Tragic News

Hey all.

I'm just now forcing myself to go about posting this, as it's a couple of weeks past now. But I have some terrible news:
Nagisa is dead.

For those who don't recall or didn't see the thread I introduced him, he was the young normal male (who might have been a Special) that I introduced here not long after I introduced myself. My first ball python.

Two weeks ago Friday night, I came home from work to find that my cats had gotten up to where his keep was set, knocked it down and broke it open, and got him out. He was alive when I found him, where they had dragged him downstairs to the living room and the cats and dog surrounding him when I got in, but he didn't last much longer than that.

More than anything I put the blame on myself for this. The cats were just being cats, and I had let myself grow too relaxed and put too much faith that I had them 'trained' to stay out of what they were supposed to. I had just moved Nagi up to his adult keep and it didn't fit where I had his hatchling keep, so I had set it in a slightly more accessible area temporarily till I could jurryrig something more secure, and I was too comfortable and lax to go about this with the instantaneous speed I should have.

I will NOT make those mistakes again, nor will I expand my collection again till I have something for sure as secure from hunting paws as absolutely possible. My cousin and I are planning to build some rack systems complete with simple mechanics to lock the tubs in place as soon as we have the space, time, and resources to go about such a project. Until then, my other reptiles are safe, even if this places Shallan a little further from my usual locations within my apartment.

So anyways.

RIP Nagisa, I learned much from your short life, and much from your untimely death, in the practice of these lessons shall your legacy live on.


When I do next return to expanding my collection with the eventual hopes to breed, I do plan to get a Special or a Special combo male, so that I can create the morphs that Nagisa had my fingers crossed for.

oh no, I'm sorry for your loss. I couldn't even imagine coming home to something like that.

What the heck... yeah, id be mad. Sorry to hear this. It yeah, it sounds like it should've been avoidable.

I tend to close the door so that my dog can't get to the snakes, but that's just me.


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Really sorry to hear this.:(

Mistakes happen.
We learn from them, and move forward.

Thanks for the condolences.

I would close out the cats, as Magniapane85 suggested, had I a separate room in which to close my reptiles into for any longer than short periods if I am to take the reptiles out. As it stands, I am in a small apartment where most of my space is used for multiple purposes and I am having to condense my thing in hopes to get a roommate, anyways. The only places that are out of the way enough I could easily disallow the cats entry don't actually have doors. Technically, Shallan is currently closed into a closet where the cats can't reach her at all. To be honest, I hate this, as it leaves her too far from the places I frequent in my apartment, but I won't move her till I can guarantee her security elsewhere. Yes, this could have been avoided. As a general rule I don't mind if my cats are able to see and watch the smaller animals, as long as they are unable to access, move or get into the cages of said smaller animals. The problem here was I let my guard down and allowed Nagisa's keep to be in a position where the cats not only could move the cage, but by doing so get into it. It was a terrible mistake on my part, that have learned from and I will not allow to happen again.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by CitricPrincess

Thanks for the condolences.

I would close out the cats, as Magniapane85 suggested, had I a separate room in which to close my reptiles into for any longer than short periods if I am to take the reptiles out. As it stands, I am in a small apartment where most of my space is used for multiple purposes and I am having to condense my thing in hopes to get a roommate, anyways. The only places that are out of the way enough I could easily disallow the cats entry don't actually have doors. Technically, Shallan is currently closed into a closet where the cats can't reach her at all. To be honest, I hate this, as it leaves her too far from the places I frequent in my apartment, but I won't move her till I can guarantee her security elsewhere. Yes, this could have been avoided. As a general rule I don't mind if my cats are able to see and watch the smaller animals, as long as they are unable to access, move or get into the cages of said smaller animals. The problem here was I let my guard down and allowed Nagisa's keep to be in a position where the cats not only could move the cage, but by doing so get into it. It was a terrible mistake on my part, that have learned from and I will not allow to happen again.

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I'm sorry to berate you or condescend you, but you should've known better. If you have predators of snakes living in your home, ALWAYS make sure that they are segregated. Always.

Good luck next time. And I'm glad you may have learned something.


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There is no "trust". There is no "they'll be fine".. even "domesticated" animals run off of primal instincts. Always keep that in mind.


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I am aware of this. Like I said, I do see no blame in the cats, they were being cats and doing as expected there is no fault there. I am aware they need to be kept separate, and apart from this incident, in which I let my guard down and allowed a keep to temporarily be in a less than secure setting, which I should have not allowed myself to feel comfortable with, all species in my household, with the exception of the interacting between dog and cat, are kept completely separate. However, if the cages are secure, I see no issues with the animals being able to see one another, if they are unable to interact and never show signs of stress. My problem here was not one which the cats were allowed to be close enough to see the snake, the problem was that they were able to reach and interact with the snake. I was never under any illusions that if the two species were to interact it would turn out well, I have never hoped much less believed they would be 'friends' with the snakes. On the cats side of things, my mistake was not that I trusted them not to harm the snakes if given the chance, my mistake was that I trusted them to stay off the shelf that they knew I didn't want them on even when I wasn't present. Which looking back, and knowing my cat, should have been a big fat duh. But hindsight is 20/20, we can't turn back time, yadda yadda. Point of the matter is I made this mistake. It happened. And I do understand what I did wrong and how it could have been handled differently and avoided. However now I can only take that into account and use it in the future, which I am doing.

