unknown death of my snake

[wongjitsu]

Hi! My male albino ratsnake died this morning and I don't know why. I fed him a small pre-killed rat last night using a newspaper as substrate. I saw him this morning dead with his jaw dislocated and has few pine bedding (from his tank)in his mouth.

My female ratsnake on the other hand, which i fed the same size of rat (same batch), is alive and healthy.

I don't know why he died all of a sudden. Was it because of the pine bedding or the rat i bought has poison?

Oh by the way, my ratsnake is 5 years old. I got him when he was still a hatchling. Hope you guys could help me out. I really feel bad.

Chris

[squeebo]

i wouldnt know what killed him but sorry for the bad news

[DogStar5988]

Well one thing is that Pine bedding is suppose to be bad for most animals because of the oils it lets off. But I doubt it would kill so quickly. Not sure why you would find bedding in his mouth long after you fed him, maybe he tried to eat it for some reason and it got lodged in his wind-pipe? But I would defiantly switch to aspen or some other bedding besides pine. Sorry for your loss. :(


---Kenny

[Susan]

Finding the bedding in his mouth and the jaw misaligned usually indicated the snake had some sort of seizure-like activity at the time of death. What the exact cause was may be difficult to determine, but your best chance to find out would be to have a necropsy performed by a herp vet. If you decide to do this, keep your snake in the refidgerator, NOT the freezer, and have the necropsy done ASAP.

[v_various]

to add to what was already said about pine,
http://www.aracnet.com/~seagull/faq/beddingfaq.shtml

I like that link because it has sources. According to a poll not too long ago, most people here use aspen, though there are lots of other choices. I don't think the bedding killed your snake, but you might want to think about switching your other one.

Sorry for your loss.

[kathylove]

Sorry to hear of your loss!

I used pine many years ago, before breeders (at least in Florida!) ever heard of aspen. I had some snakes on it for up to 10 years. Although they were basically healthy, many mature colubrids on pine had incomplete mouth closure. I feel it might have been due to respiratory scarring and minor damage due to the volatile oils of pine being breathed intensely over many years. I have no proof of that, it is just my theory. I occasionally still see this in older snakes in my collection now (I ascribe it to the irritation of aspen dust), but not nearly so much as when they were on pine. I don't believe it caused the death of any snakes, but could have been a contributing factor in stress causing the immune system to work less efficiently when presented with some other challenge. Again, just my thoughts, not anything scientific.

I have observed that a snake having some sort (any kind) of difficulty for any reason might end up dying immediately after eating. I am guessing that the activity level of eating and beginning to digest a meal could be the "final straw" for a snake already on the way out.

It is possible that your snake had a severe problem that was still unnoticed by you, and that this was just the end result. But the only way to possibly know (which may or may not help) is to refrigerate the snake (not freeze it) and get a necropsy done by a vet.

[tyflier]

...It is possible that your snake had a severe problem that was still unnoticed by you, and that this was just the end result....

In the wild, snakes, birds, small mammals, and other small critters are instinctually able to disguise illness and injury to avoid appearing "weak" to predators. As keepers, this makes diagnostics a bit difficult. It is possible, maybe even likely, that your snake has had some health issues for some time, and they have finally caught up with him. As Kathy said, the extra work and stress required to eat and digest may have been the quintessential straw that broke the camel's back, and been the final leg for your little guy.

I am sorry for your loss. If you DO have a necropsy performed, please keep us posted on the results. Your choice of bedding *could* prove informative for the rest of us. At least in this way, his death could help to contribute to the communal knowledge of snakes on this forum...

[wongjitsu]

Thanks for all the input. I will try to switch to aspen bedding, though it might be hard to find it here in the Philippines.

Necropsy is expensive and it's too late to put the snake in the refridgerator.

v_various: thanks for the link.