My beloved Blood Python died last night.

[BullJones]

My beloved Blood Python died last night. She was only three years old. I am at a loss to tell you why she passed and am hoping that someone here can give me a clue. We are in no way new to the keeping and care of reptiles. My wife & I operate Chaos & Critters, a 501(c)(3) tax exempt exotic animal rescue, and have saved & re-homed literally hundreds of creatures over the last four years.

I had had 'Sanguine' since she was a mere 14 inches in length. She was 4.5 feet and very heavy bodied at the time of her passing. She ate with gusto every week, taking frozen/thawed rats. She had annual vet checks and had been wormed. There was never a sign of any external parasites. She always had a great appetite and a very good attitude for a Blood Python. Sanguine had a history of clean and perfect sheds. I examined her body this morning and found no sign of tumors, or impaction. In fact, she had just defecated two days ago.

The only change in her behavior seemed completely normal, save for one. Over the last couple of days she had spent more time in her water and had turned pale. Both things were normal just before her shed which I was expecting. The one 'odd' thing is that she refused her food for the first time ever. I should have took her to the vet right then, but I attributed it to an approaching the shed as all of our other snakes are prone to do.

She was kept in a large tank with all the 'bell & whistles'. A great water feature with circulation via a waterfall, under tank heat strips and overhead heat via a heat emitter kept in check with a thermostat, (all checked this morning and operating perfectly). Thee was a good heat gradient and excellent ventilation. Humidity was excellent. Her substrate was a mixture of damp Eco-earth & jungle bark chunks. A few stones in a corner gave her something to rub against when in shed.

I'm at a complete loss to explain this untimely death and sincerely hope someone here can point me in the right direction. I have retained her body in our freezer so that our vet can conduct a necropsy next week. Until then I'll just worry.

Sadly yours,
Bull*