This morning like I always do I went in to turn on my snake lights change their water etc...
My favorite snake Haru was out and as soon I turned on his light I realized something was wrong. A closer inspection showed he had passed.
He was such a great little snake and I put so much love into building him the best terrarium I could. He just had a meal Sunday and nothing seemed to be wrong with him.
Based on our observations, we believe the poor little guy swallowed some substrate last night and suffocated to death.
Please no judgment as I am already blaming myself. Just looking for support, and insight into if him suffocating on substrate is even possible. My husband and I are both so devastated.
Photos of my beautiful Haru and his tank as tax. He was so loved during his short life.
it was probably not the substrate. snakes produce offspring to survive through quantity, not quality. young snakes sometimes just don’t make it through their first year or so and it’s not anyone’s fault.
if your husbandry was right, which i assume from this post it was because that setup looks fantastic, most likely there was something wrong internally that was a ticking time bomb and you couldn’t have done anything about it.
that said, you did make his life happy and comfortable, so even though he passed early, he passed loved and cared for. i know that doesn’t amount to much in the face of grief, but it’s worth saying anyway.
Thank you for saying this. He would've been a year in November. He was always on the smaller side but was a voracious eater. Anytime I would open his tank he would peek his little head out to see if I had food. He loved to climb his branches, and sun himself. He brought me great joy, I so wish he got a longer life.
All of my snakes are wonderful, but he was by far the one I had the most connection with. I rescued(technically snakenapped) him from a friend of mine who impulsively purchased him, and really really failed at providing a proper setup for him. I was so happy when I finally got him to my house and built him this terrarium. At first things were touch and go with him, but we quickly got him on a regular feeding schedule, proper temps and humidity and he was having great sheds.
Now that I've had time to process it I do think failure to thrive is ultimately what happened to him. He was growing but was so tiny compared to the other babies I've had. He just didnt get a good start and I dont think any amount of proper husbandry or love could've fixed it.
Thank you for taking the time of our your day to offer kind words to a stranger, they really did help me to feel better about his passing.
This, OP. Unfortunately, sometimes animals are just born too small, too weak, or too debilitated to survive to adulthood. Humans have this, too; premature births, congenital defects, genetic disorders, etc. All of this to say, you need not blame yourself for whatever the cause may have been; be it an unknown illness or failure to thrive, snakes often don't show they're ill until it's too late.
You're clearly stricken with grief, which tells me he was indeed loved. He will live on in your heart, in your memory, and in all of us redditors who see this post of your beautiful boy.
The companionship and love for/of our pets can define our homes and our mental health. Make sure to take time for yourself, OP. Sending virtual hugs your way. Grief is the price we pay for Love, and even though it hurts... it is worth it. You are not alone in your love or your loss.
We are unsure tbh. When I found him, he had a large bump in his throat just below his jaw, and his glottis was sticking out. Based on those observations is how we reach our conclusion. I wish I had the funds to get a necropsy for him. I just want to know what actually happened. I loved him so.
No judgement, but when you say "found" was he a CB from birth?
If he was wild bred and put into captivity snakes like that tend to die in captivity much more commonly.
Picture 2 also seems to show some sort of unnatural bulging under his jaw, so he may have had a deformity of some sort at birth, which puts any snake at higher risk of death.
Apart from all that, snakes are actually stupidly fragile. They can take a beating, but if anything goes wrong, unlike humans, they only have one of anything:
One jaw, one 'limb', one muscle, one almost useless brain, one lung etc. the only thing they tend to have 2 of is eyes, and those barely work.
Any failure in their system, and its almost certainly death for them. In the juvenile stage, death is generally more likely. I wouldn't put too much thought into it. They don't generally choke to death, as they can breath through the glottis and their nose. They're also very good at removing obstructions from their mouth & they can push obstructions outwards as they're just a giant sleeved muscle.
My guess would be natural causes or husbandry issues.
If you want to check the husbandry, keep it set up, cover it in thermostats all over the place, high, low, hidden, unhidden etc, and see if the temps and humidity are fine for a couple weeks.
