Lost my prairie rattler today...

Hi all. Just needed to vent to those who understand. I had to euthanize my prairie rattler, Ali Baster, this morning. She had been sloughing slugs (infertile eggs) for awhile and I had consulted with Dr. Minson about it. I was keeping a close eye on her and she was doing well and had sloughed 6. She was at least 8 or 9 years old too. She was enlarged this morning so I put her in a warm soak hoping to slough some more and she went into distress. I tried to manually help her hoping that it would slough and we would just maybe have to deal with a cloacal tear or similar issue. Needless to say, nothing was working and she was not going to make the 2 hour trip to the vet. I euthanized her and did a post. She was blocked by a large odd shaped slug. It breaks my heart and I've had her for several years. I know I did the right thing and ended her suffering but I always wonder what could/should I have done differently if anything. Unfortunately treating venomous snakes always makes things trickier. She had 4 more soft ones behind it that would have passed easily. I know her age didn't help things at all either. Thanks for "listening" to me babble.
Tandy

Tandy,

I'm so sorry to hear that.

I know you had a long and enjoyable history with her.

Snakeman wrote:Tandy,

I'm so sorry to hear that.

I know you had a long and enjoyable history with her.

Thanks Larry. It's been a long day. There was never a dull moment with her around. I will miss her. I have contacted Dr. Minson to see if he wants to look at her body or have me look for anything specific. I sure would like to know if there was something else I could have done.
Tandy

There was a time, years ago, when I would only keep male snakes for that very

reason.

Egg binding (fertile and infertile) is not that uncommon and it's caused numerous

herp deaths.

One school of thought is that it can sometimes be eased by frequent handling while

the herp is gravid, but with venomous ????????

Yes, the venomous aspect definitely complicates things. That's why I put her in the soak tub not only for the warmth but also the activity. It was always difficult to exercise her the way I did the others because of her high-strungness (Is that a word? LOL).
I have to say after dealing with birds and snakes on this, it does tend to make one somewhat leary. I'm curious to see what Dr. Minson says and I'm doing some research too because it wasn't like she was sloughing a clutch, it was like she just kept producing. I first did a consult with him about her in September. We thought maybe it was age/hormone related and I asked if it it could be the pheromones from the male rattlesnakes that she's in the room with year-round. It would be odd if it were since they've been in the same room for years and it becomes as issue now. I hope we can get some answers and hopefully prevent another death. She was a favorite.

Tandy

Tandy, I am so sorry to hear that. Loosing a pet reptile to egg binding is no fun...

What experiences has anyone had with egg binding in non-breeding snakes?

Tandy

For me the only encounter I have had with egg binding was with my female Timor Monitor (I haven't had this problem with a snake), and she died from it. They were unfertilized eggs too, as I wasn't breeding her.