I am sorry to hear about your loss. It was heartbreaking to read, so I can only try to imagine what you and your fiance are feeling having experienced it. Unfortunately, I do not have an answer. I just wanted to express my sympathy.

 Sory for your loss ,,, I dont think IBD would set in so fast  .. but I'm far from an expert  sounds like a Nuro problem  It sounds like you where doing everything  right .  please  let us know what the necropsy  says .. I hope she was kept in another room from your other snake  I dont think you need to throw the whole tank out  you can disenfect it  with  a 10%  amonia and water solution  and let it soak  that will kill everything  .. then wash it all out real well   But if it was IBD  I would probably toss the tank myself

It could have been anything, really....parasites, heart issues, renal failure, there's such a long list of what it could be. The writhing and constricting herself was a pain response, likely from the catastrophic organ/system failure that was occuring. Husbandry error tends to lead to a long, slow illness with death associated if the problem isn't corrected. From what you've written, my money would be on something else caused her untimely demise. The best thing you can do now is to do that necropsy, hopefully it'll give you answers. If it was IBD, I'd think you'd have seen a longer progression than you did. My guess is that she came in from the broker with some hidden issue and it was just a matter of time before she passed. Best bet to avoid such things in the future is to not buy from brokers at the expo, stick with hobby breeders either here on iHerp or at shows where they vend. Many of the large brokers animals' are not kept with the best of husbandry techniques and they're exposed to all sorts of issues from the other animals under their "care".

Sorry for your loss, that's a terrible thing to have to witness. I hope the post gives you some answers.

The IBD is most likely due to saying there was a "stargazing" symptom, but snakes can only exhibit so many ways... stargazing and the mode of death you describe is not uncommon (the writing and freakout into death).. I've watched a few snakes go from living to dying, and the death process is indeed bizarre. If you were to script an "overactor" to do it, that's what it looks like.

A gross necropsy will tell you impaction or not, which sounds like not. Unfortunately with no symptomatic behavoir leading up to death, you won't get an answer unless something is found in the necropsy: it sounds like a death from literally anything. I had a snake who had a systemic salmonella infection, and behaved like yours. We were afraid it was IBD so we put the snake down.

As for your tank and materials, wait until you hear back from the necropsy. Many times the necropsies will come back inconclusive. The ammonia that Doom recommends kills crypto, and bleach or Maxima256 kills everything else. And as doom said, IBD or paramyxo I'd pitch everything, short of that, it can be fixed.

Sorry about your loss, please update this when you have more answers or no answers from the necropsy.

What kind of heat? Undertank or ...?

@aaron - I use an undertank heater with a thermostat that turns off if it gets hotter than the setting I had it at (95ºF). She "stargazed" for 12 hours...she started around 9-10PM Saturday and was found in the same exact position this morning. I'm definitely tossing everything if it's IBD - too risky to keep it if she's positive. I'll keep you guys updated on the necropsy when the results come in...hopefully I'll get an answer instead of something inconclusive.

@gfx - I actually didn't buy her..I won her from one of the raffle drawings at the expo. I tried to figure out who donated her, but the raffle workers "forgot"/didn't keep logs of who donated what so I have no idea who to avoid. I'm definitely going to purchase from reputable breeders from now on, though. I feel awful that her constriction was a pain response...that's something I really didn't want to hear.

@Doomtrooper - Thankfully she was not in the same room as my fiance's snake. He's living in California while he's finishing up his degree so we have a good distance apart since I live in Arizona. And he has a colubrid (corn snake) and I heard that IBD can't be contracted by them from what I found on the internet. Regardless I told him to wash/sanitize everything he brought over to visit before he even thinks about touching his corn snake.

I"m so sorry for your loss :(

That would be horrible to witness. Its hard enough finding them in strange positions when they are ALREADY dead, but watching it die like that would make me cry like a baby and then have nightmares. :(

I wish I had knowledge to offer, but I don't.  I wish you comfort and send truly sincere e-hugs during your time of loss.