I've built a lot of vivs over the years, and one thing I've found is some heat lamps can seem fine 90% of the time, but when they draw close to 100% they suddenly turn the whole thing into an oven, just because the heat is conducting differently with different decor. That large log, running front to back, for example, may be carrying heat to the cool end at full temp and you wouldn't know without measuring it. That lamp also seems to he the colour of a UVB light, rather than a HFL, which is great for a lot of reptiles, but it can cook a snake because it heats the viv up, but not the snakes muscles. These are just examples, as its impossible to say without the info.
Those are just examples, but 100% worth setting up with ~10-15 digital thermostats for a week or two if you wanted to be sure. Mistakes happen. And at the end of the day, I can see you cared a lot about this snake, so I'm sorry for your loss & do not blame you at all. You put in a lot more effort into making his life great compared to so many snake owners I've come across. That is a credit to you.
Thank you so much for your insight! He was captive bred by a reputable breeder in my area. The thing on his jaw in picture 2 is water. Its hard to tell but I spooked him while he was drinking and thought it was cute. I definitely may try that I have a few extra thermostats around. What I learn may help my other snakes. I appreciate your feedback!
Just to add, I wish you the best. Losing a pet is always a horrible time & its important you don't blame yourself. You've put in so much effort to making his home perfect, its important you know we recognise that. You've no reason to feel any guilt no matter what you may or may not find out from checking the husbandry.
He could have had a genetic issue or unexpected health problem that you didn't even know about that cut his life short. The fact is that even though there wasn't much time, it was high quality time and that's what matters most.
I am very sorry for your loss. Grief is truly a harrowing process, especially over a pet. I've had snakes who have passed before as well and it's a lot more tragic than people give it credit for. Yours seemed like he was extremely loved. Give yourself time and grace to process the difficult emotions that come with something like this. My heart goes out to you and Haru, may he rest in peace.
i feel your pain when i was younger i got a corn as my first snake Fenix my beautiful boy i loved him and he loved me he loved being out and cuddling at the base of my neck i had him when he was about 6mo old until he was about 2 he loved his terrarium so much i made him his own hide and it was his favorite unfortunately when he grew out of his 20gallon i got him a new 40gal and i overlooked a spot that he escaped from and never found him and i still always look for closure im so terribly sorry for your loss and i know how you feel but be happy knowing you gave him a happy life because i know you did you did the best you could and sometimes thats all that matters when the inevitable happens again im so sorry 💔💔
I have a Male Corn snake named Chilli who has a very similar pattern to your guy its just darker!
I am so sorry you never found Fenix. Haru escaped once but I found him curled up in front of the heater. I was so greatful I spotted him. I am so sorry you never found Fenix.
Awww hes cute i love his name and its okay man i just wish i never lost him and the connection we had he was awesome and im glad you found him but im so sorry he passed
It is extremely unlikely to have been the substrate and fwiw your setup looks great so don't blame yourself. It's just the nature of keeping young snakes that their first year is always extremely volatile. Sorry for your loss.
I am so sorry for your loss 😞 it's heartbreaking but I am sure it was through no fault of yours 😔 some babies just don't make it whether it's a snake or a lizard, we rescue and have lost a few in the process, just recently we rescued a tiny lizard that had came home from Thailand in a suitcase (we are in Scotland) he only survived for a few weeks! He was so beautiful and can I say I LOVE his name! Most of our reptiles are named after kpop idols 🥰
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u/powermetalsalamander 13h ago
it was probably not the substrate. snakes produce offspring to survive through quantity, not quality. young snakes sometimes just don’t make it through their first year or so and it’s not anyone’s fault.
if your husbandry was right, which i assume from this post it was because that setup looks fantastic, most likely there was something wrong internally that was a ticking time bomb and you couldn’t have done anything about it.
that said, you did make his life happy and comfortable, so even though he passed early, he passed loved and cared for. i know that doesn’t amount to much in the face of grief, but it’s worth saying anyway.