Thank you for your detailed response. The vet I took Milton to has kept reptiles, particularly snakes, for years. he had said he expected to see a scar because the snake equivalent of testes (dont know vet terminology) would require a surgical incision to remove, rather than just the bits that were gone. the dark patch where the gall bladder was situated caused him concern because it was swollen, and the snake was dead no more than an hour. however i accept that decompopsition perhaps was responsible for this.
he was knowledgable on the subject and i trust him. i have registered Big Al with him for any future treatment he may require. if it turns out i am wrong on this, im pretty stuffed, coz there are only three vets in the area catering for reptiles. ive been advised against one, for questionable treatment on an iguana, and the other two are at the same practise, where i took milton.
I was not told to freeze him and try for a post mortem today. the vet implied that i''d missed the boat in that respect, so it is only my fault that any evidence has been destroyed, since i was concerned that cause of death was not confirmed. however, it seems that, at the moment, Big Al is not displaying any symptoms of illness. he fed on Saturday with no problems. Milton refused to feed at first, then two days later he died.
Ultimately, anyone can suppose on what happened to milton, but it is not going to be definitive. a range of possibilities have been discussed and as a result, i know a lot more than i did, and for that, i am thankful. let's just hope that it was an isolated incident, in a snake whose full background was not known to me or the rescue centre. what was known is that he had health problems, which cannot be disregarded as a contributing factor in his death.
Thanks again for your detailed response, i have learned a lot. now i can go and bury him and close this incident.
i am not going to give up on snakes. i felt like finding a home for Al over the weekend after this thread gathered pace, however im confident that i can give him a good home, despite what some people on this forum think of my ability. i know all posts here were constructive, and i have taken stock of them and reflected on them. if i were any of you looking in on my situation, i would ask the same questions....perhaps with more tact, but i would be thinking similarly. Thanks again to ALL contributers. :wavey:
