An Unfortunate Loss

[Snakesitter]

I'd suspect an undiagnosed "source" issue here that resulted in the multiple small secondary infections, which in turn led to the regurg that alerted you to the problem. It's too bad they did not open up one of the granulomas (it is my understanding that reptile immune systems trap problem bacteria in such granulomas) and run a culture; while a long shot, it may have yielded some additional answers.

At any rate, it's all academic now -- so long as a through disinfection was done (which I am sure you did) and everyone else is healthy (and they seem to be), things should be fine.

[bigsnakegirl785]

Originally Posted by Snakesitter

I'd suspect an undiagnosed "source" issue here that resulted in the multiple small secondary infections, which in turn led to the regurg that alerted you to the problem. It's too bad they did not open up one of the granulomas (it is my understanding that reptile immune systems trap problem bacteria in such granulomas) and run a culture; while a long shot, it may have yielded some additional answers.

At any rate, it's all academic now -- so long as a through disinfection was done (which I am sure you did) and everyone else is healthy (and they seem to be), things should be fine.

From my understanding, they did open the granulomas and found Salmonella arizonae bacterium within them. I could be mistaken, though, they did mention the granulomas and they did take samples from the liver. It wasn't mentioned in the report whether or not they tested the granulomas specifically. Most of the biggest, fastest-growing colonies were found in the large intestine, which to me indicates more of a digestive issue, since the intestines are where the majority of digestion takes place. Whether it was the prey size+temps, or a rodent gone bad I'm not sure.

Everybody else appears normal still, and with how fast Guin was affected I think we're past the point where I'd start noticing problems in everyone else. They have yet to pass feces from their most recent meal, but I've seen no regurges from anyone so far.

Originally Posted by treaux

Interesting to think it was the food size. Makes me nervous about switching my little Marco to hoppers eventually (though that won't be for a while...).

If it was the prey size, it would be in conjunction with temperatures too low to allow for proper digestion of a meal that size. If it was the prey size in and of itself, they would notice physical damage in her digestive tract. I think your Marco will be fine being switched to hoppers when the time comes. My BRB Sanji is currently around 140-150 grams (he was 154 grams today, but ate recently so he's probably 140-something grams empty) and is almost ready to move up from hoppers. I moved him onto hoppers around the time he hit 80-85 grams, and he may have been able to moved to them a little sooner, not sure.

Here are the photos from the histopathology report.