The necropsy results are in...I got a play by play diagnosis since I was able to go in the back and watch the vet perform the necropsy. :) Talk about educational.

Everything was normal except for her liver. It was dark and rounder than it should be. Parts of the liver were also thinner than usual (it looked like when you poke hamburger meat through the seran wrap and make a hole without puncturing the seran wrap...in this case it was the membrane). Based on how she died and how quickly she died, he ruled out IBD. He discussed a few options on what could have happened:

1. Self-induced injury from constriction. The liver wasn't swollen but looked "angry". The thinner areas of the liver could have been from the extreme amount of pressure. Also, her stomach area where the liver was located wasn't blackish blue until after she constricted herself, so this explanation is likely.
2. Septic infection based on how red/discolored the liver was paired with her behavior. Basically, he explained that if she had septicemia, the infection could have spread through her blood and affected her brain, ultimately causing death. It would also make sense since the incubation period seems to fit something bacterial (2-2 1/2 weeks since I got her from the reptile expo).
3. Menangitis (?) could have been another factor since everything pointed to something neurological that caused her death. This could have affected her brain and caused the symptoms leading to her death.

So for an even more basic summary, her death was likely something neurological or a form of infection that affected her brain. Also, I found out that she was supposedly supposed to be 4 months old based on the words of an acquaintance of the original breeder (unfortunately, he doesn't know the breeder's number...he purchased several of Hera's siblings though and that was about three or so months ago). Hera was still just under 8 inches and weighed 10 or so grams, so she might have had other troubles relating to general growth...*sigh* At least it isn't IBD... Wish I could have done more for her, though.

I am so sorry...

did they look for Paramyxovirus? it exhibits symptoms much like IBD.

I'm so sorry for your loss. I'm glad you had a necropsy done, for your piece of mind. 

He didn't think that it was that either...the lungs were completely clear. He was really surprised at how healthy my snake was minus the liver. She had clear lungs, healthy stomach, kidneys, intestinal tract, good amount of fat, and no sign of a respiratory infection. She was eating well except for a few days before her death...she just didn't seem interested in eating. Before I could think she was sick (which wasn't on my mind at all since I've heard of snakes going off food during winter or because they're young and picky) she died as I explained above...it doesn't really seem characteristic of Paramyxovirus =/

Thank you very much for coming back here and putting in some "closure," even though it ended up as an unknown.

Dehydration will cause a snake to act like that very quickly, and kill it very quickly.

Again, sorry about your loss.

I'm so sorry for your loss! I can say that with extra sympathy because I had the same thing happen to me with a rat snake when I was young. It was my first snake, it had eaten once for me and refused the second time, then a few days after feed day it began showing those strange symptoms and the next day, it flopped around with jaws open, wild eyed, flipping over and over like some sort of possessed death roll. I put it in a container and my mom made me go to school. Naturally, when I came home, it was dead. Mom wouldnt pay for a necropsy and I have always wondered what happened. It devastated me, being my first snake and all.

Thank you for sharing!!! Now I know I'm not crazy...

@ aaron - I don't think it would be dehydration...I've caught her drinking several times when she was alive and well. I also have a cute picture of her drinking with a water droplet stuck under her chin on Hera's page if you wanna look. I thought it was cute. :)

I'm glad this is something I shared with the community. Thank you for all of your condolences and expressions of gratitude for the necropsy information. With this information, I look forward to obtaining a healthy boa from a breeder in the near future. If anyone has information on a good KSB breeder, I would highly appreciate it if you shared that information with me. :)

Right, I wasn't alluding that was the case here... more that a simple thing like dehydration can end up looking like IBD, Paramyxo, or something devastating when it comes time to die.

@ aaron - Sorry I wasn't trying to call you out or anything. :x Thanks for mentioning the dehydration, though. Good to know that it can also show the same symptoms. :)

No worries,... with the good response and keywords here, this one is going to be great for people down the road.

I've been able to actively watch snakes die from dehydration, RI, systemic salmonella, and "unknown" causes, and they all go down pretty much the same at the very end. Death isn't pretty.