WAAAHHHH!!!! I just lost Flash!!!

Flash would have been just 4 years old in September... I have no idea what happened to him, he died just now, I watched him, helpless to do anything. Here is all I know, perhaps someone might know something.

The first time he showed any sign of something being wrong was back in December, I noticed he wasn't acting quite like his normal self, he seemed to lack his usual energy, then I had to coax him to eat his mouse. He ate it but then regurgitated 3 days later. Then until February he refused his meals. He finally ate in Feb and I gave him a small mouse instead of his usual adult size mouse. I gave him small mice for an entire month then in March I put him back on his adult mice, he exhibited no problems whatsoever, he seemed to be back to his normal self, eating and pooping fine. Well today I go to feed him, he seemed his normal self, he had half the mouse eaten then he suddenly just pushed it back out of his mouth and subsequently pooped, from that point on he acted totally sick, totally lethargic, kept opening his mouth real wide, could barely lift up his head, then he just started writhing around as if in pain. So then this went on for probably 15-20 min til he finally just died. I have no clue what the heck happened to him. I think my 5 yr old son is more upset than I am, he is crying right now. The only other odd thing I noticed about him is that about 6.5 inches down from his neck I have observed what seems to be a bloated area, I noticed this probably back in Dec about the same time I noticed he wasn't acting right and wondered if that bloated looking area was normal or if it had something to do with his not acting right. Please, if anyone can shed any light here, I'd really appreciate it. I have one other corn snake and now I'm afraid for him too, he's actually my favorite. I just don't want this to happen again!!

I'm so sorry for your loss.

i would suggest if you still have it, send the poop and regurge of to a vet who specialises in this field as they may be able to give a clue as to what it may have been, and also whether it was contagious if anything, etc

other than that cannot suggest anything else

and i am sorry for your loss

That`s awful. I`m so very sorry.

I'm sorry for your loss as well.

Thanks everyone. So far from my research and consulting with Don from SMR, we think Flash had an enlarged heart due to some pathogen. Now how he would have gotten some sort of virus, parasite, or bacteria I have no clue. I swear I have the worst luck! Flash is the second snake I've lost due to unknown causes. It just doesn't seem right, for a person like me who takes excellent care of her snakes to just have them up and die like that. I've got one left, my Zeke, I absolutely adore him, I sure hope nothing happens to him!

I am very sorry for your loss

I'm SO sorry for you and your little boy. What happened is very sad.

Here are some pics of the bulged area on Flash that Don & I believe is an enlarged heart. How this happened to him I have no idea (neither does Don). I swear I have the worst luck! So I believe that basically he went into cardiac arrest, which I witnessed, due to the enlarged heart.

How tragic! I'm so sorry. I know how devastating it is to lose a beloved pet. I hope your favorite will remain happy and healthy, and live a long, illness-free life.

I had a non-feeder turned feeder who developed an enlargement around his heart. It became quite swollen and I actually aspirated/drained the area once (it was outside his heart, probably in the pericardium). While the huge swelling didn't come back, the baby clearly had some circulatory issues...he would swell up towards his head if his head was lower than his heart. He regurged once before I drained his pericardium, and then ate fine but became lethargic. I decided to humanely euthanize him once it seemed like he was suffering. Maybe your guy did have an issue with his heart, and the way he was swollowing the mouse hit something (a nerve? arrhythmia?). Very sad. Sorry for your loss.

cobained said:

I had a non-feeder turned feeder who developed an enlargement around his heart. It became quite swollen and I actually aspirated/drained the area once (it was outside his heart, probably in the pericardium). While the huge swelling didn't come back, the baby clearly had some circulatory issues...he would swell up towards his head if his head was lower than his heart. He regurged once before I drained his pericardium, and then ate fine but became lethargic. I decided to humanely euthanize him once it seemed like he was suffering. Maybe your guy did have an issue with his heart, and the way he was swollowing the mouse hit something (a nerve? arrhythmia?). Very sad. Sorry for your loss.

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Thanks for the info, I appreciate it. Yeah, it would seem that way, the first and only time Flash regurged I had no explanation and even at that time he had the bulge. He did fine for the next month with the small mice, then fine for the month of March being back on adult mice but then this last time he pushed the mouse that he had half eaten out very quickly, it was obvious to me that something was wrong, even after he got the mouse out he kept opening his mouth real wide as if something was stuck in there, then he pooped and just went downhill from there. It's like you said, almost as if trying to eat the mouse started something, maybe cardiac arrest. Perhaps trying to eat an adult size mouse was too much for his enlarged heart. From my reading, an enlarged heart means the heart is already overworked. I guess his poor enlarged heart just couldn't keep up anymore.

If anything, I hope this thread and all the info I posted about my Flash will help someone else, perhaps even save another snake's life. I searched the internet for swollen and enlarged hearts in snakes and only came up with one other incidence that someone on another forum posted about.

If you had the available funds and a deep enough interest (assuming you kept the snake or something) you may consider a necropsy. Although they aren't always 100% assured to deliver a result, I think you would get one in this situation. It may give some peace of mind at least to know whether or not your last snakey is at risk.

I'm so sorry about Flash. If you have Zeke in the same room, perhaps you should move him for a while in case it's possibly contagious?

Yeah I hope zeke does good too I happen to be on high school going toaster in reptiles mabe I'll figure it out haha