Likely cause of death?

[Sehayes1982]

Fortunately this isn't about any of my snakes, but unfortunately it still involves a dead snake. An Instagram user that I follow lost a young eastern garter to what I believe are parasites from feeding the snake wild toads (parasites obviously being my guess). The snake has a small hole in the head near the right nostril. Any ideas as to exact cause? I've read about some parasite larvae boring through the skin, could this be the source of the extra hole? I told him to freeze food items if he must catch his food as wild amphibians are the most frequent carriers of parasites.

[guidofatherof5]

Never heard of this in a garter especially as you described "a small hole in the head near the right nostril"
Were there any photos?

[Sehayes1982]

Never heard of this in a garter especially as you described "a small hole in the head near the right nostril"
Were there any photos?

This was copied from the users page and zoomed, sorry for the grainy appearance

[guidofatherof5]

Thanks for posting the photo, can see much. Seems like a very strange place for a parasite to be. I don't think a subcutaneous worm would be there. I will do a little searching.

[joeysgreen]

It could be post-mortem changes, or trauma that caused the death. Without knowing the owner, or the situation, this can't be ruled out. Many times accidental placement of a rock hide or dish, causes trauma and it's so quick the owner doesn't see it happen. The snake crawls to a corner and dies unbeknowingly.

If there are any bugs in the enclosure this could be them feeding on the carcass. The face is a common place for this to first be seen.

SC worms generally aren't observed exiting in such a fashion; exceptions may be bot flies but you should see a large lump grow first as the maggot grows. I have not heard of these in snakes.

Ian

[Sehayes1982]

It could be post-mortem changes, or trauma that caused the death. Without knowing the owner, or the situation, this can't be ruled out. Many times accidental placement of a rock hide or dish, causes trauma and it's so quick the owner doesn't see it happen. The snake crawls to a corner and dies unbeknowingly.

If there are any bugs in the enclosure this could be them feeding on the carcass. The face is a common place for this to first be seen.

SC worms generally aren't observed exiting in such a fashion; exceptions may be bot flies but you should see a large lump grow first as the maggot grows. I have not heard of these in snakes.

Ian

Thanks for the feedback, everyone. He seems certain that it couldn't be harm from a cage accessory, for what it's worth. If anything else seems likely, please share! He's only had the snake for 2 months, and he has a friend who had a snake that died from the same guy who sold them in Ohio.

[joeysgreen]

If the carcass has been preserved in the fridge or freezer, your veterinarian can do a post-mortem on it.

[Sehayes1982]

If the carcass has been preserved in the fridge or freezer, your veterinarian can do a post-mortem on it.

I passed word along to freeze it and get it to a vet. Other info coming out- he fed the snake panfish worms, about which I know nothing but if it's like red worms, I know those are toxic to snakes.

[Qwerty3159]

Panfish worms are a synonym of red wrigglers.
Eisenia fetida - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eisenia_fetida)

That very well could have been the issue, although I'm not experienced in what happens if you give a garter red wrigglers.

[joeysgreen]

I can't see red wrigglers causing this.
a) I've heard red wrigglers excrete a noxious slime when attached. - garters eat toads, slugs... they are used to eating noxious prey. If red wrigglers were that bad, the snake would have spit it out.
b) toxins don't cause holes in the head.

[d_virginiana]

Garters can and will eat red wigglers; they're likely to spit them out, but if they're excited or hungry enough it's definitely not out of the question.
Gotta say, this doesn't look like any parasite I've ever seen or heard of though.

That snake still looks small enough to do the trick I've seen a lot of babies do, where they will actually inch up the silicone in the corners of a tank and end up on that little ledge near the lid. There are often wire edges there that could easily cause an injury, and it becomes really easy for the snake to get pinched or severely injured if the tank or lid is jostled at all...

[Sehayes1982]

Agreed on all fronts, your thoughts seem logical. I don't think he'll ever know, but I will encourage him to reduce probability of anything obvious becoming the cause in the future.

on a separate note, gartersnake.com and Ford in The Garter Snakes both reference the toxicity of red wigglers and how numerous babies died due to them. Unpredictable at best in terms of acceptance. But I agree that's not the culprit here!