A bigger loss than I thought

[Tori]

I came home from work the other morning and found my adult female Cali looking odd. You would have to understand, she was my favorite. I always checked her first, then the other snakes. When homework was getting to be too much I would turn around and watch her. I've tried not to have a favorite, kind of like your children you know? But her death hit me harder than any other death has. I couldn't even bring myself to come here and tell everyone for 3 days. I have no idea what she died of. She was a bit over weight, I think. She was eating good, drinking, pooping. She did not have babies this year. I came home and found her laying kind of limp. There were no lumps or knots in her digestive tract. If anything her belly felt overly soft. I soaked her off and on for over 2 hours, stroking her belly. She began to take deep gasps every couple of minutes, but there was no rattle or clicking sound when she did it. Then she died. I know my family would laugh at me crying over a snake, but I can't stop thinking about it. What did I miss, what did I do or not do that I should have? Why didn't I realize she was having problems sooner? I'm going to be kicking myself for a long time. Now I have a tiny 26 inch male alone in a 5 x 2 cage, he acts so lost without her, I can't bear to watch him.

[Stefan-A]

I'm so sorry for your loss, Tori.

[drache]

oh Tori - I am so sorry
you may not have missed anything - sometimes animals die and there's no discernible indication of anything beforehand - but I can understand how devastated you are and yet - please don't kick yourself - be nice to yourself, because it's a hard loss

[Sid]

Tori, I completely agree with Rhea on this. It does sometimes happen with no warning or indications of a problem. Very sorry for your loss.

[infernalis]

Heartfelt condolences, So sorry for the loss..

[KITKAT]

Oh, any time you lose a pet is sad, and crying is quite normal. As for what happened, there are all kinds of causes for deaths in animals in their prime. Think of all the diseases that we treat humans for... and most of these are also seen in animals. We have some veterinary knowlege regarding our herps, and know to treat for parasites, pneumonia, or other obvious illnesses, but really, any animal could have illnesses that are undetectable... for example, I have a cat that I swear has reflux disease... yet vets do not have a test for this disease in cats, and treatment is a human drug with a guess for the doseage!

So sorry you lost her, but you probably did nothing wrong!

I came home from work the other morning and found my adult female Cali looking odd. You would have to understand, she was my favorite. I always checked her first, then the other snakes. When homework was getting to be too much I would turn around and watch her. I've tried not to have a favorite, kind of like your children you know? But her death hit me harder than any other death has. I couldn't even bring myself to come here and tell everyone for 3 days. I have no idea what she died of. She was a bit over weight, I think. She was eating good, drinking, pooping. She did not have babies this year. I came home and found her laying kind of limp. There were no lumps or knots in her digestive tract. If anything her belly felt overly soft. I soaked her off and on for over 2 hours, stroking her belly. She began to take deep gasps every couple of minutes, but there was no rattle or clicking sound when she did it. Then she died. I know my family would laugh at me crying over a snake, but I can't stop thinking about it. What did I miss, what did I do or not do that I should have? Why didn't I realize she was having problems sooner? I'm going to be kicking myself for a long time. Now I have a tiny 26 inch male alone in a 5 x 2 cage, he acts so lost without her, I can't bear to watch him.

[count dewclaw]

So sorry for your loss.

[Loren]

Sorry to hear that Tori.

[Zephyr]

I know how you feel. When I lost my first garters I cried my eyes out and neither of my parents understood. The only thing I can offer is my condolences; there's a plan in this somewhere, just look for the light in the dark hallway and you'll make it through.

[Snake lover 3-25]

so sorry for your loss