Raising babies is hard

So this was an interesting week for me. My female that hasnt eaten since i got her (2.5 months ago) finally grabbed up a mouse and chomped it down, quelling my unease she was going to starve herself, however not 3 days later, my male axanthic with no visible issues, ate great, water available, etc, kicked the bucket. Its like russian roulette with these guys and gals. Anyone else ever have a baby croak for no apparent reason?

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On a bright note, my scaleless snakes are all thriving. Funny how the ones that are supposed to be the problem children are doing great xD still love this girl :slight_smile:

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Babies are very sensitive and the smallest things can kill them. Sometimes they just aren’t fully developed or they have an internal issue, you can’t control nature, some just aren’t going to make it.

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The only thing i could think was that some of my juvys were in temp tubs that werent heated so they kept the ambient temp of the room (usually 78 to 80 degrees) im wondering with the colder weather if that ambient temp dropped without me noticing. Either way, i moved all temp tubs to my rack system. Wanted to trickle them into the rack so i could make sure minimal mites made it to the new room, but the mites can be dealt with, dieing to cold cant. The snake in question had no (or no visible) mites, so i doubt they would be the cause, and he wasnt being treated with the mite poison either, so that just leaves temp that i can think of.

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We’re his bowel movements normal?

Yes, he usually pooped a day or two after feeding. I suspect temperature may have been the issue. Usually the rooms ambient is 78 due to all the heat, but i think with winter moving in that likely lowered without mw knowing. Since the temp tubs werent heated except by the room, its possible the temp dropped too low, but i wouldnt have expected it to be sudden

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I had a male Pinstripe Het DG that died a couple days after eating. I looked for a reason over and over but found nothing out of wack.

with so many things that can go wrong it’s a wonder when they go right. not a bad creed for disappointing times like yours. I have lost snakes but not signs of something wrong. Hang in there with more experience things should get easier

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Yeah, i feel some things are a numbers game, when you have alot of snakes you are bound to lose a couple im sure, but its always on my mind of what i could have done that may have caused it do i can avoid it in the future. Death happens, i just want to make sure im not the cause.

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What do scaleless snakes feel like? I’ve never held a scaleless before so Iam quite curious :thinking:

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They feel like very smooth skin, kind of like a child/infants skin when young, and when older its still very soft, but much firmer because of the additional fat and muscle. But when they are calm, its just super soft.

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Thanks! That gave me a pretty clear visual of what they feel like :grin:

No problem, i love them and they are super unique! If you ever consider getting one, keep in mind that thwir husbandry is different than a scaled snake. The humidity is a bit challenging as they cant be kept on substrate safely. They shed more often and need help every so often.

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Thank you for letting me know! I’ve always been intrested in getting one, but never manged to get the right time! Maybe sometime in the future, but really looking forward in getting one :blush:

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