My Garter Died Don't Know The Reason (Grapic Pics D-up W)

[Charlet_2007]

yeah i agree.. this has left a hold in my heart... maybe with time ill get another one but right now i dont know...

[anji1971]

Oh Natalie, I'm so sorry to hear about your loss. Very sad.

[aSnakeLovinBabe]

The blueish green color was probably because he appears to have been going into shed at the time of death.

This snake looks as if he were mauled. Do you have a cat? had he recently escaped his enclosure? He also looks a bit on the thin side on some of your pictures, but not all. This could be because he was dead and deflated, or because he was underfed or was harboring parasites. He also has some scale rot on his ventral scales. Scale rot is usually a result of poor husbandry. Was this your first garter? If so, you may have made some beginner's msitakes. Any amount of humidity in a garter's cage can be disastrous for him.

How long did you have the snake, and how where you keeping him? Did he have a nice dry enclosure with a large clean bowl of water? A thermal gradient? How often did you feed him and what was he getting? If you used fish, what kind of fish? If you can tell me these things I may be able to further help you out as to what brought about the demise of your little guy

Were you possibly keeping him on a bark substrate? If he were to ingest a piece of bark and then try to use his muscles to work it down, he could have punctured himself from the inside out.

[tikichick]

I am so sorry for your loss! That hole looks like a worm or some kind of parasite to me. I read an article last month about frogs giving snakes parasites, so I'm thinking that was the culprit. Regardless, RIP little dude

[adamanteus]

In Europe, toads are sometimes parasitized by the 'Greenbottle' fly (Lucilia sp), in a condition known as 'Toad Fly'. I don't know if this occurs in the US.

The eggs are laid on the toad and the larvae burrow into the flesh (usually on the back) and eat away at the toad until it dies. Perhaps a maggot of this type would be able to burrow it's way out of the snakes' gut. Lovely!

[Stefan-A]

L. bufonivora, yes. I considered the possibility of a relative that would attack reptiles, but didn't find any. Even we have our own parasite, Cochliomyia hominivorax.

I don't think it's likely, though.

[adamanteus]

I was thinking of Lucilia bufonivora, swallowed with a toad, burrowing it's way out of the snake, rather than a similar species attacking the snake directly.

[Stefan-A]

Yes, I understood that.

[adamanteus]

Originally Posted by aSnakeLovinBabe

The blueish green color was probably because he appears to have been going into shed at the time of death.

Actually Shannon this kind of colour change in death is quite normal in snakes, they can appear brighter than they were in life.

This snake looks as if he were mauled. Do you have a cat?

I think there might be many more than one neat injury had the snake been mauled by a cat.

Any amount of humidity in a garter's cage can be disastrous for him.

To be more accurate, some degree of humidity is essential. Without this the snake will not slough correctly. Scale-rot can be caused by damp and/or dirty substrate.

If you used fish, what kind of fish? If you can tell me these things I may be able to further help you.

I'm pretty sure that poor choice of feeder fish isn't a factor in this snakes' death.

Hope you don't mind, but I felt there were one or two points there that might mislead some of our less experienced members.

[Charlet_2007]

Originally Posted by aSnakeLovinBabe
The blueish green color was probably because he appears to have been going into shed at the time of death.

Actually Shannon this kind of colour change in death is quite normal in snakes, they can appear brighter than they were in life.

This snake looks as if he were mauled. Do you have a cat?

I think there might be many more than one neat injury had the snake been mauled by a cat.

Any amount of humidity in a garter's cage can be disastrous for him.

To be more accurate, some degree of humidity is essential. Without this the snake will not slough correctly. Scale-rot can be caused by damp and/or dirty substrate.

If you used fish, what kind of fish? If you can tell me these things I may be able to further help you.

I'm pretty sure that poor choice of feeder fish isn't a factor in this snakes' death.


We have an outside cat. he stays strictly outside..

I fed him toads no fish.. he wouldn't eat anything else whether it be fish or pinky's even scented he wouldn't eat them..

I used reg potting soil.. nothing in there to harm him and i sifted it before it went in his tank to make sure.. I use it for my T's all the time..