So thank you for your concern, and I appreciate the advice, and I admit I did have a lapse in judgment; you are right, I should have known better. But please don't be mistaken. I do not "trust" my cats. I do not let my animals meet each other or interact or expect them to play and get along. Forgive me if I should snippy or aggressive in response, but that is what it feels like you are assuming or insinuating, and I admit I'm not much of a 'people-person' or otherwise sociable even when I'm not tired and already feeling guilty enough about this. True, I don't separate off full rooms, due to inability, but I keep my snakes in secure tubs or terrariums, on shelves with barriers and covers enough to keep them safe from the resident larger predators. When I upgraded Nagisa's keep, it failed to fit where the old one was as I thought it would, being larger, and I put it on a shelf that was not secured as well, making the mistake that, since the cats weren't actually allowed on there, it would be safe for a short period until I could clear a better area for it. That there was my mistake. I will not make that mistake again.

I am so sorry this happened.


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So sorry it happened. It's hard when one of our pets kills another one because we do sort of feel emotionally that we can 'trust' our beloved pets not to do things that would make us unhappy and when it does, logic doesn't stop that hurt feeling. I mean, we know intellectually that the cats are hunters and would kill the snake because of instinct, but emotionally it's like a betrayal because you loved both pets.

Yes, you "should have known better" but then hindsight is always 20/20 too.

When you have a rack, it's fairly easy to drill a small hole in each shelf and thread a thin metal "pole" down through all the holes to keep any of the bins from sliding forward. I've seen some racks like this to keep small children from opening them and it's always struck me as a simple and effective "lock".

I would be interested in how you plan on securing the racks. I'm getting a rack myself and is brainstorming ways to create a "lockl" system to keep the tubs secure.

This sucks, I'm really sorry. We all make mistakes, even ones that we feel like we should have seen coming.
If perhaps it helps to add some sort of significance to your snake's death, I have just copy/pasted your original post (slightly edited for length) into a thread in a facebook snake group wherein a potential new owner was asking about interactions with other pets such as his cat. Hopefully your story will help to keep his snake safe.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by wolfy-hound

So sorry it happened. It's hard when one of our pets kills another one because we do sort of feel emotionally that we can 'trust' our beloved pets not to do things that would make us unhappy and when it does, logic doesn't stop that hurt feeling. I mean, we know intellectually that the cats are hunters and would kill the snake because of instinct, but emotionally it's like a betrayal because you loved both pets.

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I wouldn't say I ever 'trusted' my cats. Well, maybe Wolverine, but I'm 75% sure that the one who did the initial damage was Rosswelle, and I wouldn't trust him as far as his whisker's length. I love him, but he's... Rosswelle. What I did do was underestimate what he would do. The difference doesn't really matter, it comes around to the same result. And yes it hurts, more than anything the feeling of betrayal is that I betrayed Nagisa. I brought him into my household for the sole purpose of caring for and protecting him, and then I failed him fatally in the stupidest possible way.

And yes, all involved parties were and are beloved. I made the mistake of calling my parents as soon as this happened, it was after midnight and I needed someone to talk to so technically the order of call went to my Cousin, my younger brother, my mother, my father. Amazingly my father answered. And I love him, he tried to help, but then he was all 'well at least it was the snake not the cat, right?' And I know that he doesn't see what I like about snakes. They aren't affectionate or social like the fluffy critters, so you don't have that same sort of interactive bond. But I've explained enough times that an animal in my care is an animal in my care the care is different but just as beloved, so asking if I'm happy that it was the snake not the cat is kinda like asking if I'm happy the poison was in the mashed potatoes not the steak. Either way it's poison and I'm sick. But what ever. I love Dad. I just wish my cousin had been awake. I also talked to my younger brother that night who is much more understanding, but also much less... emotionally comforting? He just kinda grunts and doesn't know what to say and changes the subject to try to comfort me via distraction. Which was nice of him, but not helpful at the time. -sigh-

Quote:

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Originally Posted by wolfy-hound

When you have a rack, it's fairly easy to drill a small hole in each shelf and thread a thin metal "pole" down through all the holes to keep any of the bins from sliding forward. I've seen some racks like this to keep small children from opening them and it's always struck me as a simple and effective "lock".

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This is actually exactly what I was thinking (so this answers your question, too, mom_of_bannanachip), and my cousin agreed it sounded good. Simple to do for about any set up, wouldn't make it difficult for me to get into the keeps as needed, but should be enough to keep the cats out. And if it works for small kids, that'll be great for my cousin, her daughter will be of age that'll be needed here pretty quick (not even crawling yet I don't think, but I'm sure that isn't far off)


Dkatz4-
Ah, if someone else can keep from pulling this stupid move themselves because I had to suffer it the heard way, that's the best way to go about it. :) And yes, feel free to edit out my extra ramblings as posted XDD I hope my tale helps them know, this happens with an accidental interaction there is no reason for a purposeful one.

Thanks for sharing the idea CitricPrincess- pretty simple, and I will do it!

Sorry for your loss, and I can totally relate to the conflict. I have three cats myself, and while I love them to death, I know they have their..... instincts.....While they have not "messed with" my BPs, they had a grand ol' time accessing the box of crickets I had for my bearded dragon, and 'playing' with them.

A

Yep. Very tragic. And it had to really affect you with all sorts of emotions. From sadness to guilt for sure as its evidenced how you were not able to share it on the forum for a weeks time. The reality is it's a hard lesson to learn and it's over. So now we move on and are more knowledgeable about risks and dangers in situations like this. Moral here is "think responsibly". Glad you had the courage to regroup and share this so you can heal and others can learn. Congrats.

I'm sorry for your loss, it is never easy to lose a pet...

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