheezing or popping/clicking sounds coming from the snake?
Was the snake muscular or more so soft?
You may have received a perfectly healthy snake and made a simple mistake, or had a sick snake to begin with. I have no way of knowing this. However since it is obvious you really liked your pet you wanna make sure no mistakes are repeated if you indeed made one and did not realize it. Please let us know if you have any answers to my questions. I know a few of us would like to try n help you out for next time. Tom Stevens

-My snake didn't have bubbles, mucous or anything that has to do with the mouth,
-no solid parts on her body,
-the cloaca was very clean. No traces of crust or anything
-on the last day, there was a slight trace of blood on her bottom jaw, and she was bleeding threw the cloaca very little
-I cleaned her cage with soap and alot of water once a week.
-she was drinking water, and soaking aswell, before her sheds
-poop was normal
-no wheezing or popping sounds
-she was in between muscular and soft.
**Notice: She did have some scalless spotts on her body from rubbing her body against a small rock i placed in her cage to help her shed. I think that could of become infected, or something.
By the way i have gotten a hypo florida kingsnake today.

Thanks alot,

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-Emily: The snake gal

Did you put your new snake into the same enclosure you kept your last snake??? If so I would remove it immediately for the time being. Tom Stevens

OK, from what you have told me I will have to think about this and check a book or two. The blood at the mouth is something I will pay extra attention too though the blood at the cloaca will certainly not be ignored. The muscle tone of the snake....now was it more muscular when you first got it or was it basically about the same for the period of time you owned it? It may have been a kind of parasite. May I ask where you buy your rodents from? A business name is not neccesary, what I really want to know is it a frozen rodent supplier or a pet shop? In a way I was glad you said soap and water for cleaning, as opposed to say Windex which is too strong and can kill a snake. However disinfecting is also important[to me anyway] so in the future you may want to score something like Chlorhexedine, which a vet should help you with or one of the big reptile supply places online. It gives me extra confidence and my steam cleaner REALLY makes me sure there's no cooties about. It is a shame the snake was not a bit larger, as it's meals would have also been larger and you may just have had a warning that something was wrong. If it was only eating pinkies that does not leave much to inspect after a snakes does its thing. If it was a parasite it may have got more out of the snakes meals than the snake did leaving it deteriorated, and it withered away. I have to suspect this seeing from what I understand it perished quite quickly. I have some snakes I bought and also hatched this year that are only just beginning to feed, some went for well over 6 weeks with no food at all. They are perfectly fine too. Let me think about this and I will write when I can. I hope some others chime in as well. Answer the few questions if ya can Thanks Tom Stevens

Are you 100% certain the snake was mite free? When you found it was its mouth agape? I ask because I am wondering if it had Flukes? Those may have been visible to the naked eye. Many parasites are associated with bloody stools, I am assuming you never had noticed any, and never noticed any blood at the cloaca until it died? I honestly do not think I can pinpoint this to a very specific diagnosis,,,,but we can try. Tom Stevens
ps. I would also throw the rock away and not use the same water dish for your new snake.

Emily,
I am truly sorry for your loss. Even after so many years it's hard for me to lose something I have grown attached too! I am personally glad that you care so deeply. And always consider the source of what advice is coming. Tom is one of the best I know for diagnosing/treating snakes. I'm fortunate to live close to him. I would go to him first and then to the Vet he recommends, I'm so confident in his ability. Follow his advice; that which has been given and that which will come as he thinks about it. If you have no confident way to test for vectors I would get rid of everything the snake touched except the cage. Even then I would put the new snake in a new cage while you sterilize the old. I am radical about disease possibilities. I know it is an extra cost but sometimes peace of mind costs a bit more.

Pat G-C

- i cleaned the cage right away after oreo died. I used a very good disinfectant without a smell to it.
-it was pretty muscular to it's size, ant first. Not very soft.
-I buy my rodents from a expert herper that i know very well.
-he's an owner of a reptile zoo.
-it was really sad because i was going to bring her to the zoo i bought her from the same day that she died.
-when i started to force-feed it, it never pooed, would that be because of the parisite?
-and yes i'm 100% the snake was mite free.
-when she died, her mouth was wide open.

Thanks alot for the help

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-Emily: The snake gal

just one more quick thing, she was fine at first for the first 4 weeks, she ate alot of pinkey's and was going through a growth spurt. Then all of a sudden she stopped eating.
Picture...a proof that she ate (even though i know you believe me)

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-Emily: The snake gal