Rita's Necropsy(Graphic)

[guidofatherof5]

Tonight I opened Rita up in the hopes of finding an answer to this strange death.
I think I've found it. It appears she may have had a ruptured aorta.
When I first looked at her heart it looked normal but behind the heart there was a large area(3 inches long) of pooled blood.
When I lifted her heart out of a closer look I noticed the backside of it was the same color as the clotted blood.
The second photo shows the unclotted blood that was in the lower part of her body.
Tomorrow I will take her to my Vet. for his opinion.

http://www.thamnophis.com/thamphotos/data//500/medium/rita31.jpghttp://www.thamnophis.com/thamphotos/data//500/medium/rita12.jpg

[oki-inu]

Wow, that's incredible.

[ConcinusMan]

Interesting. Could be she had an aortic aneurysm all this time, and it finally just ruptured?

How would the blood make it's way out of her mouth?

[mustang]

wow ... hey quick question...when any snake dies(even of old age) will it go imto a death roll thing

[Stefan-A]

wow ... hey quick question...when any snake dies(even of old age) will it go imto a death roll thing
Not necessarily, no.

[ConcinusMan]

A concinnus pair I had died of old age. They did not death roll. They just sort of went limp over the course of a day or so until they were gone.

[mustang]

ok...i was out of my room when dusty died but i remember he was slowly becoming less enerjetic....then he just didnt move at all when i put new waer dish in....woldv done a necropsy but i didnt know enough to....heck i still dont.

[Hollis_Steed]

Interesting. Could be she had an aortic aneurysm all this time, and it finally just ruptured?

How would the blood make it's way out of her mouth?

Good Question...

[mustang]

if snakes have lungs (or somthing similar) it could come out like the way that killed my grand father....blood comes in through the holes....then it starts coughing up blood like it has bronchidus(real pain the *** to have bronchidus if ur asthmatic like me)...please correct me aout lthe lung thing

[ConcinusMan]

I could understand it coming out of the lungs if it was the pulmonary artery but it seems like if it was the aortic, it would just pool in inside the body, outside of the lungs. If the blood pooled in the abnominal cavity, it would be outside of the stomach and lungs. That's why I don't understand why blood would be coming out of her mouth.

[mustang]

lungs can bleed themselfs (dad said their not just a membrain like sack i presumed)(blood from lungs gets int the air part of it (can make a diagram if you want)

[Mommy2many]

Steve,

I am really curious to hear what your vet thinks.

[guidofatherof5]

Steve,

I am really curious to hear what your vet thinks.

We had severe storms this morning and I couldn't get to him.
I will go on Sat. and post his findings later in the day.

[guidofatherof5]

I've got a 9:15 appointment with my Vet. this morning. Should know something soon.

[guidofatherof5]

Pulmonary embolism is the culprit. He said it is usually unpredictable and non-treatable once it occurs. All the post symptoms I told him about also confirmed his diagnosis.
I'm glad that it wasn't something I could have prevented. That's a burden off my shoulders.
He did say that other then embolism she was in great condition and showed no other signs of illness or concerns.

[Mommy2many]

Glad to hear it was nothing you could have known about or prevented. Just like in people. Still, very sorry you have lost her. She was a wonderful snake!

[Hollis_Steed]

Steve, I'm happy you got the news from the vet that it was something out of your control. That would make me breathe easier. Once again, sorry for your loss.

[guidofatherof5]

An interesting observation to the necropsy was the fact I found no fuzzies in her gut.
22 hours after being fed they had been reduced to fluid. Seeing Stefan's post about the amazing snake gut made me think of it.

It was a tragic end to a beautiful snake.
The only saving grace is the fact I have 43 hets to work with from 2 different males.
I hope to see a little Rita popping out in the next few years. It will be worth the wait.