Please help..

[Danni_1488]

Hi,
I had an 8 and a half yr old 6 ft murray darling.. He had perfect heating, water and was eating fine, he was very active and friendly. He looked like he was getting ready to shed so i'd left him alone and not handled him for a few days but because he hadnt shed i decided to try him on a feed.. When i opened his cage i found him dead. When i lifted his tail up some of his skin was very crackly, but no air under it or anything and there was a strong gross odor. I am absolutely heartbroken, he was perfectly fine and moving around last night, he showed no signs of any illness.. So im at a loss as to what caused this.. Any help would be much appreciated.. He was my baby and i really am devastated. He has had no contact with any other snakes or anything.. I have had him almost a year now and he has been perfectly fine the entire time... :'(

 

[disintegratus]

I'm sorry about your snake
You should pop him in the fridge and take him to your vet in the morning so they can do a necropsy. Hopefully they'll be able to tell you cause of death.

 

[Danni_1488]

Thank you.. The closest vet who deals with snakes is approx 2 hours away, i am calling him first thing in the morning though. I just wish i knew what i could have done, if anything

 

[caliherp]

I'm sorry for your loss. When you say you lifted up its tail and some of its skin was crackly was the skin protruding from its cloaca? I agree with what has allready been said, a necropsy is your best bet. That way if you did something wrong(dont beat yourself up it happens to the he's of us) you can change your husbindry techniques. Also if it wasent keeper error you can get peace of mind. Again I'm sorry for your loss.

Regards, Patrick

 

[Danni_1488]

I'm sorry for your loss. When you say you lifted up its tail and some of its skin was crackly was the skin protruding from its cloaca? I agree with what has allready been said, a necropsy is your best bet. That way if you did something wrong(dont beat yourself up it happens to the he's of us) you can change your husbindry techniques. Also if it wasent keeper error you can get peace of mind. Again I'm sorry for your loss.

Regards, Patrick

The crackly skin was on his back, looked like he was about to shed If that makes sense. The scales around the cloaca seemed fine, it was lifted a bit, like i'd seen him when he'd pooed and stuff.. Thats where the god awful smell was coming from though..

I'm getting on to the vet now, just hoping i didnt do something wrong, i'd never forgive myself.

 

[Danni_1488]

Just an update, after several phone calls i have found a vet 3 hours away who can look at him, broke down on the phone several times trying to tell them what happened. They are going to look at him and possibly do a post mortem. Luckily i have a very compassionate employer who has given me today and tomorrow off work so i can get him looked at. I will let you all know what comes of the post mortem.. Thank you for your advice and thoughts, very much appreciated.

 

[Steveycrack]

That's really sad to hear, hopefully they can tell you what happened.

 

[Pythoninfinite]

Danni, if there were no signs of ill health, there is nothing you could do about an event like this, so you can't blame yourself. Unfortunately, snakes are like any animal, we expect to live a long and happy, healthy life, but sometimes it just doesn't happen. Animals (and people) die early for heaps of reasons, and occasionally there is no apparent reason despite veterinary or medical examination of the circumstances.

I will look forward to the results of a PM if one is done, but don't be surprised if there is no evidence of a problem. You were probably correct in mentioning the anticipated shed if the skin seemed dry in places. If you have sub-floor heating in the enclosure, or the snake was under a heat source, it can accelerate decomposition and may account for the odour when you moved him.

Jamie

 

[BeZaKa]

All the best Danni_1488 hopefully some light can be shed on this for you and give you some closure, keep us updated. Sorry for your loss.

 

[RedFox]

I'm sorry for your loss. Hopefully the vet can give you some closure.

 

[Danni_1488]

Hi guys!
Well, he was in fact a she! And she had been sick since i got her, she just hid it extremely well! I seen the vet in South Penrith, an amazing guy. It appears she may have had a respiratory infection from the time i bought her, he said her refusal to eat (which i thought was just her being stubborn, and being a big snake didnt need feeding) was one sign, apparently they begin refusing feeds and then become anorexic in conjunction with the infection. I explained she showed no signs at all, and he told me that snakes often hide illness.
As a precaution, my 7 other snakes are being put in isolation, all tanks scrubbed with bleach, sprayed with mite stuff, all the furniture in her cage is being thrown out, and i am keeping a very close eye on all of them.

The heat lamp did speed up decomposition like mentioned, which caused the terrible odor.. Now in my car! But im just glad i have some closure on it all, and know that it wasnt something i'd done! Still very heart broken, and have had people say "Its just a pet".. But my snakes are more than just pets.. I love them more than anything else <3

Thank you all so so so much for your kind words, thoughts and advice.. I appreciate it more than you will ever realise xx

 

[Danni_1488]

On a side note.. I did just have a mini heart attack when i went to change a bulb in another cage and the snake wasnt moving.. To my relief.. She was sleeping and didnt notice me in there till i poked her! PHEW!!!

 

[snakeprincess]

Sorry to hear about the lost of your snake...always hard!! Glad you got some answers to your questions though.

 

[Pythoninfinite]

Sounds like you saw Robert Johnson Danni - arguably one of the best herp vets in the country - he does a lot of work for Taronga. I posted yesterday about the signs of RI, and that lack of appetite is a primary indicator, along with reduced tongue-flicking (sometimes the tongue-tips are stuck together) and irregular coiling. If you see any of these symptoms over a week or two, it may be an indicator that all is not well. Sometimes these symptoms present before any noticeable respiratory problems. A healthy python generally coils pretty tightly when they curl up - persistent loose, irregular coils can mean the beginnings of a problem.

Jamie

 

[Danni_1488]

Yeah thats him! He is amazing, i will definitely be going back to see him if i need to, 3 hours drive but definitely worth it, he was incredible and told me if ever i need anything or have any questions to email him. He is also from Bathurst so knows our climate here and basically said everything i have done for my babies is right, so i feel a lot better about that.

Its good to have you guys to turn to for advice, i dont know many people who own snakes, and i'd always been told not to worry too much if they dont eat, i now know there is a reason to worry! So far so good with the others, they are all tongue flicking, bitey, coiled up tight and have a good appetite. Just a matter now of getting the stuff and getting these tanks all disinfected and sanitised.

 

[Pythoninfinite]

Just remember that lack of appetite isn't necessarily an indicator of ill health. When linked to the other indicators I've mentioned, it's worth checking things out. Otherwise, refusal to eat may be a seasonal thing, especially for males in the breeding season. Hormones play a big part in seasonal behaviour, and it can vary from species to species - for instance, Antaresias (Stimmis, Spotteds and Children's) may go off food for 6-8 months of the year without undue problems, but it's what they do in the wild, and many of them are still in that routine even though captive bred. So don't panic every time a snake refuses a meal - it may be for any one of a number of quite normal reasons, and in a collection where husbandry parameters are fine, will rarely be a sign of illness.

Most snakes which live shortened lives in collections die due to poor husbandry practices, and failure to provide appropriate temperature regimes is probably the single biggest factor in compromising the health of a captive reptile. It may be that your MD had a latent infection when you got it, and if you didn't recognise the other symptoms (if they were there) as a warning sign, the infection just burbled along until it overtook the animal.

Jamie

 

[Danni_1488]

Admittedly, i am still learning. They are complex creatures, although i wouldnt change my pet of choice for the world. I'm going to do a lot of research on all different sorts of infections and such that they can get, just so i am more so aware of what to look out for. I refuse to let another of my babies become ill.. I am WAY too attached to them to cope with losing any more!