Yellow Rat Snake/Sudden Death

Question
I'm sorry to waste your time... shortly after i sent out my questions to you (below), Cuervo started stargazing and turning his head upside down and wouldn't stay the right side up and passed away. I'm beside myself as to what it could be... unfortunately it must of been too late to do much. It sounds like IBD but I'm doing research and it supposedly isn't something that affects rat snakes... this is definitely a very upsetting experience and hopefully I will be able to have another snake in the future. Thank you for all your help previously.


Your question was

"This is a follow up question to my initial question below:
Today is the 10th day after my snake threw up so i was planning to feed him tomorrow morning but he's acting very lethargic... usually when i handle him he's slithering around in my hands but today he hardly moves much out of my hands. Also, when i pick him up from the tank he picks his head up but then turns it upside down with his head facing towards the ground. His breathing is normal although once i put him back in his tank, he remains in the position I put him in which is not at all like his usual behavior, (like if i leave him in a jumbled pile he stays like that), although i tried to put him in his usual hiding spot & he moved out of it to the other side of the tank. Could this have anything to do with him throwing up? The rest of his habitat has remained the same. Or could it be that he's sick and something else is wrong?


Snakes - Yellow Rat Snake problem

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Expert: Paul - 5/7/2009

Question
I have a yellow rat snake which is about 4-5 months old. I've had Cuervo for about a month and a half now. He's been eating one pinky every 5-7 days. The temperature/humidity levels haven't changed and both are within the correct levels, and i have day/night heat lamps for him as well. He's become easy to handle after a week of getting him except for when he shed about a month ago. About six days ago i fed him and about four days ago i found that he threw up a partially digested pinky. I haven't handled him since and tried feeding him again yesterday, which he threw up again. I checked for mites, he doesn't have any problems breathing and I don't believe he's shedding yet because last time his eyes were both glassy and very blue. His left eye looks a little milky but not to the extent of the last shed. Could it be the beginning of a shed? He never had eating problems before this.

Also since the first time he threw up he's been in hiding for most of the time. Today i opened the tank just to refill his water (which was right next to him) and he snapped at me but did not bite. Did I try feeding him too soon after the first time he threw up or could something else be wrong with him?

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Answer
Yes, you did feed him too soon after he threw up the first time. When a snake regurgitates (throws up) they lose a lot of their digestive enzymes that were in their stomach. It takes about 10 days before they can replenish these enzymes. So if you feed him sooner than 10 days they will usually regurgitate again. So wait 10 days, and if he's not in a shed at that time, go ahead and feed him again. After eating, make sure that you don't handle him for at least 48 hours so that he can fully digest the meal.

As far as something else being wrong with him, that's hard to say. He could have an internal parasite (like worms) which you can easily treat with vet care. Or it could have been that you handled him too soon after eating, which can stress a snake out. Or the temperature on the warm end of the tank may not have been warm enough (should be low to mid 80s).

Lastly, there's a product that you can find on the internet called NutriBac (available at The Bean Farm). It's basically a powder supplement that contains the digestive enzymes that I mention above. You can dip the tail end of the pinky into this powder when you are ready to feed the next time and it will help the snake to recover the enzymes that it lost. I've used it before and it's really helpful."

and was asked on 05/17/2009


Answer
I'm sorry for your loss. It sounds like your snake had some type of internal parasite. It's death had nothing to do with it regurgitation. It sounds like the regurgitation was more of an affect of the parasite. Some snake parasites are treatable (like worms) and others aren't. If it were some type of worm it wouldn't have died so fast, so my guess is that your snake had something that would have been hard to treat, if possible to treat at all.

Again, I'm sorry to hear about your snake. Give yourself time to grieve and then think about getting another pet.