Slow digestion?

[KITKAT]

P.S.

I did not find a cloacalith.

[Josh]

im soo sorry to hear that
rip sparky

[adamanteus]

Really sorry KITKAT. We weren't much help were we? What did you find when you opened him?

[drache]

I'm so sorry KitKat
poor Sparky
I am curious as to what you find out

[KITKAT]

Well... the dissection revealed what I suspected, based on the timing of the problem.

It seems that for some reason, Sparky could not digest the mouse pinky legs that I had fed him. There were two "feet" in his gut, at the posterior end of the mysterious "lump". Both were partially digested, but the section from the heel to the toes was intact but soft. Everything upwards from there was mushy poop, the result of the worms he had eaten afterwards.

The poop smelled terrible, as if it had putrified. It had also backed up into the mid-section. I do not know enough about snake anatomy to know whether this backup was in the stomach or not, but I suspect so.

The rest of the organs looked pretty much as I had imagined they would in a healthy snake. (This is my first time dissecting a snake).

So my guess is that cause of death is sepsis of the intestinal contents due to blockage, but I am not sure why the blockage occurred in the first place.

Both Gaia and Trinity also ate pinky legs on the same days as Sparky, and had no trouble with them.

[Josh]

crap
that sucks.
you did all you can.

[ScimitarX]

So sorry that he didnt make it.

[Sid]

So sorry to hear the sad news.

[Lulu Bennett]

KITKAT i am so sorry to hear of your loss but unfortunatly these things happen! you did all you could to make him feel comfortable before he passed. keep your head held high, you will know what to keep an eye out for next time. xxx

[enigma200316]

sorry for your loss KitKat.....